SEATTLE – A West Seattle community is banding together, objecting to a plan from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) that would add protected bike lanes along SW Admiral Way from California Avenue to 63rd Avenue SW by removing 200 parking spaces.
SDOT's proposal would remove a lane of parking on the northern side of Admiral Way in an effort to make the street more safe for bikers, drivers and residents.
"I'd be all for it if it didn't mean losing parking for people," said Aaron Wheetman, whose family lives on the north side of Admiral Way. "That's just not going to be safe for the people who live on this side of the street."
In response to the SDOT proposal, some neighbors have formed a group called Keep Alki Safe with the goal of finding an alternative to the SDOT plan that would remove parking.
"People routinely speed up and down the street, all day long," Jared Gage, a father of three, said of Admiral Way.
While Gage knows the street could be safer and appreciates SDOT trying to make a positive change, he says their proposed change would make it much more dangerous for his family.
"I would have to cross traffic several times a day with small children," Gage said.
Gage's children are all under the age of five, and he believes this plan simply isn't keeping the people who live along Admiral Way in mind.
"You're going to protect the bicyclists at the expense of all of the families that are using it all day, every day," Gage said.
Keep Alki Safe has started an online petition against the proposed SDOT plan and invites community members to contact them to learn more about the project, as well as ways to contact officials to let their voices be heard.
SDOT says they're taking the neighborhood's concerns seriously and stress they are only in the planning stages for this project.
As an alternative to removing parking, SDOT said they're also looking at possibly removing the middle turning lane along Admiral Way instead of the parking to make room for dedicated bike lanes.
Many neighbors in the area say they're on board with the plan as long as it does not impact their parking.
"It would appear that by changing just a little paint around, you might be able to come out with a workable solution," Gage said.
To learn more about the campaign on the Keep Alki Safe website.
To learn more about SDOT's project, visit the SW Admiral Way Safety Project webpage.
