A crew of city officials and neighborhood greenway organizers went to a walk and bike ride around Ballard Sunday, hitting some of the planned and proposed neighborhood greenway options in the area. Several folks from the city — including new Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang (see our recent mini-profile) and Councilmember Sally Bagshaw — came along for the ride, and discussions ranged from wonky talks about traffic control devices to discussions about how to expand the ever-growing base of neighborhood greenway supporters even further.

We eventually settled down at Grumpy D’s coffee shop, where Councilmember Tom Rasmussen joined the group to talk shop. Summary: Everyone is super excited about making their neighborhood streets safer, and the combination of political and grassroots support is making people feel empowered to help make it happen.

If you missed it, have no fear. You’ll have another chance to talk greenways with city leaders March 22 at the Phinney Neighborhood Center. Details from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways:

WHEN: Thursday, March 22 at 6:30 – 8:30pm
WHERE: Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6615 Dayton Avenue North

Seattle Greenways group is thrilled to welcome Peter Hahn and Dongho Chang at our Thursday March 22 Greenway Meetup at the Phinney Neighborhood Center.

As the Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Peter Hahn directly oversees a staff of 750 City employees to preserve and enhance Seattle’s $12 billion dollar transportation system. His continued leadership has been instrumental in establishing Neighborhood Greenways in Seattle — starting with an SDOT staff study trip to Portland in March 2011 that included City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw.

Since then, SDOT staff are not only already implementing seven miles of Greenways in 2012, but also working on an update to the Bicycle Master Plan which will build upon the current plan to better support active, healthy, and family-friendly neighborhoods, enabled by safer and more livable streets that serve equally as public spaces and transportation facilities.

Dongho Chang recently joined SDOT as the City’s Chief Traffic Engineer after a stint as the Everett Traffic Engineer. Chang, a Seattle resident, was a member of the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board while the Bicycle Master Plan was being crafted in 2006. He’s excited to help address new road design changes and we’re excited to learn how he envisions safe, low stress transportation options.

Please join us for this rare opportunity to meet and personally thank Peter for creating a legacy of safer and more livable streets for our City — and to start a conversation with Peter and Dongho about how we can best leverage our community expertise and grassroots energy (which now spans hundreds of volunteers working across 13 neighborhoods!)

*Who: People interested in safe and livable streets
*What: Meetup with SDOT Director Peter Hahn & SDOT Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang
*Where: Phinney Neighborhood Center Auditorium 6615 Dayton Avenue North
*When: Thursday March 22 6:30-8:30 p.m.
*Why: Learn about greenways and low stress streets for people to walk and bike being developed throughout Seattle.

SCHEDULE:
– 6:30-7:00: Potluck dinner
– 7:00-7:20: Neighborhood updates
– 7:20-8:20: Panel discussion with Peter Hahn and Dongho Chang
– 8:20-8:30: Closing thoughts

MEETING/POTLUCK DETAILS:
– Bring a dish or dessert of your choice to share.
– We are meeting in the lower brick building in the Phinney Neighborhood Center auditorium 6615 Dayton Avenue North. http://www.phinneycenter.org/directions.shtml

If you’re interested in Seattle Neighborhood Greenways but can’t make this meeting, please be sure to join their mailing list and groups:
http://groups.google.com/group/seattle-greenways-organizers
http://www.facebook.com/SEAGreenways
http://twitter.com/#!/SNgreenways

RSVP:
– Please RSVP via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/334075249961854/) so we can maintain an accurate attendee count

***Why you should attend***

Seattle’s Neighborhood Greenways movement is attracting many newcomers to bike and pedestrian advocacy who are eager to transform Seattle into a city where everyone can bike and walk safely. Neighborhood Greenways are residential streets with low traffic volumes and speeds where bicycles, pedestrians and neighbors receive priority. To learn more about Greenways development in neighboring Portland, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNNxwF1BPKE

We continue to build a coalition at our Citywide Greenway Meet-Ups to complement the hard work that’s already been done to make Seattle one of the nation’s most respected cities for bicycling and walking.