15th Ave NE Paving Project

Paving, protected bike lanes, sidewalk repair, crossing improvements, parking removal.

Updated: January 2, 2020

What’s happening now?

The project team has been working to incorporate feedback gathered during outreach from business owners, residents and people who use the corridor.

With the modifications in mind, we are currently preparing final plans ready for pre-construction outreach early in 2020. 

Questions? Email the project team at 15thNEpaving@seattle.gov or call 206-256-5563.

 

Overview

15th Ave NE is a minor arterial serving northeast Seattle. Approximately 10,000 vehicles travel this street on an average day. This corridor connects the University District, Ravenna, and Maple Leaf neighborhoods, and is a major transit street, serving King County Metro routes 71, 73, and 373. This section of 15th Ave NE is home to houses, apartment buildings, businesses, and Roosevelt High School.

As part of our paving program, we'll pave approximately 1.3 miles of 15th Ave NE to make it safer and more comfortable to travel on, and to extend the useful life of the pavement.

A paving project, such as this one, provides opportunities to cost-effectively update street designs to promote safety, build features called for in citywide transportation plans, and coordinate with other projects. They also provide an opportunity for community engagement to ensure feedback is gathered and incorporated into the final design.

Community Engagement

This project is part of our Vision Zero initiative to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. Traffic collisions are preventable through smarter street design, targeted enforcement, and thoughtful public engagement. Together, we can make Seattle’s streets safer for everyone. In the last 5 years, 15th Ave NE has had an above-average amount of injuries from collisions.

  • Vehicle volumes: 10,000/average day
  • Vehicle speed: 26.7 MPH (85th percentile speed)
  • Collisions: 143 in 5 years
  • Injuries: 48
  • Fatalities: 1
  • Peak hour parking restrictions: 7-9 AM (southbound) and 4-6 PM (northbound)

Since the summer of 2016, we've shared street design concepts with the community and asked how you get around your neighborhood. We sent mailers, offered an online survey, held an open house, dropped off materials, and visited businesses with door-to-door outreach.

We heard from hundreds of people about transportation safety and we appreciate everyone who took time to talk to us. Your feedback helped shape our design and here's what we heard from you:

  • Concerns about speeding
  • Desire to cross street more easily
  • Interest in using more transit and biking
  • Interest in maintaining parking
  • Discourage cut-through traffic
  • Desire for turn pockets and signals at key intersections
  • Preference for "protected" bike lanes

In addition to taking community feedback, we analyzed traffic and parking data and reviewed freight, transit, bike, and pedestrian master plan recommendations. All these factors informed our designs; therefore, we are adding various safety features to this project. New flashing beacons will be added to the crossings at Roosevelt High School. New protected bike lanes will be introduced, and new exclusive left-turn pockets and signals will improve safety for everyone.

Safety has informed the parking design too, and we are removing parking from one side of the street, while introducing 24/7 parking to the remaining parking spaces so people don’t need to move their cars daily. This project will also include other measures to improve safety and improve all transit options:

  • Sidewalk repair and curb ramp upgrades
  • Removal of peak-hour parking restrictions to make parking available 24/7 on 1 side of the street
  • New protected bike lanes
  • New exclusive left-turn pockets and signals
  • Stormwater drainage improvements
  • Parking removal on 1 side of the street
  • Safe Routes to School and neighborhood greenway crossing improvements at Roosevelt High School

60% Project Map

Project map

60% Design Concepts

Design concept cross-sections

The cross sections above are conceptual and not to scale. Actual street widths will vary and cross sections don't illustrate intersections.

Schedule

This is our anticipated project timeline for 15th Ave NE paving.

Summer, 2019

Gather community input on 60% design plans and compile information.

Fall, 2019 - winter, 2020

Finalize design.

Spring, 2020

Begin construction.

The Three Stages of a Project

Project stages, listed below

  1. Planning

    What we do: Collect traffic data, review plans and gather community experiences to define options.

  2. Design

    What we do: Share updates as more details are known.

  3. Construction

    What we do: Provide construction schedules, expected impacts, and a contact for questions.

Funding

This project is part of SDOT's Arterial and Asphalt and Concrete (AAC) Paving Program. Design and construction of our paving projects, as well as the safety and mobility improvements shown, are funded by the Levy to Move Seattle, approved by Seattle voters in November 2015. We also seek additional funding through grants, when available. Learn more about the levy.

Project Materials

To view a PDF of project-related materials, please click on the links provided below.

Design Phase

Contact

We're committed to building a productive, inclusive, and collaborative relationship with all who live, work, or travel in the project area. Please contact us with any questions.

Phone: 206-256-5563
Email: 15thNEpaving@seattle.gov

Community Outreach Lead
Darrell Bulmer

Project Manager
Brian Glas

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Updated: 2/8/2018