When the Seattle Department of Transportation announced they were going to put 35th SW on a "road diet," converting the four lanes to three, and reducing the speed to 30mph, it resulted in controversy. SDOT's reasoning was that the changes would make what had come to be be known as "I-35" much safer.

The benefits SDOT stressed were:

• Reduction in crash frequency
• Lower speeds results in fewer severe crashes
• Improved parking conditions
• Addresses correctable collision patterns
• Less exposure for pedestrians
• Potential low cost crossing improvements
• Maximum capacity turn pockets
• Easier turns to and from 35th
• Transit efficiency treatments (no bus bulbs)
• Minimal impact to traffic

The first half of the road changes were begun in September and completed in October including:

• One lane in each direction
• Center turn lane
• Bus and turn lanes at Barton, Thistle, Holden and Webster streets SW ( buses can go straight)
• Speed reduction to 30mph
• Signal optimization
• North of SW Morgan speed will stay 35
• Channelization on SW Barton
• No changes on approaches to SW Roxbury

Since the project is only half complete, SDOT's full "Before and After" study won't be out till next fall. But what has the public reaction been so far?

To find out, the West Seattle Herald posed this question on our Facebook pages and on the West Seattle Connection Facebook page.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CHANGES MADE TO 35TH SW SO FAR?
The reactions, as you might imagine were largely negative but many were supportive of the changes. We've included a few here as samples.

On the negative side:

Maryann Petrocelli said "I was thrilled about the changes, it was insane and scary driving on 35th, I live in Westwood and work in/around West Seattle. I immediately felt like the likelihood that I would die in a crash to or from home everyday on 35th was greatly reduced, probably still is, except...the volume of traffic is staggering, the dead stopped line of traffic, during commute hours mostly, is staggering, and usually you can see the next several stoplights ahead are green! Or if just one car is driving under the 30mph speed limit, that backs-up traffic incredibly. The result of all is that people are PISSED and SUPER FRUSTRATED, and by the time they get to the Morgan intersection, the FLYING begins again, way over 40mph - I often wonder where are the police, they could BANK if they staked out in Walgreen"s parking lot!! Not to mention the middle "turn" is often used as a "passing" lane, like when that person in front of you is going 28mph... I haven't done it myself, but have wanted to! I really don't have any concrete solutions, besides wishing everyone had a bit more patience when they are driving, me included, I believe the volume of traffic is just too much. Overall, I would rather go slower than faster, so for that reason, I am still happier with the change. I don't want to go back to four lanes of FLYING, not interested in being killed in a stupid car accident a few steps from my front door thank you very much. I don't think just bitching at SDOT (although as a former government employee I've experienced people in offices making decisions about things, like bus routes say- when they don't ever use the bus, or know the neighborhood they are planning bus routes for - can anyone say "C Line curb bump-out at the intersection of California and Fauntleroy"???) is going to solve anything. But..actually, this call for comments just may be a step in the right direction West Seattle Herald, Thank you!"

Barb Read Joseph said, "HATE, HATE, HATE it! They didn't slow down traffic near SW Juneau St and SW Raymond St where people have been killed by cars. With only one lane in each direction it takes much longer to get onto 35th from the side streets. It's frustrating when someone only drives 20-25mph and you can't get around them. There are so few bike riders that use the roads that the cars and property taxes have paid for it doesn't seem fair for SDOT to have changed all the main North and South bound lanes in West Seattle from 4 lanes to 2 lanes. I know I and others are using the side streets to get around the problem areas near SW Holden St. For the dangerous crosswalks I would much rather see pedestrians be able to push a button that causes the crosswalk to light up with flashing lights when occupied. Add more stop lights if needed but give us back our 2nd lane in each direction."

On the positive side:

Helen Janin said "Oh....I like it with the mid lane free of cars. It's really nice to drive 35th now that there is a separation between cars going North-South. Feels so much safer, as cars on 35th generally 'whizzz' faster, as compared to California St. In fact, when I come off the West Seattle Bridge and turn onto 35th heading south, I'd love to have that free middle lane start immediately. Currently, you have to drive up the hill on 35th and closer to High Point...before the middle free lane opens. At least so far, I haven't found the single lane traffic to be a problem with slowing the momentum down. And if you want to turn off 35th, just pick a street like Thistle and get in and wait in the turn lane. But I usually travel mid-day, and may not be seeing the full picture of what the commuters experience."

Tonya Hennen said "I travel 35th at all times of day and have been pleased with the change. I enter around the top of the hill and haven't noticed an appreciable change in my travel times. As someone rear ended on this road once when there was no left turn lane, I feel safer. I witnessed so many near misses by people dashing back and forth between lanes to get some best position during peak times that I avoided the road then. My only difficulty has been entering 35th from non-stoplight streets at most peak times, so now I've shifted to entering at Webster vs Othello. I'll look forward to seeing if SDOT can put up some data on actual travel times before/after the change and number of accidents. I wonder if the difficulty/travel time is more perceived or not."

Business has largely found it to be good. The owners of The Westy near Kenyon Street SW said: "Patrons of the Westy have commented how much safer it is to park along the 35th corridor. Most notably there has not been a single side swipe since the changeover. Sideswipes were a weekly occurrence so we are happy that our guests no longer return to damaged vehicles. Pedestrians have a safer path to cross the street now that there are just two lanes to navigate. We've noticed vehicles have been more prone to stop for pedestrians when one car stops. We realize we still have a ways to go before these changes work for everyone. Speeds have come down which were the primary focus of all these changes. There is no denying that slower speeds have occurred. Perhaps with better timed lights and the addition of left turn signals some of the congestion will ease for everyone. We are welcome to any changes that improve safety and mobility for everyone."

See the full set of reactions and comments on the Herald's Facebook page and on West Seattle Connection on Facebook.

Jeanne Cullen "It is much more dangerous as a runner/pedestrian to cross 35th. And as a driver, I think it is one of the worst decisions that SDOT has made. I leave for work at 6:30 am, and I am finding it almost impossible, even at that early hour, to be able to get onto 35th from my street, as it is just a non-stop continuous line of cars. And the opposite is true also, very hard to turn from 35th onto my street because of continuous oncoming traffic. I take side streets now, and they are getting more and more congested, which is dangerous for neighborhood kids, etc. Why would the city make this change when the population is ever increasing in West Seattle, and there are no real alternatives, besides buses, which don't work for my commute. I wish they did. I have heard that they are going to continue it down to Avalon, which will just cause a nonstop backup along 35th and create a huge backup on the bridge in the afternoon rush hour, getting back into W Seattle. Very BAD idea, and POOR traffic management by the SDOT, because it will cause MORE accidents. What were they thinking?!?"

Jim Curtin, SDOT's Traffic Safety Coordinator addressed these issues:

Pedestrian safety
o Safety for people walking has been improved in a number of ways. Speed is lethal for pedestrians. A pedestrian hit at 40 mph has a 10 percent chance of survival. A pedestrian hit at 30 mph has a 50 percent chance of surviving. Since our work concluded in early October, vehicular speeds have decreased on the roadway commonly referred to as ‘I-35’. Our first round of post-project speed studies show that speeds are down throughout the corridor. (see below) In addition, we have eliminated the ‘multiple threat collision’ which can occur on multi-lane roadways when a driver in one lane stops for a pedestrian but the driver in the other lane going the same direction does not (see images). On 35th Avenue SW, pedestrians now have fewer lanes of traffic to cross so they are less exposed to traffic. In addition, we will be adding new marked crosswalks in 2016.

Pedestrians are safer due to the elimination of the 'multiple threat collision'
On traffic diversions people said:

Jennifer Jones Babuca said "I've lived off 35th for 15 years now. The change is mind-boggling to me. I don't see how you make it safer by creating endless backups. I've started diverting to other streets."

Sara Esrick said "I wish I could say that i think this was a good idea, but i don't. sure, it has slowed down traffic on 35th. but trying to get onto 35th off of a side street much of the time is very difficult, and as a runner and a walker, trying to cross 35th from a side street is even more dangerous and takes FOREVER. i am not sure if SDOT factored in people and cars who are coming off of the side streets onto 35th when they planned this!"

Susan Rhodes said "It was a ridiculously bad idea. 35th is now impassable. I find it much quicker to go down 36th at a lower speed limit and just avoid the whole mess. I can't imagine how SDOT could have thought this would help."

Curtin said:

Traffic diversions to nearby non-arterials
o The small change between pre- and post- volumes and the consistent trend in decreasing volumes indicate little or no diversions to residential streets.
o “Before” volumes in February and May 2015
o “After” volumes in November and December 2015

On travel times people said:

Shannon Wing Bishop said "My commute has grown by 5 minutes in the evenings. The queuing at Holden is especially bad. Also, trying to turn left at an uncontrolled light or intersection is incredibly difficult now. There is a virtually constant line of oncoming traffic now without any gaps (now that everyone is in one lane)."

Curtin said:

Vehicle and transit travel times
o During our public outreach process we reported that there would be some delays with the rechannelization (see our presentations posted here: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/35thSW.htm). However, vehicle travel times have been minimally impacted by this change. As we stated in our SDOT Blog post in October:
“There’s no doubt that these corridors feel different than they used to, especially during the afternoon commute when traffic volumes are highest. With just one general purpose travel lane in each direction, vehicle queueing at signalized intersections is more substantial during the afternoon/evening commute period. However, longer signal cycles effectively mitigate the queues and vehicles are able to clear intersections in just one green phase. Occasionally, emergency response vehicles such as police and fire will preempt signals at SW Holden Street, so it can take up to two signal cycles to clear the intersection when traffic volumes are high…During community outreach, we mentioned that traffic modeling projected delays on 35th Avenue SW of one-to-two minutes with a maximum delay of 2.5 minutes during the afternoon rush hour. Our travel time data, based on driving the 35th corridor dozens of times during peak hours, show that our models were a bit conservative:

Travel times by car:
Travel times by bus:
Increasing population = increasing traffic
o Population growth and increasing traffic volumes are not directly related
o This fact was highlighted in during our public meetings and can be found in presentations posted to the project website.

Merging. Several individuals have contacted SDOT directly about merging on 35th SW. All of the standard signage is in place and we have also installed arrows on the pavement to help with the merge. We will, however, look at ways in which we can enhance conditions in advance of the merge.

· Collisions. As we’ve previously stated, we have too small of a sample size to draw conclusions about collision reductions. We will issues a complete before and after report with this information later this year. We can say that collisions have not increased over pre-project rates.

· Pavement condition/potholes. 35th Avenue SW will be repaved through the Levy to Move Seattle. This will include the construction of hundreds of new curb ramps to aid mobility. In the meantime, residents are welcome to report potholes by calling 684-ROAD or by using the City’s Find it, Fix it app.

· Yes, we do live here! A few commenters were wondering if we have to commute through here or experience the changes regularly. The answer is a resounding yes! I live in Arbor Heights and drive, walk or bus on 35th nearly every single day. In fact, the entire design team resides in the neighborhood."