Status

As of November 2024
Phase 1: 90% Design
Future Phases: 60% Design

The City's design team achieved the 60% design milestone for the full corridor in August 2022. Based on the current project schedule, the 90% design is anticipated in Spring of 2025. Construction of Phase 1 is scheduled to begin in Spring of 2027.

Project location

The N 175th Street Corridor project area spans the length of N 175th Street between Stone Avenue N and I-5. 

Project Overview 

The 175th Street corridor is one of Shoreline's most active east-west arterials, connecting the city's busiest north-south roadways. In 2022, N 175th served the second highest volume of traffic in the city; only Aurora/Hwy 99 served more travelers. The corridor is a key transit route, connector to I-5 and the east side of the city, freight corridor, and backbone for emergency response. Four bus routes operate on the corridor with a busy park and ride lot located at the intersection of N 175th and Meridian. Hundreds of high school, elementary, and preschool students and their families use N 175th on a daily basis as they travel to Shorewood High School, Meridian Park Elementary School, and Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center. 

The N 175th Street Corridor project will improve safety and mobility for all corridor users, support growth, and provide better facilities for transit and bicyclists. Improvements include reconstruction of the existing street to provide two traffic lanes in each direction; medians and turn pockets; bicycle lanes; a shared-use path; curb, gutter, and sidewalk with planter strip where feasible; roadway illumination; pedestrian beacons at Ashworth and Wallingford Avenues; new signal system at the intersection of N 175th Street and Meridian Avenue; utility undergrounding; landscaping; and retaining walls.  

The project will be conducted in phases, with the first phase focused on the intersection of N 175th Street and Meridian and the Ronald Bog frontage.

Artist’s rendering of the completed corridor from the intersection of N 175th and Meridian Avenue N looking west. 

Seismic activity and Ronald Bog 

During our design work we discovered that a significant seismic event could cause soil failure near Ronald Bog. This could have significant impacts including a partial collapse of the roadway and underground utilities into the bog. We applied for and were awarded a FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant for seismic mitigation/road work adjacent to the susceptible areas near Ronald Bog and including the 175th Street/Meridian Avenue intersection. 

Geotechnical analysis identified that a large portion of N 175th Street and Meridian Avenue N are built upon a peat bog and weak fill soils (highlighted in red). 

Why improve the corridor? 

Current conditions 

In its current condition, the corridor is missing segments of sidewalk; particularly on the north side of the street. There is no buffer between the existing sidewalk and the roadway. Accessibility improvements are greatly needed as segments of existing sidewalks are blocked by trees or utility poles and are too narrow for people in wheelchairs or using strollers to get through. Missing and narrow sidewalks also limit the bus stop facilities on the route. 

Shoreline has few east-west connections for bicyclists to cross the City. The lack of dedicated bicycle facilities on N 175th and high traffic volumes have discouraged bicyclists from using the corridor.  

Traffic congestion is an ongoing problem during the busiest parts of the day. The intersections at N 175th and Meridian and N 175th and I-5 become heavily congested during the evening rush hours. In the future, traffic will continue to grow, which will increase the delay at all intersections on the corridor. 

Climate goals 

Shoreline  - along with communities around the world – is already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate. As a City we have an ongoing commitment to address the climate crisis and work towards a more just, resilient, and thriving future for everyone in Shoreline. 

A primary goal in our 2022 Climate Action Plan is to reduce emissions 60% by 2030. The City’s 2019 greenhouse gas emissions inventory shows that transportation is Shoreline’s largest greenhouse gas emissions source, accounting for 55% of total community-wide emissions. Most of these emissions come from gasoline use in passenger vehicles.  

Reducing community-wide driving is one of our top strategies for reducing emissions. To do that, we are working to create dense, bikeable, and walkable communities concentrated around transit. We can’t create dense walkable communities without making significant improvements to our transportation infrastructure. This includes repairing our existing sidewalks, constructing new sidewalks, and improving transportation corridors to allow for better access for pedestrians, transit, and vehicle traffic. We cannot meet our goal of reducing vehicle emissions without providing viable alternatives to them.  

To make improvements like safer sidewalks that are accessible to all users, bicycle facilities, better transit access, and reduced traffic congestion we will need to widen the footprint of N 175th. 

Tree Impacts

The December 2022 draft arborist report identifies 274 trees for removal and 191 trees for protection. A subsequent Tree Impact Memo identifies opportunities to protect 11 additional trees. Each of the trees will be further evaluated as design progresses to 90% complete.

The project will be constructed in multiple phases with the first phase being centered on the intersection of N 175th Street and Meridian Avenue N. The tree assessment has not been refined to identify the tree impacts specific to Phase 1. As the design proceeds, the potential tree impacts will continue to be reviewed as will the opportunities for tree planting.

Phase 1 Improvements 

The first phase of the N 175th Street Corridor Project is scheduled to begin construction in 2026. 

Meridian Avenue N to I-5

Corridor improvements between Meridian Avenue N and I-5 will include shared-use paths along both sides of the roadway. Additional coordination with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is necessary to finalize the layout of this segment; however, shared-use paths will be used to enhance safety through the I-5 interchange. 

Cross section of preferred concept from Meridian Avenue N to I-5 (facing east)

Intersection of Meridian Avenue N and N 175th Street

The preferred concept for the intersection at Meridian Avenue N and N 175th Street is to improve the intersection with a new traffic signal system with longer turn lanes and improved bike and pedestrian facilities while minimizing environmental impacts at Ronald Bog and maintaining connectivity to the recently constructed sidewalks at Meridian Park Elementary.

Improvements on Meridian Avenue N will connect to the Meridian Avenue N Safety Improvements project, which will add bike facilities to Meridian between N 155th Street and N 175th Street in 2023. Additional information can be found on the Meridian Avenue N Safety Improvements project webpage.

Future phases

Stone Avenue N to Meridian Avenue N

The Council approved design concept is a hybrid of the draft design alternatives and provides a shared-use path in the westbound (uphill) direction and an on-street buffered bike lane, and a widened sidewalk in the eastbound direction (downhill) between Stone Avenue N to Meridian Avenue N. The uphill slope of the westbound direction limits the speed of people biking who wish to use the shared-use path, while those traveling eastbound (downhill) will have an on-street buffered bike lane which provides separation from both vehicles and people using the sidewalk. The design also includes a center median which allows for a new pedestrian crossing at Ashworth Avenue N and safety enhancements to the existing crossing at Wallingford Avenue N. 

Cross section of preferred concept from Stone Avenue N to Wallingford Avenue N (facing east)

Cross section of preferred concept from Wallingford Avenue N to Meridian Avenue N (facing east)

Background

Council Approved Design Concept

On February 1, 2021, City Council approved the preferred design concept for the 175th Corridor Improvements Project. Using feedback received from over 1,500 participants through public outreach during the past two years, we were able to establish the community’s top three priorities for the corridor – (1) pedestrian walkability, (2) flow of traffic, and (3) transportation safety. The community provided feedback on how the initial design concepts met these priorities, and we combined this feedback with technical analysis to develop the preferred design concept. 

More detailed information on the traffic analysis, evaluation criteria, initial draft design concepts, and benefit measures can be found in the online engagement and survey site PDF. This PDF is an archive of the virtual open house hosted in summer 2020.

Public Outreach

Phase three outreach was completed in fall 2021. We gathered your input on public art, urban design, and landscape features for the N 175th Street Corridor Improvements Project. Summaries of the online survey and community feedback are available below.

• Virtual open house PDF (Summer/Fall 2021)
• Phase 3 Outreach Summary (PDF)

Public input indicates preference toward the use of natural materials and support for retention of street trees in the landscaping design. Indigenous art and nature-inspired art are preferred with possible art installations sited at bus stops and sidewalks. The community also preferred keeping the pony statues at the 175th Street gateway sign.

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