The route for the first mile of the Wallingford Greenway was chosen by the community because it made sense, not because it was cheapest for SDOT. You can see a complete map of the community proposals for Wallingford at http://seattlegreenways.org/neighborhoods/wallingford/

SDOT is “cash-strapped” and greenways make a lot of sense to inexpensively and safely get people walking and biking on their streets to where they need to go. We’re still negotiating with SDOT to put in relatively cheap stop signs and speed bumps along the Wallingford route to prioritize people walking and biking even more.

The Wallingford Greenway group also was quite deliberate and encouraged SDOT to add parking to slow traffic. We find two-way traffic on a narrow street perhaps the best way to inexpensively calm traffic without entirely dedicating a street to walking and biking. People who bike ride in the middle of the street to avoid ‘dooring’.

Wider streets=faster cars. Narrow streets=alert slow drivers. We’ll be offering many educational meetups this fall around the city on greenways. Come to some and learn more. Lots more information too at http://seattlegreenways.org/resources/design-guidelines/

Cathy Tuttle, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Director