The Seattle City Council unanimously approved legislation, sponsored by Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6), to legalize Shared Streets in the city.

“Shared Streets give us the opportunity to get creative and make some of our most beloved public spaces safer, more vibrant, and stronger economically. Seattle knows that works — Pike Place Public Market operated as an unofficial shared street for most of the past century,” said Councilmember Strauss.

Washington became the first state in the nation to legalize Shared Streets in 2025. They are non-arterial streets where people who are walking and rolling are prioritized over bikes and vehicles, and where speed limits can be set as low at 10 miles per hour. Without this legislation, the lowest a speed limit can be set is 20 miles per hour, outside of school zones.

“My work toward this legislation began in 2021, when we worked to redesign Ballard Avenue and implement our cafe street. Anyone who has visited a local business on Ballard Avenue and eaten at a street cafe knows that cars speeding past at 20 miles per hours can be too fast for these types of streets,” said Councilmember Strauss.

What’s next

This legislation lets Seattle start planning to implement Shared Streets. It does not designate any specific streets but calls for the City Traffic Engineer to establish the procedures for doing so.

The Seattle Department of Transportation anticipates releasing those procedures in June, at which time the Seattle City Council may take up additional legislation around Shared Streets.

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