One-way conversion of Carey Street

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions (which render "Carey" as "Kerry"); names and details may be misheard.

What: resolution (agenda item CA7) to convert Carey Street to one-way downhill traffic where it meets North Division Street at the Broadway Bridge, removing the lane that runs uphill from Depot Street.
Where it stands: pulled from the consent agenda and approved by voice vote on 2026-10-19 after about 26 minutes of council debate and more than 20 minutes of public comment.
Next: the conversion is a precondition for the DDA's Division Street Bikeway extension and a shared-use path to the Broadway Bridge, timed with Division Street resurfacing in spring 2027. A public meeting on Broadway Bridge changes is planned for November. Staff will track speeds, volumes and crashes.

Thompson and Roberts presented. A two-way bikeway on Division now ends at Catherine, leaving cyclists without safe access to the bridge; pedestrians face an indirect, steep, cross-sloped route.
Sight distance: drivers coming uphill on Carey cannot see around the curve of Division and a retaining wall, and cars that pull ahead of the stop bar block drivers' view of the crosswalk.
Two hours of video: six near misses (10 percent of morning and 25 percent of evening-peak pedestrian crossings) and 11 wrong-way movements.
If Carey stays two-way, the bikeway extension is deferred until the Division and Broadway interchange can be fully reconfigured. In the 1990s staff recommended closing Carey during the bridge rebuild; council then kept it open.
Traffic: about 815 vehicles a day uphill on Carey (about 100 an hour at the morning peak); Division carries about 8,600 and the bridge over 18,000. Detour adds 1 to 2 minutes or 0.2 to 0.4 mile.
Argo Dam: Carey is a secondary route in the dam emergency action plan, for water utility technicians; an alternative can be named. The fire department reviewed and approved the change.
Signage and detailed design are still to come (Reinger); temporary notice signs with flags are typical.

Longer routes through Kingsley, Beakes and Maiden Lane; effects on hospital commuters, a church, school parents and a daycare; Amtrak long-term lot access (Tranetski).
No accounting for traffic from the Broadway Park West development (Ritter); a petition with 1,030 signers opposing changes to Broadway Bridge traffic lanes (Crockett).
Few documented crashes: McKee cited no pedestrian crash in 14 years and two minor bike crashes in 2014 to 2018; some asked for cheaper fixes first (radar speed signs, moving the southbound bike lane to Fifth).
Several asked to postpone until the November Broadway Bridge meeting (Babcock, Stalberg).

Briggs: eight documented crashes within 100 feet in two years; the near-miss data is more concerning; the change is recommended even without the bikeway.
Mallek said he started skeptical, tested the area by car and on foot, and would vote yes; Harrison said the sight line cannot be fixed (the retaining wall cannot move), noted no serious injuries in two years, and asked that monitoring cover neighboring streets and bring problems back to council.
Cornell asked about signage. Mayor Taylor called it a trade-off whose safety benefit outweighs inconvenience.

In favor: Hall (Transportation Commission), Brihub, residents who bike and walk the area, and Vision Zero arguments. Opposed or asking to postpone: the speakers named above. Roughly eight speakers in favor and seven against at the reserve time. Goodman and Duskevich thanked council afterward.

About 49 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-19 - City Council	49

2026-10-19 - City Council - Staff presentation, public comment and debate; approved by voice vote.
2026-10-22 - Page created from a posted agenda.