As we reported previously, it took a lot of advocacy work to convince SDOT to add a bike lane to Roosevelt Way NE as part of the recently-completed scheduled paving project. Seriously. And the result is a huge improvement over one of the most important bike routes in NE Seattle.
Sure, there are some issues with some of the intersections (they aren’t protected intersections), and there are growing pains with people parking in the new lane. But compared to the old skinny door zone bike lane, wow. It’s just so much less stressful and more inviting. Hopefully data will show that it is also safer and attracts new riders.
The city is hosting an opening celebration Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the U District Food Bank.
Kidical Mass will ride 10:30 a.m. from the Tangletown Mighty-O Donuts to the ribbon-cutting. So biking parents, that’s the place to be.
Now, on to the next advocacy goal along this corridor: Connecting from the University Bridge where this project ends to downtown. The network is coming together. Slowly, sure, but it is happening.
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3 responses to “Roosevelt bike lane opens with Kidical Mass and community party Saturday”
Any bets on on how many days it will be before construction encroaches on the newly-opened section, and how many months/years it will be before it fully re-opens?
As much as I would love to be excited about this, 2nd Ave sticks in my mind.
Actually, the next advocacy goal is to get a bike lane that goes in the opposite direction (on 11th/12th). People LOVE the new PBL on Roosevelt, but then they’re stuck riding in a door-zone bike lane or a GWINO (greenway in name only).
We can do this quickly. There aren’t even businesses to kvetch, it’s all residential parking. Do the same thing that was done on Roosevelt for super-cheap – turn the parking lane into a bike lane, and turn the existing door-zone bike lane into a buffer with flex-post protection.
I was caught out in the dark and rain not long before the big storm was supposed to hit, and found the new lane to be helpful for my slow, cat-food-laden roll down the hill. I really liked the reflective material on the posts, which showed the path forward, and by gaps in the line of posts, locations of intersections and driveways. Roosevelt can have moderately tough visibility conditions in the dark and rain; it has lots of distracting light from businesses and its street lighting is just OK. Reflectors make a big difference!
Many of our bike paths have much worse nighttime visibility problems, especially in the rain. Reflectors, either yellow ones in the middle or white ones down the edges, could make a big difference there, too.