Establishing modal priority (where the street is optimized to support a primary mode of transport) on a handful of streets in the U District will create a ‘SUPERBLOCK’ for a safe, accessible, and livable neighborhood (see Barcelona).
Vehicular traffic is incentivized to travel around the superblock, while vehicles needing to enter the area must travel at slower speeds (10mph 'Shared Streets') and always give right-of-way to pedestrians and bikes in the street.
PEDESTRIANS - The Ave and the 'green street' on NE 42nd Street are prioritized for people.
BIKES - Bicycle ‘greenway’ on 12th Avenue NE and NE 40th Street, connecting to the Burke-Gilman Trail at the south end.
TRANSIT - Buses on Brooklyn Avenue NE (with direct connections to the Link Station) and NE 43rd Street. Other bus routes run on the perimeter of the superblock.
CARS - Vehicle priority on the perimeter with local-access-only inside, providing sufficient short-term parking and loading areas for delivery trucks.
PEDESTRIANS - The Ave and the 'green street' on NE 42nd Street are prioritized for people.
BIKES - Bicycle ‘greenway’ on 12th Avenue NE and NE 40th Street, connecting to the Burke-Gilman Trail at the south end.
TRANSIT - Buses on Brooklyn Avenue NE (with direct connections to the Link Station) and NE 43rd Street. Other bus routes run on the perimeter of the superblock.
CARS - Vehicle priority on the perimeter with local-access-only inside, providing sufficient short-term parking and loading areas for delivery trucks.
This arrangement encourages folks coming to shop, dine, and visit the heart of the neighborhood and not just driving through it to get somewhere else. The result is more space to enjoy the unique attractions of this walkable destination.
Conceptual diagram of a Superblock for the U District. (U District Advocates)
Examples Elsewhere
Barcelona, Spain
Superilles (Superblocks) is a project designed by Barcelona City Council in collaboration with the Urban Ecology Agency that aims to foster sustainable mobility, the intensive use of public spaces, biodiversity, social cohesion involving the participation of the general public, a reduced ecological footprint and, in short, which enhances the human dimension of the city.
What is a superblock? This is a territorial unit that is smaller than a neighbourhood but bigger than a residential block, with calm streets where urban planning and environmental activities are held.
Superblock model transformation. (Ajuntament de Barcelona)
Vienna, Austria
Vienna's "Supergrätzl" (Super Neighborhood) project is a Smart City initiative to transform urban blocks by prioritizing people over cars, reducing traffic, noise, and pollution, creating green spaces, and enhancing walkability and quality of life, with pilot projects like the one in Favoriten (10th District) implementing stricter speed limits, diverting through-traffic, and reclaiming street space for residents and sustainable mobility.
Berlin, Germany
Neighborhoods across Berlin are embracing the Superblock concept. Residents have petitioned local authorities to establish superblocks (known locally as Kiezblocks) in their neighbourhoods, pushing the topic onto the agenda in assemblies across the city’s twelve boroughs, most recently in Tempelhof-Schöneberg. So far, assemblies in five boroughs have voted to establish at least 16 superblocks in response to applications by residents.
Support Proposal for Seattle's First Superblock
Supporters
1 Supporter
Cory Crocker
Testimonials
"What Barcelona has done to develop the idea of the superblock is truly inspiring."
- Cory
Background
An Idea with Community Support
The product of the outreach process is a vision plan released in September 2018 to guide transportation improvement around U District Station.
One of the salient ideas from the community engagement was the proposal to assign modal priority to select streets in the U District in order to reduce car traffic in the core, provide more space for pedestrians, and reduce both noise and pollution.
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