01091648

Component

The Mercer Corridor is an integral part of a transportation network serving Seattle’s urban neighborhoods just north of downtown. This corridor has been the subject of decades of study with a wide range of alternatives. However, creating an acceptable solution has been complicated by the range of stakeholders, disagreement on project objectives and high costs. Previous alternatives typically focused on getting through the South Lake Union area to get to the Seattle Center - a regional arts and entertainment center – and surrounding neighborhoods to the west and north, with little consideration of how it serves the South Lake Union neighborhood itself. Changing land uses within South Lake Union has been a catalyst for developing a solution that works for a diverse stakeholder group, including the immediate neighborhood. The purpose of the Mercer Corridor project is to improve local safety, access, and circulation within the neighborhood for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians, and provide for more efficient movement of traffic and freight through the corridor. This project would better accommodate anticipated urban density in the area as well as anticipated regional and local traffic growth by improving the efficiency of the available grid network and providing more direct connections from I-5 into and through South Lake Union for freight and general traffic. This paper will describe the extensive outreach and stakeholder involvement that resulted in a context sensitive solution reflecting community values, with a broad base of support while minimizing environmental impact. In addressing concerns of the freight and pedestrian community extensive analysis including a truck rodeo and inventory of pedestrian facilities was conducted. Research into other urban arterials to assess desirable design features and guidelines was conducted to address concerns about increasing the livability of the area, as well as maintaining the corridor's function as a regional connector. Finally, a sustainability workshop is planned to consider refinements to the design that improve the overall efficiency of the design and minimize environmental impact. The Mercer Corridor project is an exemplary context sensitive case study bringing multiple interests and stakeholders to the table to improve the overall quality of the design.

01091711

English

11p

2007

3rd Urban Street Symposium: Uptown, Downtown, or Small Town: Designing Urban Streets That Work

CD-ROM

Figures; Maps; Photos; References (6)

Access; Context sensitive design; Environmental impacts; Freight traffic; Highway corridors; Highway design; Highway safety; Land use; Pedestrians; Public participation; Stakeholders; Traffic flow; Urban areas

Traffic circulation

Seattle (Washington)

Design; Environment; Freight Transportation; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Society; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure

TRIS, TRB

Mar 28 2008 12:50PM

• A Generalized Model for Analyzing Operational Conditions at Intersections in Urban Areas
• A History of Pedestrian Signal Walking Speed Assumptions
• A Model of Potential Capacity of Right Turn Movement at Signalized Intersections Under Mixed Traffic Conditions
• Analysis of Multifunctional Traffic Environments
• Analyzing Raised Crosswalks Dimensions Influence on Speed Reduction in Urban Streets
• Benefits and Risks of Urban Roadside Landscape: Finding a Livable, Balanced Response
• Cross Section Width for Parallel Parking
• Design and Traffic Organization for Ultra-Wide Urban Street in China
• Designing Inside the Box - Strategies to Successfully Marry Smart Growth and Context-Sensitive Transportation Initiatives
• Designing Streets for Enhanced Transit Service: The Jerusalem Experience
• Driveway Design Practices, Issues, and Needs
• Estimating Running Time on Urban Street Segments
• Four-Lane to Three-Lane Conversions: An Update and a Case Study
• Geometric Design of Interchange in Urban City
• Improving Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Intersections
• Integrating Context Sensitive Solutions into University Transportation Education
• Involving the Public in Redesigning Urban Street Layouts in the UK
• Iowa's Experience with 2-Lane to 3-Lane Conversions
• Iowa's Experience with 4-Lane to 3-Lane Conversions
• Minnesota CSAH 42: A Case Study Illustrating Traffic Signal Removal as an Access Management Strategy
• Pedestrian Crossings Priority for Pedestrian Safety
• Recent Superstreet Implementation and Research
• Responding to the Challenges of Bicycle Crossings at Offset Intersections
• Retrofitting Urban Arterials into Complete Streets
• Review of Guidelines for Establishing School Speed Zones
• Safety Effect of the Skew Angle in Right Turn Maneuvers
• Separation Between Pedestrians and Bicyclists
• Shared-Use Streets – An Application of “Shared Space” to an American Small Town
• Should Direct Left-turns from Driveways be Replaced by Right-turns Followed by U-turns? The Safety and Operational Comparison in Florida
• Speed: How Can We Get What We Want?
• St. Louis Great Streets Initiative
• Study on the Relationship of Intersection Design and Safety of Urban Unsignalized Intersection in China
• Study on the Safety Relationship between Left-turn Gap Acceptance and Waiting Time
• Sustainable Urban Street Design and Assessment
• Synthesis of the Median U-Turn Intersection Treatment, Safety, and Operational Benefits
• Traffic Calming in Slovenia
• Urban Street Reconstruction with Cultural Consideration-Research and Case Studies
• Yielding Behaviour and Interaction at Bicycle Crossings