The Seattle Department of Transportation is making safety improvements on Ravenna Avenue NE between NE 85th to 92nd Streets in Wedgwood. Crews recently installed a new sidewalk on the western side of the street. SDOT will begin work on the remainder of the improvements on Monday, September 9.
Crews will install curbs and gutters on the eastern side of Ravenna Ave NE just south of NE 92nd Street, maintaining one alternating lane. At night and on weekends, the project will maintain one alternating lane through the use of a temporary traffic signal.
Next, during the night when traffic volumes are light, crews will repave the street — currently scheduled for September 25 and 26, weather permitting.
Then, to complete the project, crews will add pavement markings for a new bicycle lane on the western side of the street and will add bicycle “sharrows” to the eastern side. They expect to finish the work by the first week of October.
These improvements are designed to significantly improve mobility and enhance safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicular traffic along the Ravenna corridor. Ravenna is a principal arterial street that provides local connections to schools, parks, retail businesses, and transit connections to downtown Seattle. Before the improvements, pedestrians had to walk along the shoulder to get to the bus stops or to walk to school, and bicycles have been sharing travel lanes with buses and other vehicles.
The funding for this project was obtained by residents, including Wedgwood Community Council trustee Gretchen Bear, who successfully applied through the Neighborhood Street Fund in 2009. Work to link Ravenna Ave NE for safe walking routes to Wedgwood Elementary School will begin soon under the Complete the Street program. This history of this winding segment of Ravenna Ave NE, north of NE 85th Street, is that it was once part of the Erickson Road to Bothell.