The Seattle Department of Transportation will build protected bike lanes on a street in the Delridge neighborhood that was recently obstructed by illegal concrete blocks that were used to deter people living in RVs from parking.
The blocks were initially placed along Southwest Andover Street in mid-June after the city of Seattle removed a long-standing RV encampment. Nucor Steel, the business neighboring the blocks, took responsibility for the blocks and removed them after the transportation department issued a warning on June 23, according to the agency.
Across Seattle, concrete blocks, sometimes referred to “ecology” or “eco” blocks, have been placed anonymously and illegally in public parking spaces. Often residents and business owners place them in an attempt to keep RVs in which people live from parking there.
While the Seattle Department of Transportation has issued warnings to businesses the department suspects are responsible for placing the blocks, the agency has not fined anyone and hundreds of blocks remain across the city, according to a report in The Seattle Times.
The department of transportation added new pavement to Southwest Andover Street between 26th and 28th Avenue Southwest last week and intends to install a protected bike lane this fall, spokesperson Mariam Ali said.
Crews will also make drainage and landscaping improvements, she said.
In this case, the idea for a bike lane on the site of the former RV encampment “resonated” with the people the agency spoke with, Ali said.
The bike lanes will run on both sides of Southwest Andover Street and down 28th Avenue Northwest to Southwest Yancy Street. The city is also considering an uphill protected bike lane on Southwest Yancy Street, she said.
Until the project is completed this fall, public parking may not be available during construction hours on weekdays and temporary no-parking signs may be placed in advance, the department said in a news release.
The design, which is estimated to cost $25,000, is funded by the Levy to Move Seattle, she said.