Traffic Safety Update

At the start of 2026, the Leschi Community Council formed a Traffic Safety Committee. Its purpose is to push projects forward that will make Leschi a safer and more pleasant place to walk, run, bike, drive, visit and, of course, live. The committee is open to any Leschi neighbor who is interested and is led by Jim Davidson.

With funding for traffic calming on Lakeside Ave earmarked in the recently approved transportation levy, we have a specific opportunity to slow down traffic through the business district and make it safer for pedestrians to move about.

This was naturally the main topic for the first committee meeting in February. 13 residents met at BluWater Bistro to discuss specific concerns and ideas. Besides pedestrian crossing issues, we also discussed speeding on 31st Avenue between the school and Jackson Street, as well as whether the city could share data and results on whether traffic calming further south on Lake Washington has worked.

The concerns were forwarded to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) in preparation of a walkthrough on Lakeside.

On March 3rd during the afternoon rush hour, several residents met with three representatives of SDOT to witness commuter traffic through the neighborhood, as well as congestion and confusion with people backing out of parking spaces into oncoming traffic.

The city representatives took copious notes and listened to and discussed possible options from lane narrowing to speed cushions to flashing lights at crosswalks. They also registered the misaligned curb cuts and visibility issues at crosswalks.

Traffic safety will be the topic of our upcoming community meeting on Wednesday, April 1st. SDOT representatives will review their assessment of traffic issues on Lakeside, share data on speeding collected last November, and discuss potential options for traffic calming and tie-ins with other projects, such as the shoreline and marina improvements.

While it’s unlikely that the full-scale project will be implemented in 2026, there may be an opportunity to make some improvements this year. Representatives of the Leschi Community Council recently submitted a request to allocate a portion of the $1M discretionary district fund with Council member Hollingsworth’s staff to make the crosswalk between Leschi Market and Blu Water more visible.

Additionally, the Leschi Elementary PTA is working with SDOT on traffic management during pickup times around the school. They previously worked to make the crossing between Yesler and 31st Ave a 4-way stop, which was a great accomplishment. And shoutout to a neighbor who took it upon themselves to buy and install a crossing flag kit at Alder and Lakeside.

With the Leschi Traffic Safety initiative we aim to document traffic concerns across Leschi and regularly engage with SDOT and City Council to address those concerns. If you have any hot spots you would like to see addressed, please contact us at leschicouncil@gmail.com or fill out this form online.

We will set a time for our next committee meeting after our April 1st community meeting with SDOT.

~Jim Davidson and Matthias Linnenkamp