UPDATED - More Lane Reductions Coming to Georgetown?
- Steve Lannen
- Sep 4
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 14
SDOT proposes big changes on East Marginal Way S
UPDATED 9/14/2025: SDOT representatives will not present their proposed design plans for East Marginal Way at Monday night's Georgetown Community Council meeting. They are now scheduled to present and answer questions at the Oct. 20 meeting, GCC President Heather Carney confirmed. SDOT support staff is unavailable for Monday night and SDOT wants to have a subject matter expert on hand to field questions, SDOT officials told Carney.
A repaving project on East Marginal Way S hopes to improve bike and pedestrian safety, but at what expense?
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) plans to repave and redesign East Marginal Way S between 1st Avenue S and the Tukwila city line. The road is one of Georgetown’s major thoroughfares for commuters and a major freight truck corridor. While the project includes safety upgrades for people biking and walking—such as a new two-way protected bike lane, wider sidewalks and ADA curb ramps—it comes with trade-offs that could have major impacts on Georgetown’s residents and business owners.
SDOT’s current proposed design would reduce southbound East Marginal Way S to one lane between S River Street and 4th Avenue S down to Ellis Ave S to accommodate a two-way bike lane. For Georgetown drivers, this means a higher chance of traffic delays—particularly during peak commute times. This year, we’ve already experienced the impacts of lane reductions on Airport Way S: backups, delays and restricted access. This project threatens to repeat these challenges and make an already congested area even harder to navigate.
When asked at a recent poorly attended online forum if there might be an impact from future increased freight traffic on East Marginal Way S, SDOT project managers said they needed to consult traffic engineers. They pointed to a survey with more than 150 respondents who said they largely approved of or were neutral to the proposed changes.
Well, yes, we all like safety and bike lanes, but what if these changes force more impatient drivers looking for shortcuts into our neighborhoods? What if we find ourselves sitting through multiple light cycles just to get to work? Isn’t there a happy medium that can preserve traffic lanes and create some more space for bicyclists and pedestrians?
SDOT is still in the design phase, about 60 percent complete. This is the time to weigh in. They expect to reach 90 percent design by November. As we’ve learned from other SDOT projects, once the design reaches that point, there’s no turning back.
If Georgetown doesn’t speak up now, we may be stuck with a design that overlooks the day-to-day traffic of residents and local businesses.
What you can do: SDOT will present its plan at the Georgetown Community Council meeting at 7 p.m., Sept 15 (rescheduled to Oct. 20), in Old City Hall. Please attend to voice concerns, ask questions, and make sure we, too, can move safely in and out of the neighborhood regardless of whether it is on foot, two wheels or four wheels.
Won't anyone think of the poor cars?!? 🙄🤦
As a Georgetown resident who prefers non-car transportation (walking, biking, and bus) I am one of the people who highly supports this project. If there is legitimate concern about the end result (not just the construction phase) pushing traffic into our neighborhood, then we should advocate for further neighborhood traffic calming. We cannot continue to let good projects get held up or watered down because it might slightly impact somebody who can’t be bothered to imagine life beyond their car.