Comments on: 23rd Ave is a Festering Gash Through the Central District: Put That Road on a Diet !

By: MJH

MJH — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:29:08 +0000

Often bike boulevards provide parallel routes to busy arterials where either there is not sufficient roadway to accommodate bicycle lanes, or the conditions deem it unsafe for bicycles, e.g. streetcar tracks. That said, if 19th is in fact a bicycle boulevard, it should have some kind of special signal treatments where it intersects arterials, espcecially at the Union St intersection. Of course the best scenario for that corridor is a rechannelized 23rd ave with bike lanes.

By: David Hiller

David Hiller — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:27:29 +0000

Enjoying the thread.

Just getting to the Red Apple from my house is a bit harrowing. Walking or bicycling, you’re a 2nd class citizen on 23rd. It really is a blighted corridor.

FWIW, the destinations are on arterials – as are the signals that give priority over non-arterial streets.

While I commute 19th daily, it’s annoying to have to stop and wait at every arterial crossing (only Madison has a light). Real bike boulevards have half-signals at the arterial crossings. With those my commute might be a bit more efficient, but that still doesn’t reconcile the fact that 19th does not bring one to daily destinations.

So, with the capacitiy of a 3 lane urban cross section being 22,000 vpd – and the current volumes being less than that – it would make a prime candidate for rechannelization. The sooner the better in my mind.

By: COMTE

COMTE — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:09:54 +0000

I’m not sure converting 23rd to two-lanes/turn lane/bike lanes makes a lot of sense, particularly since 19th already has bike sharrows.

On the other hand, reducing the transit lanes and adding a center turn lane does make some sense, since there seems to be an on-going issue with cars needing to make left turns primarily from the north-bound lanes, which can cause some significant backups along 23rd, north of Madison.

IF the bike lanes could be incorporated into that kind of a structural modification, I could see some benefit, although I have to say, as a daily commuter along 23rd, I seldom see more than a handful of bikes along that corridor between E Union and Boyer, so I’m not sure if this would be more a matter of “if you build it, they will come”, because there doesn’t appear to be, from my observations at least, a pressing need for this currently.

By: Bike Lanes on 23rd Ave: Patience Grasshopper | hugeasscity

Bike Lanes on 23rd Ave: Patience Grasshopper | hugeasscity — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:15:27 +0000

[...] As previously reported, the City of Seattle’s new Bike Master Plan shows bike lanes on 23rd Ave south of Madison St. Since 23rd Ave is so narrow, the only way this could happen is if the road loses two motor vehicle travel lanes. But because 23rd Ave is such an important north-south arterial, I have always thought it highly unlikely that the City would follow through on the plan and sacrifice car capacity for bike lanes. There has already been one case in which the plan was watered down, on Stone Way in Fremont. [...]

By: So Un-Seattle | hugeasscity

So Un-Seattle | hugeasscity — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:56:31 +0000

[...] Pb Elemental is also adept at doing more with less, as the Trophy Building project demonstrates. They have a knack for finding overlooked parcels and turning oddities into opportunities, as in this project on a steeply sloping site just off the south edge of I-90. And they are taking risks with innovative projects in challenging areas, such as this live-work development or these townhouses, both on 23rd Ave in the Central District, an area has had ongoing troubles with street crime and gang activity. [...]

By: davebordoley

davebordoley — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:04:56 +0000

Whats the benefit of making the 48 BRT? I could see the benefit of an express route with limited stops to make travel to/from the U-District faster, but in my experience on the 48 the problem is not central district to the U-District, but the U-District to/from greenwood which is painfully slow.

Personally I would much rather see bike lanes.

By: dan bertolet

dan bertolet — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:48:32 +0000

Adam, SDOT’s maps show 20,900 per day on 23rd north of Madison, and 15,100 south of Madison. Broadway (and 10th E) has 15,500 and MLK has 14,700.

Agreed about bike blvds being more pleasant. But if you want to go fast an arterial with a bike lane is better. And many people ride bikes to get places rather than just for recreation.

I’ll take BRT on 23rd if it means the outer lanes are only used by buses. That would at least give some relief to peds on the sidewalk most of the time.

By: zilfondel

zilfondel — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:57:51 +0000

This looks exactly like 39th avenue in Portland – 35 mph speed limits, 4 lanes of traffic, measly little sidewalks with no buffer between them and the road.

By: davebordoley

davebordoley — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:41:28 +0000

I believe at some point I was tasked with writing this article, but luckily enough Dan beat me to the punch, and is obviously more eloquent than I ever could be.

Mr. Nickels tear down this wall…

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:12:09 +0000

I would love to subscribe to your blog, but both the RSS feed and ATOM feed have errors according to IE7.

Have you heard about this problem before?