Hello Aurora Avenue friends,
We are excited to share the Community Design Workshops Findings Report. Back in April, we launched the Community Design Workshops Series to co-create, along with community members and key stakeholders, a corridor vision and design concepts to shape the future of Aurora Avenue and transit services within the project area.
This report describes ideas, priorities, and behaviors expressed by nearly 450 community members that participated in our collaborative and participatory design process between April and July.
Outreach and findings: Most of the ideas shared in the workshops suggest that participants would like SDOT to use their ideas to develop concepts that reflect a vision of a neighborhood that's lively and exciting. Our series was promoted through in-person outreach and partnerships with community organizations and leaders. Digital tactics such as email outreach, web updates, and blog posts were also used to reach residents along Aurora Ave. Overall, we heard:
Vision – 20 years in the future
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Most participants envision a future where people have spaces to interact with each other, where there are more trees and green spaces, and more businesses and activities along the corridor.
- Fewer participants imagine Aurora Ave as a highway that makes it easier to get to the neighborhoods north of Seattle.
Road Improvements
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Participants show more consensus on changes that improve their experiences when they are physically on Aurora, as opposed to travelling through Aurora Ave.
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Participants show less consensus on transportation and transit focused changes that affect how people travel through Aurora Ave. like having lanes dedicated to bus and bike, not allowing left turns, and different ways to use of the center median (middle part of the road).
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The biggest differences in how people see the ideas for upgrading Aurora Avenue are between participants who imagine Aurora Ave as a part of their neighborhood, and participants who see Aurora Ave as a highway.
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The key area of disagreement is around speed reduction and traffic control.
What’s next: Throughout fall 2023, we will develop a shared future vision for the corridor and transit services. We will guide the concepts development with key corridor data, technical recommendations, and community feedback received during Phase 1 and 2 of outreach. Over the winter, we plan to share concept designs and evaluation criteria that reflect the input we gathered through our community design workshops. Stay tuned for more opportunities to engage with this project.
Don’t miss out! Share with your friends the Community Design Workshops Findings Summary. It is available in English, Tagalog, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese (traditional), and Tigrinya. Visit our website.
Once again, thank you for your interest in this project, your valuable insights, and your time. If you would like to learn more about what’s happened in this project so far, please visit our project website.
Sincerely,
Jules Posadas, Engagement Lead
Aurora Ave Project
aurorastudy@seattle.gov
(206) 905-3620
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