about the project

Pike Pine Streetscape and Bicycle Improvements (a part of the Downtown Seattle Association’s Pike Pine Renaissance program) provides a vibrant pedestrian experience on Pike and Pine streets between Capitol Hill and the Pike Place Market.  The City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects, & Sound Transit coordinated with the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA), and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to improve east-west connections between the waterfront and surrounding neighborhoods. 

Designed to be comfortable for all users, with more visible crosswalks, wider sidewalks, landscaping, protected bike lanes, and more seating and street activity, Pike and Pine streets are more consistent in character and identity from end to end.

Pike and Pine Streets were converted to one-way streets from First Avenue to Bellevue Avenue, with Pike Street being one-way eastbound and Pine Street being one-way west bound. By switching to one-way streets east of 8^th Avenue the project provided more room for pedestrians and bikes, and a more pleasant experience for all users.

Specifically, the project adds and shifts existing protected bike lanes to create a bike lane couplet on Pike and Pine Streets between Second and Melrose Avenues, with the east-bound bike lane traveling along the north side of Pike Street and the west-bound bike lane traveling along the south side of Pine Street. Bike lanes are separated from traffic by a planted buffer or curbed island.

Cherry trees on Pike Street

The Pike Pine Streetscapes and Bicycle Improvements Project secured 27 cherry trees for planting around the city. Existing cherry trees on Pike Street were replaced with eight new trees between 1st and 2nd Avenues. In coordination with the Japanese American community and the staff of the Consulate General of Japan, the city developed a commemorative plaque explaining the cultural significance of the trees and their symbolic connection to the Japanese American farmers who had a large historic presence at the adjacent Pike Place Market. The December 6, 2023 ceremony to unveil the plaque commemorated the coordination along with the city’s commitment to plant three trees for each one removed. 

Art

Artists Derek Bruno and Gage Hamilton were selected as team artists for the Pike Pine Streetscape and Bicycle Improvements Project. In collaboration with the project team, they designed public artwork that is both integrated into the infrastructure and unifies Pike and Pine streets, creating a legible path from Capitol Hill through the downtown retail core to Pike Place Market. A repeating pattern of wave forms that morph from rounded, water-like shapes towards the west to more mountain-like peaks to the east appear on the bike buffers, planters, and the railings over the freeway.