A trove of documents obtained from City of Seattle through public disclosure requests shows work is proceeding gradually but steadily inside the transportation department to take advantage of Washington State’s new Shared Streets Law. Pedestrianizing a number of streets could be around the corner.
Cities in Washington will have the legal authority to create shared streets, which feature much lower speed limits and put pedestrians first, under Senate Bill 5595. Governor Bob Ferguson signed the bill into law Saturday. It will go into effect on July 27.
The rollout of high-tech adaptive traffic signals on Mercer Street failed to fix “the Mercer Mess,” worsening outcomes for people walking, rolling, and biking.
The Seattle Department of Transportation activated a new adaptive traffic signal system along the Mercer corridor intended to be a smarter approach to moving traffic. But it's made things much worse for people walking, rolling, and biking.