Bike riders have been eagerly watching for updates on the status of the new two-way bike path along the Seattle Waterfront next to Alaskan Way, part of the $806 million corridor revamp that is nearing completion. Unfortunately, they will have to wait several more months for the full connection, despite an initial timeline pledging an opening by the end of 2024.
A new update from Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront, the specialized City department tasked with opening the waterfront megaproject, details a phased opening, with the full corridor between Colman Dock and the Seattle Aquarium at least a few months away. That means people on bikes trying to travel through the full corridor will continue to face conflicts, either between people walking on the promenade or with drivers on Alaskan Way. However, they will soon be able to use the separated lane for an additional five blocks.
“Along the Park Promenade, work is actively progressing to extend the protected bike lane, which is currently opened to Yesler Way,” Office of the Waterfront spokesperson Iris Picat told The Urbanist. “We anticipate the section up to Seneca Street will open within the next two weeks, once signage is installed and signals pass inspection and testing. The remaining segment, north of Seneca Street, is still under construction and currently on schedule to open before spring.”
The delay pushes the new bike lane’s opening fairly close to when the City of Seattle cuts the ribbon on the overall waterfront project, after starting construction in 2019.
North of the widely-praised new Overlook Walk, near Pier 62, a beefy elevated bike path sits behind a fence, as the City is waiting on the full connection to open it. Once open, it will connect riders from the north under the pedestrian overpass and back around to the waterfront.
A separated connection further north, tying in the Olympic Sculpture Park and Myrtle Edwards Park, began construction last month and is expected to open later this year. To the south, construction on a short bike lane along Yesler Way to connect to the existing bike lanes on Second and Fourth Avenues has been pushed back to spring as well.
With the vehicle lanes along Alaskan Way long since finished and open, many have been frustrated by the phased construction that puts the bike connection near the end of the yearslong construction schedule. Bike lane work has been tied together with landscaping and other planned improvements, which put it toward the end of the marathon project. The corridor has been without a dedicated space for bikes for over half a decade, and intuitive detours through the construction of the waterfront’s pedestrian promenade have been few and far between.
There are several big milestones to come for the waterfront project in 2025, on top of the new bike path. Brand new Pier 58, the former site of Waterfront Park, will add more water side space for park strollers when it opens this year. That park features what is surely the city’s most anticipated new playground, featuring a large jellyfish climbing structure, complete with a slide. The new park will also feature Waterfront Park’s original 1974 fountain, created by James FitzGerald and Margaret Tomkins, restored and refreshed.
While The Urbanist noted that the reality of the new waterfront bike path falls short of what was presented during years of public engagement on the overall waterfront redevelopment, the new facility is sure to be iconic as soon as it’s open. The segment close to Colman Dock features art by Oscar Tuazon, with overhead wooden posts creating a tunnel effect for riders along the pathway.
“In consultation with the Suquamish and Muckleshoot Tribes, Oscar Tuazon initiated a project to honor a uniquely Salish form that combines architecture and sculpture, the living tradition of carved house posts,” the Office of the Waterfront’s website notes of Tuazon’s work. “This collaborative project with carvers Randi Purser, Tyson Simmons, and Keith Stevenson invites visitors to learn from the longhouse and to envision Indigenous futures on the Salish Sea.”
With segments narrowing to nine-feet wide and zig zags that are sure to create pinch points, the long-anticipated bike path will likely become quite crowded during the months of highest use, and widening in future years will likely prove quite costly, if undertaken at all. The metal barriers along either side of the path provide very little in the way of a recovery zone, and utilities and lighting fixtures have been built right up to the edge of the path in many places. While not futureproof and ready for its own popularity, finally restoring a dedicated bike path along the busy waterfront will be a significant milestone… when it finally arrives.
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 Capitol Hill Seattle, BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.