Ballard Ave Café Street: SDOT to carry out more mobility and access improvements this summer

Meghan Walker Ballard

SDOT is rolling out more mobility and access improvements to the Ballard Ave Café Street.

This is the second phase of changes since the project to improve Ballard Ave’s accessibility launched last summer. Last year, SDOT made several improvements to Ballard Ave between 20th Ave NW and 22nd Ave NW, including creating all-way stops, interim “curb bulbs” at intersections, improved street tree pits, and updated striping to reflect the new one-way traffic flow for vehicles and load zones.

Phase 2 of the improvements—set to happen this summer—includes plans to create more space for people gathering, lower the speed limit, improve freight/delivery and accessibility, improve visibility of pedestrians, and add more space dedicated to people walking and rolling.

A person in a black dress uses a painted crosswalk to cross NW Vernon Place on Ballard Ave outside Olympic Athletic Club.
The all-way stop at Ballard Ave and NW Vernon Pl features striping, painted curb bulbs, and planters installed during Phase 1 of the project. Photo: SDOT

Here’s a full list of the improvements (from SDOT):

  • Establishing the Ballard Ave Café Street to enhance the experience of walking, rolling, shopping, and dining on Ballard Ave  
  • Further support for freight/delivery and business access with curbside adjustments that increase load/unload zones, ADA parking, and food pick-up priority areas.  
  • Increasing and defining space for people walking and rolling to accommodate pedestrian volumes and support Ballard Avenue’s draw as a major Seattle destination. 
  • Improving pedestrian visibility and safety at the intersection of Ballard Ave NW and 20th Ave NW.  
  • Exploring community partnerships to add movable benches and tables in newly created public space.  
  • Adding bike parking racks, and bike share and scooter share parking spaces to serve Ballard Ave NW. 
  • Exploring paid parking on several blocks around the neighborhood to further support business access.   
  • Maintaining the one northbound travel lane on the Leary side of the street. 
A narrow, horizontal map showing the locations of planned improvements on Ballard Ave between 20th Ave NW and 22nd Ave NW. Temporary and commercial load zones are represented in orange, passenger load zones in yellow, new street cafes in purple, new ADA parking spaces in blue, and interim curb bulbs in green.
Map showing the locations of proposed interim refinements on Ballard Ave. Click to enlarge. Graphic Credit: SDOT 

“Transforming Ballard Avenue into a Café Street has allured people to come here, improved the economy of our neighborhood, and has become recognized by people across the world,” Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss said in a statement about the changes.

“When Jonsi, lead singer of the band Sigur Rós, visited Ballard this spring he exclaimed, unprompted, that ‘Ballard Avenue is poppin!’ These changes formalize how pedestrians and drivers use the space on Ballard Ave with the focus on safety — making this street a safer place to shop, dine, drive, park, walk, bike, and deliver the freight we depend on.”

Photos: SDOT