On June 11, Seattle officials celebrated the completion of a $17.45 million overhaul of Pike Street and Pine Street, improving safety and connectivity between Downtown and Capitol Hill. Mayor Bruce Harrell cut the ceremonial ribbon and noted the plan was “delivering on a core promise” on his Downtown Activation Plan. The project has been long in the making and first got rolling under a previous administration.
“With more people returning downtown for in-person work, major events, shopping, dining, and exploring, we are delivering upgraded infrastructure that makes it easier and more comfortable to walk, roll, or ride to your destination,” Harrell said in his remarks. “With the Club World Cup kicking off this weekend and the 2026 World Cup just a year away, this corridor is designed to keep downtown moving — both for our daily use and for global moments.”
The long road to multimodal bliss
The project features upgraded bike lanes on Pike and Pine, which now include planters and curbs for added protection. The City also widened the sidewalks in the bridges over I-5. Both changes took years of negotiation with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), which initially balked at the added weight on the bridge span, which it owns along with the freeway below. WSDOT later relented and approved the design.
Much of the funding for the Pike Pine project came from the public benefits package for the $2 billion Washington State Convention Center Addition. In 2017, a coalition of advocates pushed to increase the size of that benefits package to $83 million, with $10 million earmarked for Pike/Pine improvements. That same year, the City unveiled its early designs for the project, dubbed the Pike Pine Renaissance at the time.
With the completion of the project, the corridor now features 1.2 miles of new or improved protected bike lanes stretching from 2nd Avenue to Bellevue and Melrose Avenues, the Mayor’s Office said, along with upgraded bike signals and enhanced buffers between people biking and vehicles. “The project also includes new and improved push-button crosswalk signals, curb ramps, and high-visibility crosswalks with contrasting colors, creating a more cohesive experience throughout the corridor. In addition, more than 1,400 plants and new seating have been installed across 23 city blocks.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the widened sidewalk with the freeway below. The Harrell Administration wisely brought sound amplification so that the slate of speakers could be heard over the roar of automobiles. Further up the hill, the City ran into design issues at the complicated intersection where Pike meets Melrose Avenue, prompting last-minute design changes while users are still encountering some issues.
Office of the Waterfront director Angela Brady noted the Pike/Pine upgrades were an essential component of the Seattle Waterfront Program — an $806 million waterfront overhaul attached to the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project. In addition to adding new streets and widened boulevards to replace the dismantled (now buried) double-decker highway, waterfront upgrades includes adding Overlook Walk and the Park Promenade near Pike Place Market.
“Pike and Pine streets are now greener, more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, with more enjoyable and accessible connections to Seattle’s downtown core, to Capitol Hill, to Pike Place Market, and to our new iconic Waterfront Park, whether you are a visitor or resident,” Brady said. “These 23 blocks of enhancements will make it easier for folks who want to enjoy all that downtown has to offer, while providing convenient connections to the waterfront’s incredible views from Overlook Walk and the Park Promenade.”
After advocates had been pushing for the city to explore full pedestrianization as part of this project, the City ultimately relented and pedestrianized only one half-block of Pike Street between First and Second Avenue.
That block “has been transformed into a curbless street designed for flexible use as a plaza or festival street without general-purpose vehicle traffic,” the Mayor’s Office noted. “To further activate this popular destination, SDOT and the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) recently unveiled the reimagined First & Pike public space — a pedestrian-only plaza at one of Seattle’s most iconic locations, directly across from Pike Place Market. This partnership introduced new furniture, signage, and planters, and created a vibrant, people-centered space that features daily events and programming every Tuesday through Sunday during the summer, courtesy of DSA.”
The Harrell Administration is also conducting a pedestrianization pilot program on Pike Place, just to the west — after years of advocacy from urbanists and safe streets groups.
Leaders from safe streets groups were on hand at the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Pike/Pine route.
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways executive director Gordon Padelford said high quality protected bike lanes attract more people to biking or rolling, making it fun to get around.
“The Pike Pine Streetscape and Bicycle Improvements Project connects two of Seattle’s densest neighborhoods with high-quality protected bike infrastructure suitable for people of all ages and abilities,” Padelford said. “Downtown and Capitol Hill are both dense neighborhoods where people choose to get around by bike because it’s efficient, attractive, and fun when it’s safe.”
Cascade Bicycle Club executive director Lee Lambert’s remarks pointed to the importance of putting safe facilities in the most traffic snarled spots.
“The completion of the protected bike lanes on Pike and Pine proves that Seattle’s bicycle network can successfully expand along our city’s busiest travel corridors,” Lambert said. “This milestone shows that when we prioritize safe, direct connections between neighborhoods, Seattle doesn’t just move better — it thrives. This isn’t just an investment in bike safety; it’s a step toward a smarter, more inclusive transportation system that works for everyone – whether they bike, walk, roll, drive, or take transit.”
Next steps to improve the bike network
With one key bike connection upgraded, the question for bike advocates now turns to what comes next. Lambert pointed to the resources in $1.55 billion Seattle Transportation Levy that voters approved in 2024. While the new levy is more open-ended than the last one and only explicitly promised 10 miles of new protected bike lanes, Lambert noted many of the pots of money in the levy could be used to fund important bike upgrades.
“I’m excited about the levy and the resources that are in the levy for the next round of projects that are being built, but there will be a challenge about the use of the public space,” Lambert said. “When we’re adding bike lanes in, we’re making streets safer, but sometimes that means narrowing lanes, and sometimes that means reallocating parking right away. And so I’m looking forward to building out this bike network in the South End of the city and making critical east-west connections in the north end, because it’s really needed. We’ve done a good job of getting north to south, but the topography and the biking infrastructure makes it a little hard to get east to west all over the city.”
The levy does include funding to upgrade existing bike lanes, expanding on the Seattle Department of Transportation’s “Even Better Bike Lane” program. Cascade Bicycle Club sees those upgrades as key to attracting people who less seasoned bike riders.
“So, I think there’s 17 miles of better bike barriers in the levy,” Lambert said. “So you’ll see those popping up, and they won’t be technically new bike lanes, but they’ll be more accessible to the all ages and abilities crowd, as opposed to folks who fill out our confident riders.
The other looming question for bike advocates as Seattle’s network improves and ties in more highly popular destinations is to ensure facilities are wide enough to handle growing bike traffic, including from a booming scootershare and bikeshare market.
“I would prioritize making connections in the near term, and then as funding becomes available, widening out our chokepoints in the system,” Lambert said. “I sound like a broken record here: We really need to invest in the South Seattle bike network, because a lot of folks who want to ride down there don’t because they don’t feel safe.”
Similarly for the pedestrian network, despite the apparent popularity of a newly car-free Pike Place and rising concern over the growing number of pedestrian-killing crashes, no immediate official plans have emerged to pedestrianize other streets. Sidewalk upgrades and expansions which got a significant funding bump in the levy, will help. But a broader vision to transform Seattle’s streets to be pedestrian-friendly at a world class level largely appears off in the distance and out of focus for now.
Economic catalyst and art integration
Harrell also invited business leaders to the event, who also spoke to the importance of improving the pedestrian environment. “A delightful pedestrian experience is critical for creating a healthy and vibrant downtown experience,” said Jon Scholes, President and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association.
Scholes also gave a nod to plans to lid the downtown section of I-5 and damper the noise the freeway emanates. The convention center benefits package also included $1.5 million to study lidding I-5.
Anne Johnson, who is general manager of The State Hotel, echoed that sentiment. The State Hotel borders the recently pedestrianized block of Pike Street.
“We are incredibly excited about the potential this pedestrian-friendly space offers,” Johnson said. “A pedestrian-friendly environment isn’t merely a pleasant amenity; it’s an economic catalyst. When people feel safe and comfortable walking, they explore, they linger, and they support local businesses.”
Additionally, the project incorporated public art, which Director of the Office of Arts & Culture Gülgün Kayim said builds on the benefit. The railings, planters, and concrete bike lane buffers on both bridges incorporate artwork, which the Mayor’s Office said “establishes a unifying visual identity from Capitol Hill through downtown and ending at Pike Place Market.”
“Pike and Pine are the two most important east-west streets in the central part of Downtown,” Kayim said. “Derek Bruno and Gage Hamilton’s Sound to Summit integrates art with infrastructure, connecting the density and energy of Capitol Hill to the retail core, Pike Place Market, and our extraordinary waterfront.”
After the speechifying was done, the ribbon was cut and Pike and Pike went back to being the workhorse of circulation between Seattle’s two beating hearts downtown and on Capitol Hill.
Doug Trumm is publisher of The Urbanist. An Urbanist writer since 2015, he dreams of pedestrian streets, bus lanes, and a mass-timber building spree to end our housing crisis. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2019. He lives in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood and loves to explore the city by foot and by bike.