-This is a proud moment and
quite candidly, an example of what we can do when we work together.
-So today we're celebrating the near completion
of the East Marginal Way heavy haul and Port Corridor Improvements project.
We started construction
of this project, of this segment, the North segment, in March of last year,
and we're finishing a few months early with major construction.
So we're making improvements to the roadway to support our freight
network and increase access to local businesses, industrial centers,
and the Port of Seattle terminals for maritime operations.
And we've also installed new protected bike lanes that go from South Spokane
Street, the West Seattle Bridge Connection Trail,
all the way down South Atlantic Street to get people to downtown.
You can see the street here on East Marginal Way,
we fully reconstructed it.
So there's a 15-inch thick concrete street now, so it helps reduce
noise and vibration on the street for the trucks that are coming through.
It also gives it a longer life span and requires less maintenance.
On the bike lane
here we have a two-way protected bike lane.
You can see there some separation here.
-This is something we can be very, very proud of as a city.
-It'll support and improve operations both for freight
getting to and from the port, but then also create a new connection,
whether you're walking, biking, rolling
between West Seattle, South Park into downtown and beyond.
-Projects like this require attentiveness to a whole variety of stakeholders.
-Prior to this project, East Marginal Way had a lot of conflicts
for bikes and freight trucks, and so really keeping them separated,
keeping everyone safe is kind of the big the big win here.