Mt Baker-Columbia City-Hillman City Healthy Street
Updated November 2026
What's Happening Now?
The Mt Baker healthy street is now completed, and the Hillman City/Othello Healthy Street is soon becoming permanent!
The Mt Baker Healthy Street is on 34th Ave S between S Mt Baker Blvd and S Horton St. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to care for planters.
We're in the design stage for the Hillman City/Othello Healthy Street. Thank you to everyone who volunteered for a planter. We will install painted curb bulbs with permanent signage at each intersection along the Healthy Street. The new signs will have either concrete cylinder sign bases, planter sign bases, or bases that are mounted to the street surface with wheel stops around them. The painted curb bulbs will help prevent people from parking too close to the intersection and typically do not remove legal parking spaces.
You can sign up for email updates to get the latest news about your Healthy Street!
Pictured above: the two permanent Healthy Street sign options. On the left is a Healthy Street sign with a planter, and on the right is a sign with the concrete base.
Project Map
Mt Baker Area
Hillman City/Othello Area
The Hillman City/Othello Healthy Street starts on 39th Ave S at S Graham St and continues to S Morgan St and 42nd Ave S. It continues south on 44th Ave S, S Myrtle St, and 45th Ave S ending at Othello Park.
What are Healthy Streets?
Healthy Streets are closed to pass-through traffic, but open to people walking, rolling, biking, or playing. They provide more space for people to use the street with the goal of improving community and individual health. Permanent Healthy Streets have:
- Signs with concrete bases, planters, and painted curb bulbs at each intersection. We typically do not need to remove any legal street parking to make these intersection upgrades. The changes help improve visibility by preventing people from parking too close to the intersection.
- Other design features to calm traffic and improve safety for people walking, biking, and rolling. This can include features such as street markings, speed humps, stop signs, flashing beacons, and crosswalks.
Both Healthy Streets and Neighborhood Greenways have features to calm traffic and prioritize people walking, biking, and rolling. Neighborhood Greenways do not have the same signs and intersection features discouraging pass-through traffic used on Healthy Streets. Healthy Streets can also be used as Play Streets without needing a permit.
You can learn more about the Healthy Streets and Neighborhood Greenways on our webpages.
Design Elements
Mt Baker and Hillman City/Othello Segments (A and C on Project Map):
- Repainted crosswalks on S Mt Baker Blvd at the intersection of 34th Ave S
- New markings and flexible posts at the intersection of 34th Ave S and S Horton St to improve visibility
- Typical Healthy Street intersection treatments, including Healthy Street signs, concrete sign bases and/or planters, and painted curb bulbs.
- New stop signs at 9 intersections. The intersections are located on the Hillman City/Othello Healthy Street, the Neighborhood Greenway, and near Martin Luther King Jr Elementary School. We’re adding these stop signs in coordination with the Safe Routes to School program.
- 39th Ave S and S Morgan St
- 42nd Ave S and S Willow St
- 44th Ave S and S Willow St
- 44th Ave S and S Myrtle St
- 44th Ave S and S Holly St
- 45th Ave S and S Holly St
- 45th Ave S and S Willow St
- 45th Ave S and S Myrtle St
- 46th Ave S and S Holly St
Locations of new all way stop signs
Columbia City Segment (B on Project Map):
We’re continuing to evaluate feedback and monitor data on the Columbia City segment to determine if it should become a permanent Healthy Street or return to a Neighborhood Greenway. In 2024, we:
- Returned a segment of the Healthy Street to a Neighborhood Greenway in response to community feedback. The Neighborhood Greenway design was more compatible with the surrounding street network. This change occurred on:
- Renton Ave S, from S Brandon to S Dawson St
- S Dawson St, from Renton Ave S to 37th Ave S
- Added stop signs at three intersections along the Neighborhood Greenway:
- Renton Ave S and S Dawson St
- 37th Ave S and S Dawson St
- 37th Ave S and S Ferdinand
- Installed No Parking signs to to help people park further away from busy intersections to improve visibility
Graphic showing three new all way stops in the Columbia City segment.
What to expect during construction
We will let you know before construction of the permanent Healthy Streets begins. During construction, you can expect:
- Typical work hours from 7 AM to 5 PM. Work usually happens on weekdays but sometimes it can occur on weekends.
- Noise, vibration, dust, and debris
- Construction staging and parking impacts near the work sites
- “No Parking” areas and other parking impacts
- Crosswalk and sidewalk closures, and detours for people walking and biking
- Changes in construction schedules due to weather or the availability of work crews and/or materials
Construction schedules can change due to things like weather and crew availability. We encourage you to sign up for email updates to get the most updated information on construction.
Schedule
Fall/Winter 2022: Collected community input on proposed permanent route and permanent features of the Mt Baker-Columbia City-Hillman City Healthy Street.
Fall 2023: Announced change on one segment in Columbia City, returning it to a Neighborhood Greenway; continuing evaluation on Mt Baker and Hillman City segments.
Summer 2024: Completed spot improvements and materials upgrades in Columbia City in response to community outreach.
Summer 2025: Announced that Mt Baker and Hillman City/Othello segments are becoming permanent Healthy Streets.
Summer 2026: Mt Baker permanent Healthy Street construction began.