The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has decided to put the Ballard Neighborhood Greenway on hold for now. 
The Ballard Neighborhood Greenway is a proposed 2.1-mile-long, slow-traffic road that provides people of all ages and abilities with safe, convenient, and comfortable opportunities to walk and bike to destinations like the Ballard library, parks, schools, and the Burke-Gilman Trail.
Beginning at the Burke-Gilman Trail at Seaview Avenue N.W., the greenway would travel along N.W. 58th and 57th Streets, and end at 4th Avenue N.W.
When SDOT presented its plans at an open house in July, they were met with some opposition from some concerned neighbors.
From SDOT:
“…SDOT will seek additional input from impacted residents and local community groups over the next several months and will reevaluate the proposed plan.
SDOT is also planning to host another open house during Spring, 2013, where staff will provide an update and additional information about Neighborhood Greenways. Invitations to the open house will be mailed to residents approximately two weeks in advance.
We are also preparing a written response to the questions and concerns we received, which will be available on the project website later this month.
Again, thank you for your comments and feedback. We hope you will continue to be involved in the development of this project. You are also welcome to send additional comments or questions at any time to walkandbike@seattle.gov or by calling 206-684-7583.”
We look forward to the Ballard Neighborhood Greenway being built next year.
This is just so frustrating. SDOT is acquiescing to a small group of uninformed NIMBYs that they couldn’t get the information to. Seriously, just do it. This project is really such a small, insignificant impact on residential driving, and a huge impact on most cyclists, especially young and novice cyclists. With the continued delay of the Missing Link, this project is especially crucial.
The very minor changes that were to be made are:
- Signs and pavement legends along the greenway
- Stop signs to control traffic crossing the greenway at certain intersections
- Widen sidewalk on Seaview Avenue NW to access Burke-Gilman Trail
- Median island at 24th Avenue NW and NW 58th Street
- Diverter for eastbound traffic at15th Avenue NW and NW 58th St (at St. Alphonsus School)
- Additional bicycle parking at destinations along the route
Kirk, do you happen to live on 58th Street? I do, and strongly object to this proposal. While I would support the addition of stop signs on the street, 58th is very narrow and is is effectively a one-way street, since there isn’t room for vehicles to pass one another when there are vehicles parked along both sides of the street. And don’t suggest removing any of the parking, because it’s clearly needed. Adding an increased number of cyclists to 58th will only increase congestion. A better choice would be 59th, which is only a block away and about twice as wide as 58th. If 59th was not considered for the greenway, the city needs to go back to the drawing board. I also object to the proposed median on 24th that would prevent residents of 58th to turn left to access their residences.
I am sick of cyclists pushing their agenda on people who would be negatively impacted by it. I say NO to this ill-conceived plan and hope the city does as well..