Alki Point Healthy Street

Updated December 2, 2024

About this project 

Healthy Streets are open for people walking, rolling, biking, and playing, and closed to pass-through traffic. This program aims to open up more public space for people to use—improving community and individual health. 

Since 2021, we have been evaluating and updating Healthy Streets across the city based on the trends we have seen in community use and public feedback. Healthy Streets are a commitment to the Mayor's Transportation & Climate Justice Executive Order and SDOT's work to prioritize and expand actions that equitably reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector.

Alki Point is a regional destination park and marine reserve habitat, as well as a destination for many popular outdoor activities like kayaking and paddle boarding, whale watching, exploring the low tides, and taking in views of sunsets and the mountains.

While people can still drive to destinations on the street—or park on the street to visit the beach—safety improvements like speed humps, improved signage, and striping and markings discourage speeding so that it stays calmer and safer for all users.

Community Outreach / Project History

After the Alki Point Keep Moving Street opened in May 2020—on Beach Drive SW and Alki Avenue SW from the north end of 63rd Ave SW to the south end of 63rd Ave SW—we heard from many community members that they wanted it to stay in some form to keep providing space for people to walk, bike, roll, and play. Our observations and evaluation showed that the Alki Keep Moving Street had the highest usage among any Keep Moving Street or Stay Healthy Street in the city.

We conducted outreach and community engagement in Summer and Fall 2021, and again in Summer and Fall 2022, which included an online survey, multiple stakeholder meetings, and public open houses. We analyzed over 2,000 responses to the Alki Point Keep Moving Street Survey and additional feedback like emails, phone calls, stakeholder comments, and door-to-door business outreach.

The Permanent Healthy Street was announced in Fall 2022 and early designs were shared with the public. We received community feedback that they disliked curb bulbs and traffic circles in this location, preferred a simplified design with continuous walking and rolling space, and had concerns about adequate ADA parking.

We took another look at one of the early design options that included a “neighborhood greenway + additional pedestrian space.” We also decided to designate ADA-accessible spaces near pedestrian ramps and entrances into the park and beach.

In Fall 2023—after over two years of outreach and engagement—we shared the updated, final designs for construction in 2024 that included many elements requested by the community—including an additional 10-foot walking, rolling, and biking area along the beachfront that is separated from cars, and we identified other public rights-of-way nearby that could be formally striped and signed as public parking spaces.

Project Map

Design Elements

Below are maps and diagrams of the entire project area, and four (4) location-specific improvements. The design elements are also listed for each location, including:

• 0.25 miles (approx) of new walking/biking space
• 3 new ADA-accessible parking spaces
• 3 new speed humps 

Construction was completed in Spring 2024. Existing public parking was also identified on Benton Pl SW and Alki Ave SW for re-striping, improved signage, or other updates to indicate its availability for visitors better.

Location 1: Alki Ave SW & 64th Pl SW 

• Paint & post cul-de-sac to give drivers an opportunity to turn around before the “street closed” sign
• “Street closed” sign on durable concrete cylinders to reduce cut-through driving on the Healthy Street
• Wayfinding pavement markings for a smooth transition from existing bike path to the Healthy Street 
• Approximately 6 parking spaces removed in Cul-de-sac area – raised crosswalk to 64th Pl SW 

Location 2: Alki Ave SW and Point Pl SW 

• Speed humps to reduce traffic speeds
• Sharrow pavement markings to enhance wayfinding for people biking, rolling, and walking
• Stop signs at intersecting streets 

Location 3: Alki Ave SW and Beach Dr SW 

• Concrete wheel stops (instead of earlier designed paint and post) to delineate 10’ of additional space for people biking, rolling, and walking next to the existing sidewalk adjacent to the beach
• Sharrow pavement markings to enhance wayfinding for people biking, rolling, and walking
• Stop signs at intersecting streets
• Designated ADA-accessible parking spaces along Beach Dr SW 

Location 4: Beach Dr SW and 64th Ave SW 

• Concrete wheel stops (instead of earlier designed paint and post) to delineate 10’ of additional space for people biking, rolling, and walking next to the existing sidewalk adjacent to the beach
• Sharrow pavement markings to enhance wayfinding for people biking, rolling, and walking 
• Stop signs at intersecting streets
• Approximately 58 parking spaces removed on Beach Dr SW, from 3300 Beach Dr SW to 64th Ave SW
• Approximately 46 parking spaces to remain available on Beach Dr SW, from 3300 Beach Dr SW to 64th Ave SW 

We are still evaluating additional design work and crossing improvements for one block of the permanent Healthy Street on Beach Dr from 63rd Ave SW to 64th Ave SW. We will share an update about these options at a later date, in order to coordinate with a King County stormwater treatment project that is expected to begin as early as Spring 2025 and continue until 2026.

Materials

• Construction Flyer (Apr 2024)
• Construction Postcard (Apr 2024)
• Summary of Engagement Activities (Mar 2024)
• Fall 2022 Early Design Outreach Summary (Feb 2023)
• Alki Evaluation (Dec 2022)
• Project Fact Sheet (Dec 2022)
• Public Presentation (Nov 2022)
• Early Design Proposals (Nov 2022):
  • Design board 1: Alki Ave SW and 64th Pl SW Intersection
  • Design board 2: Beach Dr SW - Beach and Park Access Points
  • Design board 3: Beach Dr SW at 64th Ave SW and 63rd Ave SW
  • Examples of traffic calming that could go on the Alki Point Healthy Street
• Early Planning Survey Report (Spring-Summer 2022):
  • Part 1 contains the survey results to the first section of our online survey. These questions were aimed to help us understand how the street is or isn't working well in its current condition.
  • Part 2 contains the results from the second set of questions, which include summarized open-ended responses to three sets of design elements.
• Public Presentation (Oct 2021)
• West Seattle Transportation Coalition Meeting SDOT Presentation (October 2021)
• WSTC Meeting SDOT Presentation (October 2020)
• Community Supporters Video (Summer 2020)