Shoreline receives $2.3 million for road diet on 175th opposed by businesses
Shoreline received $2.3 million for a road diet on NE 175th, but the city scrapped a road diet in 2018 after businesses complained
In December, the city of Shoreline received a $2.3 million grant from WSDOT to implement a road diet on NE 175th Street from 5th Ave NE to 15th Ave NE - one of the city’s most dangerous roads. NE 175th Street, especially at its intersection with 10th Ave NE, has seen a high number of injury collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists. Since the city cancelled a road diet plan in 2018, there have been 32 serious-injury crashes on that segment of road and in 2020, a fatal collision occurred at the intersection at 10th Ave. Last year, pedestrian, fatal, and serious injury crashes in Shoreline hit record highs.
In 2018, after injury collisions doubled on NE 175th, Shoreline commissioned a peer-reviewed technical analysis that recommended repainting the stripes from four to two travel lanes with a center turn lane and bike lanes during a routine repaving project. Studies have shown safety projects like this (sometimes called road diets or re-channelizations) reduce crashes, save lives and are relatively inexpensive to complete. A nearby road diet in 2003 on 15th Ave NE between 150th and 175th resulted in slower speeds, decreased traffic volumes, fewer crashes, and a 30.9% drop in the number of injury collisions.
But in 2019 the city quietly rolled back the NE 175th Street road diet plan, saying only that a “combination of factors” led to the decision.
The city’s 2018 technical analysis showed the road diet would make intersections at 8th and 10th safer for pedestrians by improving visibility and reducing the number of lanes pedestrians needed to cross. And traffic engineers found that the road diet would make the street safer for drivers, especially while making left turns at 8th and 10th.
The council has directed city staff to build bike lanes along 175th street since at least 2011, when, after public hearings and review by the planning commission, the council adopted a Transportation Master Plan including a Bicycle System map with bike lanes on 175th. The city council and planning commission again directed the city to build bike lanes on 175th in the Transportation Element of the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan.
In 2016, the council passed Shoreline’s Complete Streets ordinance mandating that all road projects include safe and convenient improvements for people walking, biking, and using public transit; under the ordinance, road projects are not supposed to only benefit motorists. Adopting the ordinance has allowed the city to receive grants in 2022, 2019, and 2017.
According to the 2018 technical analysis, although the road diet could add travel time for drivers on 175th, those delays would not have exceeded the city’s congestion maximums defined in the 2011 Transportation Master Plan and the 2022 Transportation Element.
When the city council last discussed the NE 175th road diet in 2022, staff said the city met for hours in contentious meetings with business owners concerned about congestion before deciding to cancel the road diet in 2018.
A previous version of this article incorrectly named John Sims as the current owner of Frank Lumber when in fact, Sims sold the business to long-time employees last year. The previous article also claimed Sims has opposed pedestrian safety projects over concerns they will harm Frank Lumber’s business. Sims and the current owners of Frank Lumber dispute this claim and said they support traffic safety measures, and disagree that road diets will make the North City neighborhood safer.
A city spokesperson said work on the project hasn’t started yet and before spending grant funds, they will conduct a preliminary study to assess traffic delays and congestion impacts and may return the funding and explore other options. Will the same “combination of factors” lead the city to return the $2.3 million grant this time?
A previous version of this article incorrectly named John Sims as the current owner of Frank Lumber when in fact, Sims sold the business to long-time employees last year. The previous article also claimed Sims has opposed pedestrian safety projects over concerns they will harm Frank Lumber’s business. Sims and the current owners of Frank Lumber dispute this claim and said they support traffic safety measures, and disagree that road diets will make the North City neighborhood safer.
Very interesting. Amazing that the technical report predicted the road diet would introduce a 30 second delay for eastbound PM peak traffic in the year 2030. The city decided to prioritize saving seconds over peoples safety and the livability of the neighborhood. Hopefully the city gets it right this time (and 175th West of I-5 needs the same treatment).
It's funny North City business owners were pushing back against making 175th / 15th safer. This is the exact reason why I always avoid going to North City...its dangerous and hostile to pedestrians/bikes. Now that there are light rail stations in Shoreline I have no reason to ever go to North City when much more walkable neighborhoods in Seattle are easily accessible.