A major choke point for buses and the Seattle Streetcar in Denny Triangle is set to get an overhaul that will speed up transit and improve pedestrian mobility at the same time.
Currently, buses and streetcar vehicles heading northbound on Westlake Avenue have access to a curbside business access and transit (BAT) lane giving them priority over other through traffic. But with right turns onto Denny Way allowed from Westlake, that BAT lane often fills up with motorists trying to turn onto Denny, which is often gridlocked. This is particularly harmful for the reliability of the South Lake Union Streetcar, which can’t change lanes to get around turning traffic. But a fix is on the way.
Later this summer, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) intends to make the curbside lane of Westlake Avenue in this block transit-only, by prohibiting right turns onto Denny Way. The two northbound lanes will be separated by a low curb preventing drivers from entering the bus lane at the last minute, mirroring similar interventions separating the bus lane on Westlake Avenue N a few blocks north.
If implemented well and enforced — a big caveat — the change will benefit hundreds of transit vehicles per day across the streetcar, RapidRide C, and Route 40 buses that pass through this block. The reconfiguration will also be a significant boon to pedestrians crossing the intersection, who currently have to wait for left-turning vehicles and then right-turning vehicles before getting a “WALK” signal, only to have those vehicles block the crosswalk during times of peak congestion. Transit riders and people walking and rolling across the intersection alike will get prioritized with this change.
With right turns banned at Denny, signage will be needed to alert eastbound drivers of the need to turn right at Lenora Street. Otherwise, motorists may need to take a circuitous route through South Lake Union to reach the eastbound Denny Way lanes. Those signage improvements will be key to getting this adjustment implemented well.
This is a move that SDOT considered nearly a decade ago when it implemented transit improvements on Westlake, including those BAT lanes. Data from 2016 showed around 500 pedestrians were crossing Denny Way at this spot every hour during rush hour — a number that’s almost certainly much higher now — but a ban on right turns was discarded in favor of a dedicated right-turn signal, prioritizing vehicle movement over pedestrian safety and transit mobility.
It’s not exactly clear what prompted SDOT to reassess its 2015 proposal, but decreasing bus reliability is a growing problem. The share of King County Metro buses that aren’t on time is at its highest level in at least five years, pointing to the need for more interventions like this across the city. This upgrade will combine with improvements underway to the Route 40 through Westlake, Fremont, and Ballard to keep buses moving — helping nearly 9,000 riders per day who use that route.
These transit lane adjustments were announced as part of SDOT’s Denny Way repaving project, which recently wrapped up most of its major construction work. That project has prompted criticism for including minimal changes to Denny’s street layout, apart from a few minor pedestrian upgrades and bus stop readjustments. Despite prodding from within SDOT’s more progressive ranks to consider turning Denny Way “into something more that fits in with our big picture for Vision Zero,” the department’s traffic operations division vetoed consideration of more robust changes, including more bus-only lanes for the infamously delayed Route 8.
Transit advocates aren’t letting that issue fall to the wayside, however. The Fix the L8 campaign — an offshoot of Central Seattle Greenways — employed unique measures to get the issue of Route 8 improvements onto the radar of city leaders. Last month, the group hosted a “Race the L8” event that asked participants to find the most absurd ways to walk up Denny Way that would be faster than taking the bus during a busy evening rush hour. Hundreds showed up, juggling and balancing soda cans on their heads and leapfrogging one another up the steep Denny hill, still beating the perpetually delayed bus.
That high-profile event clearly inspired another one just like it in New York City, which mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani participated in. Seattle’s event, meanwhile, brought out progressive candidates like Katie Wilson and Dionne Foster, who went on to perform incredibly well against their incumbent opponents in the city’s August primary.
While those badly needed Route 8 upgrades remain more elusive, the spot improvement for northbound buses at Westlake Avenue is way overdue, and is poised to benefit thousands of transit riders and pedestrians every single day.
Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
