information from Seattle Department of Transportation

Improvements and changes are coming to West Marginal Way SW. Learn more and share your thoughts with us at our Virtual Open House, on Thursday, February 18 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Use this link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88433928185. Or, if you prefer to just watch the open house, you can view it on YouTube. 

To request an interpreter or accommodations for persons with disabilities at the Virtual Open House, please contact us at (206) 400-7511 or WestSeattleBridge@seattle.gov 3 days prior to the meeting date.

Project Background

West Marginal Way SW connects communities and industrial businesses along the western bank of the Duwamish Waterway. It is a major truck street between bridges and connects to Port of Seattle facilities. The street also provides direct access to the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center, parks, and residences as well as shipping, manufacturing, and maintenance centers. The Duwamish Trail, a multi-use recreational path for people walking and biking, runs alongside West Marginal Way SW for several miles.

Since the closure of the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge in March 2020, we have seen an increase in the number and speed of people driving on this busy corridor. Due to this detour, average weekday traffic volumes on West Marginal Way SW have increased by over 150%, from 9,760 vehicles to 24,880 vehicles on an average weekday. This project is designed to make the street safer, more convenient, and more comfortable for everyone, and encourage people walking and biking - our vulnerable users - to use West Marginal Way. Each of these improvements can bring us closer to our Vision Zero goals and help to provide alternatives for the traveling public that reduce demands on the road network.

Project Descriptions

1. Duwamish Longhouse: New pedestrian signal, new crosswalk, and new sidewalk

Speeding vehicles and higher traffic volumes on West Marginal Way SW can create access and safety challenges for people trying to access the Duwamish Longhouse. In 2021, SDOT will build an interim pedestrian signal and painted crosswalk at the Duwamish Longhouse (4705 West Marginal Way SW). This interim signal will stop traffic for people crossing West Marginal Way SW.

SDOT will plan and design a permanent signal for this same location in as soon as 2022. Additionally, SDOT will install a sidewalk in 2021 on the west side of West Marginal Way SW between the Duwamish Longhouse and SW Idaho St to upgrade the dirt path. A new sidewalk will provide direct access for people in wheelchairs and rolling to the Duwamish Longhouse from the parking lots on the east side of West Marginal Way SW and meet Americans with Disabilities standards. 

2. Bike network connections

Community feedback in 2020's Reconnect West Seattle survey indicated a desire for better bike connections along West Marginal Way SW. Based on community interest and SDOT's evaluation of options, we are proposing a protected bike lane along the west side of the street from SW Marginal Pl to the Duwamish Trail signal just south of SW Idaho St.
 

Benefits of a protected bike lane on West Marginal Way SW

• Protected bike lanes separate people biking from traffic, creating safer and more comfortable spaces that attract a wide range of people who bike. Increasing bicycling meets multiple long-term City goals for safety, sustainability, traffic, and health.

• Fills in a gap in the Duwamish River Trail and creates more seamless connection for people biking to and from  the West Seattle Bridge Trail, Alki Trail, and SW Avalon Way.

• Completes a project in the Bicycle Master Plan.

• Increases multimodal travel options as part of Reconnect West Seattle mobility projects.

• Minimizes effects on vehicle travel: anticipated 10 second travel time effect on southbound drivers during peak hours, with no effect on northbound drivers.

• Reduces speeding and eliminates right-lane passing by removing the outside (right) lane, currently only used by 1 out of every 5 southbound drivers. 

3. Design options for the west side of West Marginal Way 

There are three design options for the west side of West Marginal Way SW to the south of the proposed bike lane.

Option a) Extend the Proposed bike lane south to the Duwamish Longhouse crossing signal

• Provides direct access for people biking to the Longhouse

• Maintains on-street parking in front of the Longhouse

• Overlaps with Duwamish River Trail on the east side of West Marginal Way  

Option b) Extend the existing on-street parking north to the Duwamish Trail signal

• Provides 30 additional on-street parking spaces for Longhouse access, freight parking, and Herring's House Park overflow

• Complements new sidewalk being installed on west side of West Marginal Way  

Option c) Remove lane drop, opening the outside (right) lane back up to general traffic

• Reintroduces sightline issue for drivers leaving Longhouse parking lot

• Removes on-street parking in front of Longhouse

• Likely to increase vehicle speeds along this stretch of West Marginal Way

• Negligible change to southbound travel times

3. Speeding 

We are committed to Vision Zero goals of reducing motorist speeding, crashing, and fatalities. In 2020, we installed six speed radar signs along West Marginal Way SW to help reduce travel speeds from 40 mph to 30 mph. We found that the radar feedback signs reduced vehicle speeds by up to 11% so far.

Project Timeline 

Winter 2021

• Engage area businesses, community partners, and neighbors.

• Outreach to businesses along West Marginal Way via online business survey 

• Mailer to West Seattle residents 

• Virtual Open House on February 18, 2021

Spring 2021

• Compile and analyze feedback

• Select preferred design option Summer-Fall 2021

• Project construction and completion

Community engagement

We want to hear your thoughts on the planned and proposed projects to ensure the consideration of broad community and stakeholder concerns ahead of planning, design, and installation in 2021. SDOT is also working with the freight community and businesses along West Marginal Way SW to improve freight access along this corridor.

Join us at our Virtual Open House: Thursday, February 18, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Use this link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88433928185. Or, if you prefer to just watch the open house, you can view it on YouTube. 

To request an interpreter or accommodations for persons with disabilities at the Virtual Open House, please contact us at (206) 400-7511 or WestSeattleBridge@seattle.gov at least 3 days prior to the meeting date.