Connect Seattle: Building a Connected Trail and Protected Bike Lane Network Across the City

From Rainier Beach to Northgate, we have big plans – and great momentum – to connect Seattle by bike by 2021.

Imagine being able to ride your bike through Seattle on a connected network of trails and protected bike lanes spanning the city from north to south and east to west, linking neighborhoods from Rainier Beach to Northgate, Georgetown to South Park and into the heart of downtown. That vision can soon be reality. 

Cascade’s Connect Seattle campaign, once realized, will enable more people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to travel by bike—improving community health, reducing carbon emissions, and getting people where they need to go.

Connect Seattle highlights 14 routes, across the city which, once complete, will create a Seattle connected by bike – filling gaps in the existing bike network and connecting people to the places they want and need to go. Almost all of these 14 routes are in the works, others are  under construction and on the ground in 2020. 

Below, explore the map, and read on for highlights of connections advancing this year.

2020 Progress!

4th Ave: This section of protected bike lane is an important addition to Seattle’s downtown Basic Bike Network. Construction is to begin this year on the first phase between Pine and Spring streets, linking Westlake Park and the Seattle Public Library. 

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12th Avenue South: Passing through the International District, this section of protected bike lane running north and south will link the I-90/Mountains to Sound Greenway to the King Street Neighborhood Greenway and the downtown Basic Bike Network.

Bell Street Protected Bike Lane: Thanks to years of advocacy, much of the downtown Basic Bike Network is complete, but Bell Street fills an important  gap in the downtown Basic Bike Network, enabling people to pedal from South Lake Union to the Belltown neighborhood, and the highly popular 2nd Avenue Protected Bike Lane.

Union Street: Serving an important connector route through the Central District, this protected bike lane would span from 14th Avenue to 26th Avenue and improve upon an existing striped (but not protected) unprotected bike lane. This route will make it easier for people on bikes to connect between the First Hill, Central District and Madrona neighborhoods. 

Green Lake Drive North: This protected bike lane will replace an existing unprotected lane and link Green Lake to North 83rd Street, providing safer and easier access to the Interurban Trail. 

And 2021 will bring more progress, including the expected completion of the Northgate bike and pedestrian bridge over Interstate 5 to connect the new light rail station to surrounding neighborhoods divided by the highway.

For future trails and protected bike lanes, Connect Seattle proposes more than a dozen large-scale projects including:

• A safe and protected bike trail between SODO and Georgetown;

• Completing the Georgetown to South Park Trail;

• Completing the Roosevelt Way to Northgate bikeway;

• Finishing the Duwamish Trail in West Seattle;

• Connecting the Mount Baker light rail station to the I-90/Mountains to Sound Trail.