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It took years — plus a few extra months — to make it happen but the “Broadway and John Street Signal” project is transforming the busy intersection’s traffic patterns.
The new “BUS ONLY/ONLY BUS” markings are applied restricting left turns onto Broadway from John to only transit. The rest of the project includes new protected left-turns on Broadway along with all the necessary markings and signal changes required to make it work.
CHS reported here in June on the planned two-month construction project’s long-anticipated start. The Seattle Department of Transportation couldn’t exactly explain why the work dragged on four months — “Project construction was originally anticipated to last approximately 3-4 months,” a spokesperson said, despite what the department said this summer. “The start of work was delayed about one month due to finalizing the signal design and weather,” they added.
The original vision has been boiled down by time and shifting funding sources after originally being raised as a community priority to improve safety in the area around Capitol Hill Station.
The final project has included rebuilding the traffic signals at the intersection of Broadway and E Olive Way/E John, adding new “left turn pockets” and a “separated signal phase” for eastbound traffic on E Olive Way, installing a new transit-only left turn lane for westbound E John, and removing an area of in-street bike parking “to accommodate transit turning movements.” Continue reading