Created during the pandemic to give more people safer options for walking, running, and biking but implemented with movable barriers and frequently ignored signs, the city’s “Stay Healthy Streets” routes across the Central District are either under review or already marked to revert to simpler “neighborhood greenway” setups, the Seattle Department of Transportation has announced.

In its update on the program laying out plans for the existing routes in the city and a few new additions being planned, SDOT says some Central District streets in the program including the key route on 22nd Ave connecting to neighborhood greenways on Capitol Hill and giving bikers and walkers an alternative to the 23rd Ave traffic artery are set to have the Stay Health barriers and signage removed.

Other streets in the CD, SDOT says, including stretches of E Columbia and 25th Ave are now “under review.”

“Over the next few weeks, we plan to visit all existing Healthy Street locations to check on the condition of signs and repair or replace them as needed,” the SDOT update reads. “We’ll also remove signs on Healthy Streets that will become neighborhood greenways like they were before the pandemic.” Continue reading →