3.7 Transportation
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3.7 Transportation This chapter presents a multimodal transportation analysis prepared to evaluate the potential impacts of implementing the range of land use alternatives under consideration. The chapter presents existing transportation conditions within the City of Seattle, as well as future transportation conditions under four alternatives—one No Action Alternative rep- resenting a continuation of the City's Urban Village Strategy and three action alternatives reflecting variations in how the City may manage the distribution of future growth over the next twenty years. Significant transportation impacts and potential mitigation strategies are identified for each future action alternative based on the policies and recommendations established in local plans. 3.7.1 Affected Environment This section describes the existing transportation conditions in Seattle. Information is provid- ed on a citywide basis as well as for eight defined areas (or "EIS analysis sectors") described in Chapter 2 and shown in Figure 2–17 and Figure 3.7–1, including Northwest Seattle, North- east Seattle, Queen Anne/Magnolia, Downtown/Lake Union, Capitol Hill/Central District, West Seattle, Duwamish and Southeast Seattle. These sectors are used throughout the analysis to describe how transportation conditions vary within the city. Figure 3.7–1 EIS analysis sectors Existing Transportation Network I-5 SR-99 SR-522 SR-523 This section describes the existing transportation network in Seattle for all (1) NW Seattle modes, including pedestrians, bicycles, transit, autos and freight. (2) NE Seattle Green Lake PEDESTRIAN NETWORK SR-513 (3) Queen Anne/ SR-520 The Seattle pedestrian network is composed of sidewalks, crosswalks, staircas- Lake Magnolia Union es, pedestrian bridges, curb ramps and trails. Most urban centers and urban vil- (4) Downtown/Puget LakeSound Union Lake lages have well-connected sidewalk networks. The 2009 Seattle Pedestrian Mas- (5) Capitol Hill/ Washington ter Plan (PMP) states that there are over 6,000 marked crosswalks, 2,256 miles Central District I-90 of sidewalks and 26,712 curb ramps in Seattle as of 2008 (SDOT 2009). However, (6) W Seattle SR-99 the study did find that approximately 30 percent of all residential zones do not (7) Duwamish I-5 have a sidewalk on one or both sides of the street. These locations are mostly (8) SE Seattle found in the Northwest and Northeast Seattle sectors north of NE 85th Street, SR-599 0 0.5 1 2 near the southwest city boundaries in the West Seattle Sector, in sections of the miles SR-509 SR-900 Duwamish Sector and the edges of the Southeast Seattle Sector. 3.7–1 FACT SHEET 1. SUMMARY Seattle Comprehensive Plan Update Draft EIS May 4, 2015 2. ALTERNATIVES 3. ANALYSIS 3.7 Transportation 4. REFERENCES APPENDICES The PMP designated "high priority" areas based on high potential pedestrian demand, equi- ty and corridor function. Generally these areas coincide with designated urban villages, ur- ban centers and are along major transit corridors. With this information, the City prioritized pedestrian improvement locations into two tiers, with the highest priority areas categorized as "Tier 1" locations. These Tier 1 areas are mapped in Figure 3.7–2 and Figure 3.7–3. Figure 3.7–2 identifies the "along the roadway” areas noted for pedestrian improvements. The “along the roadway” analysis is indicative of the comfort level of pedestrians based on presence of sidewalks, buffers such as landscaping and the traffic volume or speeds on roads. Figure 3.7–3 identifies the “crossing the roadway” pedestrian improvements. The “crossing the roadway” improvement locations are intersections with high vehicle volumes that may need crosswalk improvements such as striping or curb ramps. The "along the roadway" improvements are generally located in the north half of the North- west and Northeast Seattle sectors, north of NE 85th Street. Other locations with a number of improvement projects are in Southeast Seattle and the Duwamish Sector. Crossing the roadway improvements are more spread throughout Seattle with projects in all sectors of the city. From 2008 to 2012, there have been 63 new blocks of sidewalk constructed, 97 blocks of sidewalks repaired and over 150 pedestrian crossings improved, among other improvement projects such as installing school zone signs and pedestrian beacons (SDOT 2010a; SDOT 2010b; SDOT 2012b; SDOT 2013). BICYCLE NETWORK Seattle has over 300 miles of bicycle facilities. There are 47 miles of off-street facilities such as multi-use trails, 3 miles of cycle tracks—protected bicycle lanes physically separated (raised or with an on-street barrier), 6 miles of neighborhood greenway, 78 miles of bicycle and climbing lanes, 92 miles of shared street bicycle facilities, or “sharrows” and 128 miles of signed routes; SDOT 2014f).1 The Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) map of the existing bicycle network is shown in Figure 3.7–4; the recommended future network is shown in Figure 3.7–5. Bicycle facilities are spread throughout the city and are more prevalent in urban centers such as Downtown, First/Capitol Hill, the University District, South Lake Union and Uptown (also known as Lower Queen Anne). Trails are generally along the water (Lake Washington, Ship Canal, Puget Sound), while neighborhood greenways are in more residential locations of the Northwest, Northeast, Southeast and West Seattle sectors. Locations of gaps in the bicycle network are identified throughout Seattle in the BMP, which recommends over 400 miles of new bicycle facilities and connections by 2030. The City collects bicycle counts on a quarterly basis at 50 locations in Seattle. The BMP states that the highest bicycle count locations are at ship canal crossings, and in the South 1 Total miles of bicycle facilities do not include 128 miles of signed bicycle routes. 3.7–2 FACT SHEET Seattle Comprehensive Plan Update Draft EIS May 4, 2015 1. SUMMARY 2. ALTERNATIVES 3.7 Transportation 3. ANALYSIS 4. REFERENCES APPENDICES E N E V A H T N 130TH ST NE 5 130TH ST 1 E N NE 125TH ST Y A N W E Y V T I A C D E K O N 115TH ST A O L N N W E E N V V E A A E NE NORTHGATE WAY R A N G R A I O D I R R U E E A N M E W V N A D R T N S A 1 LM O H N 92ND ST R A E V E N N NW 8 E 5TH ST N N 85TH ST V A A H A V T 5 E W EA N N S E T E G R E V E E N A N L E H A W K V T E A 5 N D 1 R H E N T V 5 A 3 E H N T 4 Y 2 NW 65TH ST A NE 6 W 5TH ST N E K T I L N E R E Y E V K V A A W E N W S E Y T O E E O N N V I O N A O O D E P NW MA E RKET ST R N V H I D N P A T H N L NE 55TH ST 5 E A P H S N 2 V T A 5 N 50TH ST 1 N 50TH ST NE 50TH ST H E NW LEARY WAY T 0 N 2 E L L P R E V H N B A N 45TH A ST T R NE 45TH ST 5 E 4 D Y H E V R W T N A 5 A A 2 T L Y L N N E A W O N B M N N 40TH ST NE 40TH ST D E Y A V R L F W E B W T N G E IC ID S K R K ER B IC SO F A N S I L T C T E N A 3 N 4TH P E R S T V N O B A M W A D E R R V A O A V R E R D U G E A R A I V 3 L H M A A U W E A E N R K E O V W MCGRAW ST A D E L A R E R V BOSTON ST A T H A S W E T A V A H 5 V E A T 1 E 0 D N 1 R E 3 4 E V N A E E H L V L T A IO 4 N N R T 2 T E E O A V T L V S V E A Y A E N E A R W E T O V E IS N A T D N N E M ERCER ST X A H E A E E M E T V E Y N D 5 V N A 1 A A E E E V W D W U A D E R I 3 Q Y A H V A E JOHN ST 2 T R 1 O I S 5 W T DENNY WAY R A E A B V F IV E L O Y T A S E E PINE ST A W I N R I J G ST E E UNION ST V R E G I Y IN A V A P N I D K W R D T 3 L S 2 N A 3 O M R O IS E D R AD V B A A M V 9 B E 4 T O H T H R T H 4 E A N 1 A V V E A S E V E E E YESLER WAY V A T S JACKSON ST S S S 1 E E V V A A D H R T 3 4 2 S E V S A E H V T A 4 T 1 S 1 S W S E A V D A M H I R T A 5 L W A W Y S WEST SE S ATTLE E BR WB S SPO KANE ST E V V A A A I H N T 5 R 1 O F I L A C SW ALASKA ST S AL ASKA ST B E A W C S S O E Y V N A A A W H V E T E 4 G S D I R L E M D L L P K S W ST O I N Y S N R A B L IG L S G SW V E H A W MORGA IC N ST V A M S J S R N A I F W W T W S H S A E A T E A V B Y Y 6 V E S V 1 A S S A S R S W I B H L L T S E 5 S M V YRT 3 LE ST A T S OT S HELLO ST 1 SW HOLDEN ST B S 9 0 5 R H S T S 6 S E W 1 R S V 5 A E 0 V 9 R E A S C LOVER I N DALE ST H B N I T A 9 SW HENDERSON ST R W S L P N O LS SW ROXB O URY ST SW ROXBURY ST Tier 1 Along the Roadway Score in High Priority Areas Miles Legend 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 Tier 1 Along the Roadway Score High Priority Areas Urban Village Transit Network 2 8 9 2 1 1 1 2 4 9 - - - - - 0 3 9 0 3 1 1 3 4 Urban Centers and Villages July 27, 2009 ©2009, THE CITY OF SEATTLE.