Seattle teacher's death spotlights shelved bike lane plans
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A cyclist travels through the intersection of East Yesler Way and 12th Avenue South, where another cyclist was fatally injured this week. Photo: Melissa Santos/Axios
The intersection where a Seattle teacher died in a bicycle crash this week has long been identified as dangerous for cyclists — yet more ambitious plans to improve bike safety there were shelved years ago.
The big picture: The death of Christian Salyer, a 30-year-old teacher at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, comes seven years after Seattle city officials dropped plans for a protected bike lane on a stretch of 12th Avenue South.
Catch up quick: The crash that killed Salyer — which involved a garbage truck — occurred Monday afternoon at the intersection of 12th Avenue South and East Yesler Way, the Seattle Police Department told Axios.
- Salyer died Tuesday morning from his injuries, according to an email from Julie Breidenbach, the principal at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School.
- An investigation is underway, Seattle police detective Brian Pritchard told Axios.
Flashback: City officials had planned to build a protected bike lane along 12th between King Street and Yesler by 2021, documents from 2017 show.
- But those blocks were removed from the city's plans in 2019, leaving the stretch of road with painted bike lanes — or in many places, none at all.
- In a 2021 project update, SDOT said extending the protected bike lane north of King Street would create transit delays and longer vehicle queues at Yesler, Boren Avenue and South Jackson Street.
- The agency said it was balancing "streetcar speed and reliability, transit needs, and bicycle safety" and would continue evaluating alternatives.
State of play: SDOT says the part of 12th Avenue between Yesler and King has "a high number of crashes, including serious ones."
- The city has made some upgrades — including adding low concrete barriers along part of Yesler near 12th to help shield cyclists from cars.
- It's not clear where in the intersection Salyer was biking when he was fatally struck.
Yes, but: Additional protected bike lanes could help reduce driver speeds approaching the busy intersection, making it less dangerous as a whole, Kyle Jacobson, co-lead of the neighborhood group Central Seattle Streets for All, told Axios Thursday.
- "There have been more ambitious plans for 12th between King and Yesler that got pulled back, and certainly would have made the intersection safer," Jacobson said.
- While not all the facts of this week's crash are known right now, he said "the next crash is preventable."
Mayor Katie Wilson's office said she is "deeply saddened" by Salyer's death and that improving traffic safety is one of her top priorities.
What's next: The city expects to refine plans for safety improvements along 12th Avenue South this year, with construction potentially beginning in late 2027, SDOT says.
- It's unclear whether the upgrades will include additional protected bike lanes.
