Beacon Hill travel safety work is restarting – preview early designs and add your voice

Blog stats: 750 words | 4-minute read

At-a-glance:

We’re committed to helping you and your neighbors move around safely, no matter how you choose to travel. This aligns with our Vision Zero goal to end traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries on city streets, ongoing work that was recently strengthened by Mayor Wilson’s August 2026 Vision Zero Executive Order.
As a part of this effort, we’re beginning preliminary design for the next phase of transportation safety improvements in Beacon Hill along Beacon Ave S. This includes the central segment and south segment of the Beacon Ave S Safety Project.
The project builds on previous upgrades completed in 2025 that transformed a section of Beacon Ave S and 15th Ave S through north Beacon Hill to support safer travel for everyone (read more here in our previous blog post).
In this post, you’ll learn about what’s ahead and find out how to share your input as the preliminary design is developed in partnership with the community. Thank you.

Overview

Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood is a unique, culturally diverse community home to schools, parks, transit hubs, business districts, and residential streets. Nearby schools include Mercer International Middle School (attended by around 850 students) and Aki Kurose Middle School (around 900 students and temporarily operating in the former Van Asselt Elementary facility).

Addressing a history of speeding and crashes in the neighborhood

Beacon Hill is also a place that needs more investment to help people of all ages and abilities accomplish their everyday travel needs, safely and comfortably. Beacon Ave S is part of Seattle’s High Injury Network in our latest Vision Zero Action Plan (see page 55), with a total of 242 reported crashes between 2021 and 2025, including 11 serious injuries and one fatality.

Speed data further highlights the need for traffic calming and safety improvements. The average driving speed on Beacon Ave S is 34 mph, exceeding the posted 25 mph speed limit. Drivers speeding puts people who are walking, rolling, driving, and biking at greater risk.

Changes to street design can help change driver behavior, encouraging people to slow down and obey the law to everyone’s benefit. This project will extend bike facilities on Beacon Ave S from S Spokane St and connect to the protected bike lanes on S Columbian Way and S Myrtle St for east-west connections.

A community people call home

Most of all, Beacon Hill is a community – a tight-knit fabric of families, friends, and people who call it home, alongside the many local businesses and non-profits that embody the neighborhood’s special character.

Whether you’re dropping your child off at Wing Luke Elementary (attended by around 350 students), grabbing groceries at Fou Lee or the Seattle Supermarket, visiting your doctor at PacMed or the Seattle VA Medical Center, heading to the Beacon Hill light rail station, or simply taking a stroll through Jefferson Park, we want you to get there safely and enjoy your trip.

That’s why we’re building this project. With preliminary design beginning, we want to hear directly from you as we start to develop out more detailed plans for your neighborhood.

Two people walk across the street at a marked crosswalk in the city on a busy day. A bus prepares to turn onto the street from a nearby street. — *A person and kid cross the street at a marked crosswalk at Beacon Ave S and S Lander St, near the Beacon Hill Link light rail station. Photo: SDOT*

What’s next and how to get involved

Community priorities are helping to shape the project plans – and there’s more opportunities to weigh in as the preliminary design concepts are further developed.

Share your thoughts

Oct. 17: Visit our “pop-up” information table (11 AM – 1 PM), in the median pathway on Beacon Ave S, near the S Myrtle St intersection

Oct. 19: Attend our in-person open house (4 – 6:30 PM), at Van Asselt Community Center (2820 S Myrtle St) (Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese interpretation will be available)

Oct. 29: Join our virtual meeting (6 – 7 PM) online via Zoom – details on our website (Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Tagalog breakout rooms will be available)

Stay informed

Thanks again for your continued interest and engagement in this next phase of major investment in Beacon Hill as we support your everyday travel needs.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.