People biking to Seattle’s waterfront just picked up a key new shortcut. The city has opened a two-way protected bike lane along Yesler Way that closes a short but high-stakes gap between downtown and the waterfront. The new stretch gives riders a fully protected route toward Colman Dock and the waterfront trail and is intended to cut down on conflicts with turning vehicles. SDOT crews shared photos late Monday of concrete barrier panels, fresh striping and new signage marking the change.
According to the Seattle Department of Transportation, project maps and photos show a two-way protected bike lane built along the north curb, along with curb changes that shift parking and loading space. The agency says it has added turn restrictions and new barrier protection to keep people on bikes more clearly separated from motor traffic.
A Short But Crucial Connection
Filling roughly a 600-foot gap between the waterfront trail and the downtown protected bike network, the Yesler link finally gives riders a direct route to the ferry terminal that advocates have pushed for over years, as reported by The Urbanist. Local cycling advocates had criticized the waterfront rebuild for leaving this last connection unprotected and for leaning on turn restrictions rather than installing a new bike signal.
What Crews Installed and How the Street Changed
The work uses precast concrete barriers and a striped two-way bike lane on the north side of Yesler Way to tie the waterfront path into downtown, according to a project flyer from Waterfront Seattle. The flyer’s map shows westbound vehicle access revised and a bike crossing at Western Avenue that is intended to help eastbound riders reach the waterfront trail more safely.
Parking, Loading and Turn Changes
SDOT’s project page says the changes remove up to 10 parking spaces on the north curb, relocate a loading zone to Post Avenue and remove the diagonal bike crossing at Western Avenue in order to simplify movements for people biking. The Seattle Department of Transportation also notes new turning restrictions that prohibit certain right and left turns across the bike lane to reduce conflict points. The agency says the project is funded by the voter-approved Seattle Transportation Levy and was coordinated with nearby downtown improvements, and that larger event-related investments helped accelerate the work in recent months, as outlined on the agency’s blog (SDOT Blog).
Cycling advocates have welcomed the link but caution that the new turning restrictions and approaches to the waterfront will take some getting used to, with local outlets and advocates urging SDOT to monitor the intersection and consider a fully signalized crossing at 1st and Yesler in the future. Seattle Bike Blog has repeatedly pushed for a more direct, signalized crossing at that junction as a longer-term improvement.
