8th Ave NW Safety Improvements

Updated September 2026

Project Overview

We’re planning improvements for people walking, biking, and rolling on 8th Ave NW between NW 46th St and NW 70th St. In 2025, we added intersection visibility improvements at NW 70th St, NW 53rd St, and NW 51st St. This year, we’re planning more safety improvements along the corridor.  

This project is in the design phase, and we expect to complete construction this fall. See below for more details on the design. 

Project elements include:

• 13 Speed cushions 
  
  • To prevent drivers from driving in the bike lanes to avoid speed cushions, we will shift the bike lane into the curbside lane (removing 1-2 parking spaces) and add paint and barriers next to the bike lane at each location. This makes the street safer and more predictable for everyone.
• Marked crosswalks with pedestrian islands
  • To discourage drivers from going over the posted speed limit, prevent passing in the center turn lane, and improve the comfort of pedestrians crossing the street, we will be adding small concrete medians at the new marked crosswalks.   
• 2 Radar speed signs
• A traffic diverter and button-activated flashing crossing signs at NW 70th St 

Background

In the summer of 2025, we shared our preliminary plans for the corridor at a community event and with the advocates who garnered support for improvements to 8th Ave NW. In 2026, we developed designs for the corridor, shown below.