Aurora Ave Project

Updated December 18, 2024

Project Background  

Aurora Ave N (SR 99) is one of the busiest streets in Seattle, linking people to their homes, businesses, services, and jobs. This corridor serves the region's highest ridership bus route, the RapidRide E Line, and is vital for freight mobility. Additionally, it is a top safety priority for SDOT, as it has high rates of serious injuries and fatal crashes, particularly affecting pedestrians. 

Infrastructure Updates Needed:  

Many sections of Aurora Ave N would benefit from essential infrastructure improvements, including: 

  • Sidewalks to ensure comfortable walking paths and accessible routes.
  • Enhanced lighting for better visibility.
  • Improved pedestrian crossings to enhance safety and accessibility.
  • Updated drainage facilities to prevent water accumulation. 

Safety and Mobility Improvements:  

Aurora Ave N has long been a focus for transportation improvements that enhance safety and mobility for all users. We want to enhance the safety and mobility for everyone traveling along this important route by: 

  • Increasing comfort and access for people walking and rolling.
  • Reducing collisions for all road travelers.
  • Improving the quality of transit service. 

Project Map 

From Harrison St near the SR 99 Tunnel, to N 145th St at the Seattle city limits, Aurora Ave N is about 7.6 miles long. 

Along this stretch, Aurora moves through many types of land use, urban villages, roadway cross sections, and varying access needs. We've divided the corridor study into five segments to focus our analysis, planning, design, and community engagement on the unique needs of each area.

  • Segment 1 - Roy St to N 38th St
  • Segment 2 - N 38th St to Winona Ave N
  • Segment 3 - Winona Ave N to N 85th St
  • Segment 4 - N 85th St to N 115th St
  • Segment 5 - N 115th St to N 145th St 

A map showing 5 segments - Roy St to N 38th St, N 38th St to Winona Ave N, Winona Ave N to N 85th St, N 85th St to N 115th St, and N 115th St to N 145th St

Our Projects

The Corridor Planning Study 

Working with our agency partners (King County Metro and Washington State Department of Transportation), SDOT launched a Corridor Planning Study to create a community-driven design vision for Aurora Ave N. This study will also develop a  plan to guide future investments in the corridor.  

The objectives of the Corridor Planning Study are to: 

  • Develop a new design vision for the Aurora Ave N corridor that enhances safety, mobility, and accessibility for all travelers.   
  • Address the needs of residents, businesses, and corridor stakeholders in a unified vision for the corridor through an equitable and robust engagement process.   
  • Consider collision history and safety challenges along the corridor with a focus on addressing the most serious collisions and collisions involving vulnerable road users.    
  • Identify potential transit service improvements and connections (e.g., with nearby light rail stations), as well as safety and security improvements (e.g., at transit stops).   
  • Develop a strategy to construct corridor improvements as resources become available.   

The planning phase is currently ongoing and will continue through 2027.

Capital Corridor Project 

Once the Corridor Planning Study is complete, SDOT will be well positioned to kick-off design for the Capital Corridor Project. Given the length of the Aurora Ave N corridor, we are expecting capital work to be implemented in several phases over many years. More details about project sequencing and environmental permitting will emerge as we complete our planning work. 

SDOT’s Vision Zero team has considered feedback from the Corridor Planning Study and corridor safety data to identify several improvements that can be addressed in the near-term. These projects are focused on tackling recurring collision patterns along Aurora Ave N. 

Completed Safety Projects: 

  • Installed head start pedestrian signals (also known as Leading Pedestrian Intervals) at all signalized intersections.
  • Introduced “No Turn on Red” restrictions at intersections, in line with our SDOT policy.
  • Repainted and widened all marked crosswalks along the corridor. 

Upcoming Safety Projects:  

Over the next year, we plan to implement additional improvements: 

  • A new crossing signal at N 137th St for people walking and biking along with left turn and thru-movement restrictions at the intersection. 
  • New left turn and thru-movement restrictions with curbing and median islands at three intersections. 
  • New mountable “hardened centerline” treatments to encourage slower left turns at six intersections.  

View a map of these safety projects and more detailed project maps with rerouting information.

As we construct these priority projects, we are also planning for a second phase of near-term improvements that will address additional crash patterns on the corridor.  

Planned Mobility Improvements 

Revive I-5 Bus Lane Improvement

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is planning dozens of preservation projects to revive Interstate 5 (I-5) in King and Snohomish counties. WSDOT’s Revive I-5 project will include pavement repair and full replacement, expansion joints, and seismic work to strengthen bridges against earthquakes. Construction will require long-term lane closures along I-5 starting in spring 2025. 

To help manage extra traffic on Aurora Ave N caused by these upcoming I-5 lane closures, we will be making changes to existing bus lanes on Aurora Ave N. Starting in February 2025, bus lanes will be in effect all day, every day, instead of only during peak hours. To make space for the 24/7 bus lanes, some parking spots and loading zones will be removed. These changes aim to keep traffic flowing on Aurora Ave N and make bus trips faster and more reliable. 

New Northbound Bus Lane 

Following reduced and suspended service during the COVID-19 pandemic, SDOT began working with King County Metro to prioritize investments that help move buses more efficiently on critical routes. In 2021, we began planning three new projects to build priority bus lanes on corridors served by bus routes that maintained high ridership throughout the pandemic, including the RapidRide E Line. In coordination with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), this project will install northbound bus only lanes on Aurora Ave N between Prospect St and Lynn St to help maintain transit travel time and reliability. Implementation is planned for mid-2025.   

Completed Mobility Improvements

Green Lake Outer Loop

The Green Lake Outer Loop is a connected path around Green Lake Park that provides more travel options for people walking, running, biking, and creates better connections to surrounding neighborhoods. SDOT worked in coordination with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Seattle Parks and Recreation, and adjacent stakeholders to complete the Green Lake Outer Loop by converting one northbound lane on Aurora Ave N (between N 68th St and W Green Lake Dr N) to a two-way protected pathway for people on bikes, scooters, roller blades, and other modes of active transportation. In addition, the project installed two new Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) and other traffic calming treatments on Winona Ave N to enhance safety and accessibility for people walking and rolling to community destinations. The bike path was installed in 2022, and other project elements were completed in April 2024.  

Project Schedules and Funding

Corridor Planning Study

  • Phase 1: 2022-2024 
  • Phase 2: 2025-2026  

Vision Zero Near-Term Safety Improvements 

  • Phase 1: 2023-2025 
  • Phase 2: 2026 

Capital Corridor Project (phased implementation)  

  • Design: 2027-2029 
  • Construction: 2030+ 
  • Potential Future Phases (TBD)  

The Aurora Ave Project is supported by a combination of local, state, and federal funding sources. Our currently secured or anticipated funding sources include: 

Corridor Planning Study (Phase 1 and 2) 

  • WSDOT Pedestrian and Bicycle Program
  • King County Metro Partner Contribution
  • Levy to Move Seattle
  • FTA Equity Formula Funds  
  • Seattle Public Utilities Partner Contribution
  • Seattle Transit Measure
  • Move Ahead Washington 

Capital Corridor Project (Design and Construction Phases) 

  • FHWA Surface Transportation Block Grant
  • Move Ahead Washington
  • Seattle Transportation Levy (2025-2032) 

Vision Zero Safety Improvements (Phase 1 and Future Phases) 

  • Levy to Move Seattle
  • Seattle Transportation Levy (2025-2032) 

SDOT is appreciative of all the partnership and support we have received to date. As the project advances, we will continue to pursue additional funding opportunities to support future design and construction phases.  

Community Outreach

The Corridor Planning Study has included community engagement opportunities throughout the project. You can see the feedback we received during our phases and how it has been incorporated in our materials section below.  

People looking at concept designs for Aurora at a community meeting

In March 2024, we shared ideas for future improvements along Aurora Ave N, based on community feedback. These concepts need more outreach, design, and funding to develop further and implement. 

Summer/Fall  2022

  • Developed Survey #1 and conducted a robust outreach effort to share it widely.  We went door to door to businesses, tabled at local stores, met with members of the disability community, talked with transit riders, used social media and multi-ethnic media.  
  • The survey was translated into Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. We got feedback from over 2,000 community members about their key concerns and safety priorities for Aurora Ave.   

Spring/Summer 2023

  • Held community workshops and engaged over 450 residents, community leaders, local businesses, and service providers to help create a vision and design plans for the future of Aurora Ave, including public transit in the area. 
  • We developed Survey #2 to guide the participatory workshops. This survey included questions about transit service improvements and mirrors the categories of analysis on safety, mobility and accessibility improvements included in the handouts used during the collaborative workshops. We translated the survey into Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
  • Throughout May and July of 2023 we met with people with disabilities and agencies that support them, seniors, students, multicultural residents, sex workers, people experiencing homelessness, transit riders, and delivery persons. 

Spring 2024  

  • Created the Community Ideas Hub webpage to share draft ideas for future improvements along Aurora Ave N, based on community feedback. We also shared our draft evaluation criteria to help us assess how well the community's ideas meet our project goals and to highlight the trade-offs between different concepts.
  • Developed Survey #3 to get feedback on whether the draft ideas include the range of improvements and priorities for Aurora Ave N that we heard in earlier phases. The survey was translated into Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. 
  • Spread the word using social media posts, webpage and listserv updates, public open houses, and over a dozen briefings with our modal advisory boards, community groups, and advocacy organizations. 
  • Received over 6,800 responses to our survey. We learned that 60% of respondents felt their ideas were represented in the draft design ideas while less than 10% felt their ideas were not represented.

More Information

Outreach and Engagement

Corridor Planning Study

Near-Term Safety Improvements Documents

 

Translation and Interpretation

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Greg Spotts, Director
Address: 700 5th Ave, Suite 3800, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: PO Box 34996, Seattle, WA, 98124-4996
Phone: (206) 684-7623
684-Road@seattle.gov

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The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is on a mission to deliver a transportation system that provides safe and affordable access to places and opportunities for everyone as we work to achieve our vision of Seattle as a thriving, equitable community powered by dependable transportation.