Signs of Trouble?

Georgetown business says an SDOT plan threatens its operations

Image 1: Bloom Bistro & Grocery operates on the first floor of the building at 6601 Carleton Ave S. The loading zone is to the left of the blue door and in front of the yellow door. Image 2: Proposal for a Healthy Street installation in front of Bloom Bistro & Grocery at 6601 Carleton Ave. S. Image 3: SDOT file photo of a narrowed Healthy Street in Seattle. Image 4: Plans could include installing benches and a large planter in front of the market. (Click on images to expand)

A proposed plan to narrow Carleton Avenue South at South Warsaw Street to calm traffic is receiving pushback from a business owner and landlord at the same corner.

The Seattle Department of Transportation wants to narrow the wide road down to 11 feet by installing large planters and signs to slow speeding cars. The concept first appeared in 2020 with soon graffitied “Road Closed” construction signs intended to discourage speeding drivers cutting through Carleton when the West Seattle Bridge closed. The “Healthy Streets” narrowing project has appeared in a handful of neighborhoods recently. Beyond permanent signs and concrete planters, a 20-foot by 15-foot curb bulb with benches could be built at the Georgetown location.

But Marisa Figueroa, the owner of Bloom Bistro & Grocery, and Allan Phillips, the landlord, say the proposed permanent “Healthy Streets” design will eliminate a needed loading zone for deliveries in front of the bagel shop at 6601 Carleton Ave. S. They want the planters and signs moved south on Carleton to preserve the loading zone and not block the business.

“Loss of delivery truck access will destroy the business,” said Phillips, who once operated a grocery out of the first-floor space. “The one-size fits-all approach of ‘Healthy Streets’ is not the right approach to traffic engineering on this block.”

The issue has spanned the summer generating a series of emails, meetings between SDOT, Office of Economic Development representatives and Figueroa. City Council Member Rob Saka, who chairs the transportation committee, also visited the bagel shop last month.

In a recent email message SDOT planners told Figueroa they are working on an alternative design and requested more information about her deliveries. “We don’t know if that means they will move it one inch or they move it down the block or seek to put the project elsewhere,” she said.

While this is going on, the city’s latest comprehensive zoning plan seeks to reintroduce corner stores to residential neighborhoods.

It remains to be seen if one part of city government can align its goals and policies with those of another department.

Earlier in the year, SDOT surveyed Georgetown residents about making permanent the Healthy Streets designation on Carleton Ave. A majority of respondents supported the project.

But “Does it make any sense to make (a business) impossible to operate?” asked Phillips. “If (SDOT) really sat down and talked with the neighborhood about these plans, I have a hunch neighbors might feel differently.”