SDOT is holding an open house this evening to show their plans to “complete” a stretch in Georgetown that (nearly) connects Marginal Way and Airport Way. The open house, held from 5-7 at the Old Georgetown City Hall (map), will discuss changes to 0.7 miles of Ellis Ave S and S Albro Pl stretching from E Marginal Way to Stanley Ave S (one block before Airport Way).
The street is currently just four general traffic lanes. The lanes are not currently as wide as the city prefers for streets with transit. So, in addition to resurfacing the street, SDOT is proposing a new street layout that will have one wider general travel lane in each direction. There will also be bike lanes in each direction and curb bulbs at several intersections. 24-hour parking will also be allowed on the west side of the street.
Changes like these have recently been referred to as “road diets,” but I have some issues with that term, I’ve decided. My thoughts on that are to come in a future post.
If you want a look at the plans now, you can try squinting at the plans below. Or just head over to the open house this evening.
Comments
3 responses to “Open house in Georgetown tonight to present Ellis/Albro changes”
This is great news for those of us that ride to Boeing from the north; Ellis is better since its been repaved, but traffic moves fast. A bike lane will make this leg a lot safer.
I see some buffered bike lanes! And rather than narrowing the bike lane to get two full 12 ft lanes SDOT narrowed 1 travel lane by a foot so both bike lanes are 5 ft. Exciting to see.
This is GREAT news! I bike this route daily on my way to work. I sent the following feedback to [email protected]:
1. Could SDOT consider not adding parking and instead incorporate buffers along the outside (or both sides) of that curve at Eddy St? If it could be engineered, I think it would go a long way to improving the safety for bikers along that curve. Even better (pipe dream perhaps) would be to not add parking and maintaining the buffers all the way from Hardy St to west of the curve at Eddy St. That buffer to non-buffer transition at Hardy looks a little scary since it depends on drivers to slightly alter their path away from the bike lane. Will any features be added to keep westbound drivers in their lane there?
2. And my second request while we’re on the subject :) Could SDOT use this opportunity to rethink how traffic operates around that triangle at Eddy St? I’ve always felt that westbound drivers coming from the residential area at Eddy & Ellis along that one-way stretch of Ellis before it merges with Albro is unnecessary and dangerous. Westbound drivers (and bikers) stopping at the stop sign at the intersection of Ellis & Albro already have poor visibility of bikers AND cars coming around that stretch from Albro. Perhaps westbound vehicles (with an exception for bikes since they can now merge onto the bike lane without encountering the path of cars!) coming from Eddy St could be forced to continue south on Eddy and make a right turn onto Albro from there, where they will have much better visibility of westbound traffic.