Seattle's Central City will be the site of four major transportation capital projects in the next decade: LINK light rail, at least three Bus Rapid Transit routes, various streetcar projects, and the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. These projects are interrelated in complex ways and they come at a time when Seattle is also planning to add 90,000 new jobs and 50,000 new residents.

To help the City adjust to these major changes, Nelson/Nygaard has worked on a series of ground-breaking projects over the last four years. The first, the Center City Circulation Study, identified the vehicle capacity constraints in the City’s transportation network and calculated the person capacity improvements that were needed to accommodate the planned growth. This was followed by the Urban Village Transit Network—a system of fast, frequent and reliable transit lines connecting all of the City’s planned growth areas—and a long range plan for an interconnected streetcar network. To implement the transit network, we also identified new Quality of Service measures for transit, focused on the customer’s experience rather than mere operational efficiency. Finally, we created a proposed analysis framework for helping the City balance the needs of all modes - autos, transit, pedestrians, bicyclists and freight - in each street depending upon its urban context.

These "big picture" studies were then supplemented with detailed plans for several growing neighborhoods and transit centers, including the North Center City and Westlake Hub areas. We also helped the City develop an on-street parking strategy for the South Lake Union neighborhood, which won an award from the American Planning Association. We also recently completed a parking mitigation strategy for the area around the Alaskan Way Viaduct, slated to be removed in 2012.

Currently, Nelson/Nygaard is working with the City on the Urban Mobility Plan to develop a strategic set of transit service and surface street grid improvements which, combined with demand management strategies, would absorb the Viaduct’s current vehicle demand and allow its removal while eliminating the need for a replacement structure. According to Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck, Vice-Chair of the Transportation Committee, “The replacement of the viaduct is a fantastic opportunity to begin the creation of a 21st century transportation system. The car can no longer rule all our decisions. There’s got to be a better way.”

Seattle is poised to be North America's first new transit metropolis of the new millennium, and Nelson\Nygaard is proud to have a longstanding relationship with the city.