CHS asked SDOT a decade ago why Pine at Boylston didn’t have a traffic light
(Image: CHS)
The Seattle Department of Transportation is completing the work to better control traffic and improve safety from I-5 to 15th Ave on Capitol Hill with plans to upgrade intersections on the only remaining Pike/Pine blocks not already controlled by a traffic signal or a 4-way stop.
SDOT confirms with CHS that new stops signs are coming to the three E Pine intersections at Summit, Belmont, and Boylston — marked in purple on the map, below — in work hoped to be completed by early next year.
The crossings have been the scene of multiple collisions and pedestrian injuries over the years and are home to some of the city’s most utilized — and maybe most risky — unprotected crosswalks. Pine at Boylston regularly qualifies as one of Seattle’s most dangerous crossings. The new stop signs won’t change that completely but the overall flow on the street should take on a safer pace for both drivers and everybody using the area.
SDOT says the work should be completed by spring and the new configurations will be accompanied by temporary signage to help people with the changes.
CHS reported in August on similar changes on E Pike below Broadway to add new 4-way stops.
The work followed installations in 2021 creating new 4-way stops around upper Pike/Pine at some of Seattle’s busiest crossings. “Based on the large number of people walking and driving through these intersections, we are adding 4-way stop signs at five intersections in this area to improve safety for pedestrians and to create a consistent traffic control network in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood,” a department spokesperson told CHS previously about the work.
The new additions will bring E Pine into the fold, further transforming the driving, biking, rolling, and walking experience in the corridor.
The stop sign projects join 2019 bike lane additions to Pike and coming Pike/Pine bike lane improvements among ongoing efforts that will transform traffic and improve safety in the busy area. CHS reported here on the planned start of construction in early 2023 that will add new bike lanes, and wider sidewalks along Pike and Pine and transform both streets into a large one-way couplet between the waterfront and Bellevue Ave.
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