New Bike Paths Connect South Park and Georgetown After Years of Community Advocacy

South Park and Georgetown residents can now enjoy a new bike and pedestrian path connecting the two neighborhoods after years of community advocacy.

Georgetown and South Park are less than two miles apart, but the neighborhoods have become dependent on cars due to a lack of public transit and bike lanes.

"There's just so much that exists in one [neighborhood] that doesn't exist in the other, and the only way to get between them is by car," said Clara Cantor, a community organizer from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways who spoke about the schools and stores in one neighborhood and the playfields in another.

For years, community members advocated for the Seattle City Council to allocate funding for the project. In 2017, a coalition of groups, including the Duwamish Valley Safe Streets and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, worked together to push for the project.

The plans, however, faced major delays. "​Advocacy like that is so hard because it's such a long time frame that [advocates] get tired and it feels too distant," said Cantor.

Construction for the project began during the fall of 2024 and added 1.2 miles of walking path and bike lanes, accessible curb ramps, a pedestrian crosswalk, and lamp posts. Over 100 new trees were planted alongside Ellis Avenue and East Marginal Way, with an off-leash dog area at the corner where the two streets meet.

"It's not just for people who are strong cyclists — this is for all ages and abilities," said Ching Chan from the Seattle Department of Transportation.

The new paths are intended to increase safety in the neighborhood for pedestrians and bikers. East Marginal Way is a high-traffic area with trucks and semi-trailers carrying goods into the city, and the long roads have made it difficult for people to walk across the street. As part of the project, a pedestrian crosswalk was added on East Marginal Way South and 16th Avenue South to connect Georgetown to South Park.

The project was funded by the 2015 Seattle Transportation Levy, which was approved by voters to invest additional city funds in increasing bike lanes and pedestrian paths in Seattle.

Other bike and pedestrian lanes along North Beacon Hill, Alaskan Way, and Georgetown to downtown have also been added this summer. However, the routes are not fully connected with each other yet.

For example, in Georgetown, there's a small strip that doesn't connect the downtown and South Park bike routes near Airport Way South and between South Bailey Street and South Lucille Street. The biggest challenge is identifying a route that is viable and can continue to serve all the businesses in the area, Chan said.

Cantor said the goal is to have the bike and pedestrian routes connect with each other and create a network that increases usability.

Despite the work that still needs to be done, "biking around the South End today is like night and day, from even five years ago, let alone 10 years ago," Cantor said. "It's such a cool thing to see the completion of this neighborhood project."