January 13, 2017

Open house next week on how to improve the Pike-Pine corridor

Photo from Downtown Seattle Association [enlarge]

Pike Pine Renaissance: Act One is expected to be done in 2021 and cost about $20 million, with the goal of improving the retail corridor.

The city plans to start construction in 2019 on a project to make the Pike-Pine retail corridor more inviting to pedestrians between Pike Place Market and Capitol Hill.

You can weigh in on what you'd like to see at an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at ACT Theatre, 700 Union St.

Conceptual design has just begun on the plan to upgrade Pike and Pine streets between First and Melrose avenues. Work may include new sidewalks or sidewalk extensions, curb bulbs, crosswalk paving inlays, intersection treatments, green stormwater infrastructure, street trees, plantings, lighting and seating.

ZGF Architects is the project lead. The team also includes Toole Design Group, dark|light design, Project for Public Spaces and EnviroIssues.

The $20 million plan is called “Pike Pine Renaissance: Act One.” It is expected to be done in 2021, according to Jacqueline Gruber, policy and planning analyst with the Downtown Seattle Association.

Seattle's Office of the Waterfront is partnering with DSA on the effort.

Don Blakeney, DSA vice president of advocacy and economic development, said the intent is to fund Act One by assessing property owners through a local improvement district.

The city has said the LID is expected to be a key part of financing the central waterfront redevelopment.

Pike and Pine are not on the waterfront, but Blakeney said they connect it with downtown.

He said that the Act One team also will offer suggestions to property owners on ways to make the heavily traveled corridor more pedestrian friendly. For instance, he said, some buildings could add lighting to their facades at night, or sidewalk cafes.

He pointed to the Washington State Convention Center, a major component of the Pike-Pine corridor, as one owner that already has taken steps to improve the public area around it.

WSCC has upgraded its streetscape, and an official there said he hoped that would inspire other Pike-Pine property owners.

The DSA manages Westlake Park in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation. Blakeney said his organization will likely play a role in programming on Pike and Pine, between First and Melrose.

Gruber said they are great streets for shopping and strolling, but there are not a lot of places to sit and gather other than Westlake Park.

The city has said one goal is to create small places along sidewalks for activities and events, with places to sit and people watch.

It has noted some challenges, such as the “dead zone” over Interstate 5 and around the convention center, and the poor physical condition and quality of street life on blocks west of Fourth Avenue.

DSA is not providing funding for Act One, but Gruber said it is offering lessons learned from managing Westlake Park.

DSA also commissioned the Pike-Pine Renaissance plan to make the retail area between First Avenue, Interstate 5, Union and Virginia streets more inviting to pedestrians and bicyclists.

Seattle landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol was the design lead for the plan, which was released in 2014. Implementation was estimated to cost between $27 million and $54 million.

DSA said Act One builds on key themes and design objectives from that plan, but covers a smaller area — the heart of the retail core.

Blakeney said some really great ideas came out of that plan, but some can't be implemented because of logistics.

DSA said it anticipates that there will be future phases to address other streets and Westlake Park, including north-south streets connecting Pike and Pine.