Information from Seattle Department of Transportation
Since 2021, we have been evaluating and updating Healthy Streets across the city based on the trends we’ve seen in terms of community use and public feedback.
We are excited to announce that construction of this Healthy Street in West Seattle will begin this Spring! Over two years of outreach and engagement have resulted in a final design that includes many elements requested by the community—including additional walking space and ensuring ADA access.
Alki Point is a regional destination park and marine reserve habitat, as well as a destination for many popular outdoor activities like kayaking and paddle boarding, whale watching, exploring the low tides, and taking in views of the sunset and mountain range.
While people can still drive to destinations on the street—or park on the street to visit the beach—safety improvements like speed humps, improved signage, and clearer striping and markings discourage speeding so that it stays calmer and safer for all users.
Community Outreach / Project History
After the Alki Point Keep Moving Street opened in May 2020, we heard from many community members that they wanted it to stay in some form to keep providing safer spaces for people to walk, bike, roll, and play. Our observations and evaluation showed that the Alki Keep Moving Street had the highest usage among any Keep Moving Street or Stay Healthy Street in the city.
We conducted outreach and community engagement in 2021 and 2022 which included an online survey, multiple stakeholder meetings, and public open houses. We analyzed more than 2,000 responses to the Alki Point Keep Moving Street Survey and additional feedback like emails, phone calls, stakeholder comments, and door-to-door business outreach.
Survey responses indicated overall support for keeping the changes we had made. 65% of survey respondents told us that they drive to get to Alki Point, and 67% of respondents said they felt that they had better access to Alki Point since it was made into a Healthy Street.
The Permanent Healthy Street was announced in Fall 2022 and early designs were shared with the public. We received community feedback that they disliked curb bulbs and traffic circles in this location, preferred a simplified design with continuous walking and rolling space, and had concerns about adequate ADA parking.
We took another look at one of the early design options that included a “neighborhood greenway + additional pedestrian space.” We also decided to designate ADA-accessible spaces nearby pedestrian ramps and entrances into the park and beach, and we identified other public right-of-way nearby that could be formally striped and signed as public parking spaces.
In Fall 2023 we shared the updated designs for construction in 2024. Please visit the Alki Point Healthy Street webpage for more information and to view project materials.
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