PROJECT PARTNER(S)
Seattle Department of Transportation with Seattle Department of Planning and Development

WEINSTEIN A|U
Gustufson Guthrie Nichol Ltd
SvR Designs
EnviroIssues

LOCATION
Terry avenue, Seattle, WA

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS
Woonerf, Sidewalk, Porous pavement

DESCRIPTION
The Terry Avenue North street-design guidelines, which cover a six-block stretch linking downtown to Lake Union, radically depart from the standard American approach to traffic design. Instead of segregating vehicles and pedestrians, the project aims to encourage people to share a single travel lane with slow-moving cars. “We’re breaking some conventions here,” says Lyle Bicknell, the city’s urban-design project manager for Terry Avenue North.
The intent of these design guidelines is to take advantage of Terry Avenue North’s low vehicle use, location, width and history and to create a pedestrian oriented street in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.

Two key principles guided the design team: visual continuity linking pedestrian and car zones, and a lateral rather than linear approach to how people will use the street. “You’re not walking along a channelized conduit for people alongside a channelized conduit for vehicles,” says landscape architect Shannon Nichol, founding partner of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and a consultant on Terry Avenue North. “You’re walking through a series of spaces that extend across the whole width of the street.”
CREATE A FUNCTIONAL RIGHT-OF-WAY THAT...
• Allows all of the existing and potential land uses, including their associated access, loading and parking
• Accommodates all modes of transportation including the proposed streetcar
• Promotes low vehicle speeds and discourages through traffic
• Is safe for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles
• Is accessible for all people, including those with disabilities
• Is durable and maintainable
• Incorporates utilities efficiently and in a way that will accommodate future needs
• Allows for incremental development
• Provides a balance between right-of-way functions with environmental priorities

CREATE A GREAT PLACE THAT...
• Retains a unique character based on its history, industrial uses, topography and views
• Emphasizes pedestrians, and amenities for pedestrians
• Makes natural systems both multifunctional and visible where possible
• Uses sustainability in materials and systems

PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS


LESSONS LEARNED
what can we learn from this place? you could address issues of performance, funding, maintenance, interpretation, aesthetics, anything...

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Terry Avenue guidelines PDF