15th Ave W/NW and Ballard Bridge Paving Project

Each year, we pave arterial streets in poor condition to make them safer, smoother, and to extend their useful life. We prioritize paving based on pavement condition, traffic volume, geographic equity, cost, and opportunities for grants or coordination with other projects in the area. Keeping our transportation system in a good state of repair helps lower the cost of future maintenance. Like many of our arterials, it’s important to maintain them since they are primary routes for moving people and goods through the city and connecting neighborhoods and business districts to one another and the regional transportation network.

15th Ave W/NW and the Ballard Bridge is one of the City’s most heavily used arterial streets. Repaving 15th Ave W/NW (between NW 57TH and W Emerson St) and the approach spans for the Ballard Bridge will restore the pavement condition of a critical piece of Seattle’s arterial network. This project also contributes to SDOT’s Levy commitment to pave up to 180 lane-miles of arterial streets by 2024.

We are currently in the planning phase of the project and as such, we’re still determining the details of construction. Details may include: starting locations, work hours (including nights and weekends), the potential for detours, and road closure times. We are committed to continually share more information about the project as it becomes available. Please continue to visit the project webpage and sign-up on our project listserv for updates about construction and potential impacts.

We also want to hear from you how we can lessen the impact of your commute. You can send us an email at 15thAveW_NWpaving@Seattle.gov.

In general, typical construction activities include: 

• Temporary lane and street closures for people driving
• Temporary sidewalk and crossing closures and detours for people walking and rolling
• Temporary bus stop relocations
• Disruptions to on-street parking
• Noise, dust and vibrations during work hours
• Construction staging and parking impacts near the work sites
• Changes in construction schedule due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e., weather, soil conditions, etc.)

We expect to start construction Summer of 2023 and anticipate construction being completed by Fall 2024.

If there are any emergency situations that arise in our project area, please call 911. Access for emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times during our work. For all other inquiries that are non-emergency please contact 15thAveW_NWpaving@Seattle.gov or (206) 651-3950.

Businesses in and around the surrounding project area will be able to remain open and entrances will still be accessible.  We encourage neighbors to continue shopping and using their services. We are committed to work with business owners and staff to address their concerns and potential construction impacts.

This project will not replace the bridge. We will be repaving asphalt along 15th Ave W and NW (between NW 57th and W Emerson St) up to the metal grates (bascule) of the bridge. While we complete the repaving of the bridge, we will also include maintenance and repairs to the bridge deck. This will preserve the life of this critical piece of infrastructure and support the safety and mobility for the traveling public.

We aim to maintain one lane in each direction at all times during our construction and do not have plans to fully close the bridge.  We will be looking at ways to mitigate traffic impacts such as targeting specific times of the day and nights to do this work so it’s less impactful to commuters and surrounding neighbors.

Bike facilities on the Ballard Bridge are outside the scope of this project. This project is focused on preservation of our existing infrastructure and not building new infrastructure. We understand and acknowledge that the Ballard Bridge is a key north-south connection across the Ship Canal/Salmon Bay for people biking, and all modes of transportation. To learn more information on plans for long-term pedestrian and bicycle improvements on Ballard Bridge you can visit the Ballard Bridge Planning Study and the 2020 Ballard-Interbay Regional Transportation System (BIRT).

There may be temporary bus stop relocations during construction. We will do our best to provide notice about any upcoming bus service changes, but we also recommend you sign up for King County Metro’s Rider Alerts to stay up to date on the latest information.

Paving on 15th Ave W/NW and Ballard Bridge and the Sound Transit Light Rail line in Ballard have different timelines and scopes of work. This paving project does not anticipate conflicting project designs or construction impacts to the Ballard Light Rail line. As we move forward with our project, we will continue to coordinate with Sound Transit if any changes arise. To learn more about Sound Transit’s project in Ballard, please visit the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions project webpage.

We will communicate with neighbors throughout the design and construction phases of the 15th Ave W/NW & Ballard Bridge Paving Project. Planned efforts include calling key stakeholders, delivering project information to nearby businesses and residents, and meeting with neighborhood groups to learn how we can best accommodate travel needs and minimize construction impacts. Our outreach team is available to address any questions or feedback from the community.

Sign up for project email updates here and continue to visit our project webpage for the most updated information the project. You can contact the project team at 15thAveW_NWpaving@Seattle.gov if you have any questions or feedback.