Beacon Ave S Safety Enhancements

Updated: August 19, 2022

We completed construction in July 2022. The safety enhancements have been installed and the new Flashing Beacons have been activated at the intersection of Beacon Ave S ans S Stevens St. These changes enhance pedestrian safety and improve connections in the neighborhood's business district.

After photos

Left: Southeast corner of Beacon Ave S and S Stevens St looking north. Right: Northwest corner of Beacon Ave S and S Steven St looking south.

We'd like to thank the residents, businesses, property owners, shoppers, and other community members for your patience and cooperation while we completed this Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) project. The completion of the Beacon Ave S Safety Enhancements Project would not have been possible without the community's support.

Project Overview

In 2019, the Beacon Ave S Safety Enhancements was one of 15 selected projects by the Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee to be funded through SDOT's Neighborhood Street Fund Program. 

Elements

• Accessible Curb (ADA) Ramps
• Signals
• Curb Bulbs
• Crosswalks

Benefits

• Flashing beacons are push button activated, giving people walking more control over the crossing by clearly informing oncoming vehicles of their decision to enter the roadway
• Painted curb bulbs will make it easier for people walking and biking to cross
• New ADA-compliant curb ramps will improve access
• Signals and channelization will improve predictability for vehicular users
• New plants and amenities in the Light Rail Plaza will increase people's sight line into the plaza

Designs

Beacon Ave S and S Lander St

We'd previously made improvements to this intersection, including painting and installing curb bulbs and posts.

This project refreshed the existing paint and posts and added more painted curbs to make crossings shorter and safer.

Beacon Ave S and S Stevens Street

Improvements at this intersection include:

• Adding new ADA curb ramps on all four corners of the intersection
• Building new curb bulbs to make crossings shorter and safer
• Pedestrian-activated flashing crosswalk beacon
• Sidewalk and driveway repair
• Drainage work
• Painted curb bulbs 

Project Background

This is one of the 15 Neighborhood Street Fund projects requested by neighbors and selected by the Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee. Neighborhood Street Fund is a city program, running on 3-year cycles, that enable neighbors to propose and help prioritize transportation-related projects that are then built by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Note: funds not used for this project will be returned to the NSF program budget.

Schedule

The NSF program runs on 3-year cycles to select, design, and build projects, but we had project delays this round with design updates and schedule impacts due to SDOT's work responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The application phase for the 2019-2021 cycle opened October 2018 and this project will be constructed in 2022.