One-way Western Avenue would hurt pedestrian environment

STATE officials recently narrowed options for the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct to two: an elevated highway, or a surface/transit hybrid that puts all northbound traffic on a reconfigured Western Avenue. Neither option appears acceptable.

The plan for Western Avenue as northbound lanes (with the southbound lanes on Alaskan Way) is particularly devastating and must be soundly rejected. It ignores all we have learned about urban design in the past 50 years.

Western Avenue is a unique downtown street. Its south end developed in the early 20th century as a warehouse district serving the waterfront. As shipping moved to the Duwamish, the warehouses along Western were reused for offices and housing, with a variety of ground-floor boutiques, restaurants and galleries. Meanwhile, the north end of Western became the "back door" to Pike Place Market.

In the 1970s, when the Market was revived, sites along Western Avenue provided important reservoirs of parking, plus waterfront access. More recently, Western has been built up with new housing and more street-level retail. From south to north, this avenue has become a pedestrian-friendly street. Now, all this is threatened.

In 1981, Donald Appleyard, professor at the University of California at Berkeley, published his now classic study, "Livable Streets." He compared three San Francisco streets that were essentially identical, except their traffic volumes were radically different. His "light" and "moderate" examples had two-way traffic; his "heavy" example had three lanes of one-way traffic — 16,000 vehicles per day. The light and moderate streets were pedestrian-friendly places, with a high degree of human interaction. The "heavy traffic" street was unsafe, with constant noise and frequent accidents; it was a failure urbanistically.

Three lanes of one-way traffic are now proposed for Western Avenue. The state predicts a daily total in excess of 25,000 vehicles on Western (and potentially 5,000 vehicles in the afternoon peak period alone). Should the state's proposal go forward, the pedestrian environment on Western will be destroyed and this successful mixed-use street will become a barren thruway.

The state proposes a short tunnel on Western (from Virginia to Lenora) at Pike Place Market. This gesture utterly fails to address the impacts that will be felt by the Market. As University of Washington professor George Rolfe, Pike Place Market PDA's first director, explains, the Market succeeds because of its interconnections and availability of parking. Particularly important are the streets, including Western. While we may think of the Market in terms of its pedestrian connections, the parking along Western Avenue is essential so the Market can serve a wider audience.

Many proponents of the surface option are appalled by the proposal to route all northbound traffic on Western Avenue. They assumed, as I did, the surface option would include a boulevard, with traffic in both directions, along Alaskan Way.

The state claims that three lanes of heavy traffic will produce urban-design amenities. The opposite is more likely true. The large park proposed along the waterfront will not be successful. In 1961, almost 50 years ago, in her book, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," Jane Jacobs noted that the success or failure of parks depends on their edges — that is, what is adjacent to the park determines how it will be used. Putting three lanes of heavy northbound traffic on Western Avenue will devastate the blocks between Western and Alaskan Way. The streets will become completely unfriendly to pedestrians. Street-level retail will wither and a block-wide dead zone between Western and Alaskan will face the waterfront.

Some may argue that placing three lanes of traffic on Western instead of a boulevard along Alaskan will create a bigger park. However, it is likely the amount of open space will be too large for the number of users. In "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces and City: Rediscovering the Center," William H. Whyte argued that urban open spaces often need "compression" — they do not work if people get too thinned out. Whyte showed that people are attracted to places in cities that are active and quite crowded. People shy away from spaces that appear empty.

The solution to the future of Alaskan Way needs to be an urban solution. There are many cities worldwide with successful urban waterfront boulevards. A study of such spaces will show that a six-lane boulevard can be accommodated along Alaskan Way.

Should the state go forward with three lanes of heavy northbound traffic on Western Avenue, we must resist. We have come too far in the creation of a successful pedestrian environment in our downtown, and we have such an irreplaceable treasure in Pike Place Market, that we cannot allow the state to proceed with such a destructive plan.