EDITOR’S NOTE: The weekly Bike Happy newsletter is a huge dump of local bike events and advocacy news curated by Founder Brock Howell. Brock reached out and suggested the newsletter could be a great addition to Seattle Bike Blog. I agree! You can sign up to receive the newsletter on the Bike Happy website.
Note that this newsletter includes Bike Happy’s opinions on the upcoming election. Seattle Bike Blog has not yet released endorsements. Stay tuned for our mayoral endorsement tomorrow.
TOP THINGS TO KNOW & DO THIS WEEK
1. Elections! Elections!
Last year taught us all that elections matter. You should be receiving your ballots today or tomorrow, and you need to return them by Tuesday, November 7. Washington Bikes, The Urbanist, Seattle Subway, and Seattle Transit Blog all endorse the same three awesome people to represent you at the City of Seattle:
— Cary Moon for Mayor
— Teresa Mosqueda for Council District 8
— Lorena Gonzalez for Council District 9
2. Construction on 2nd Ave Protected Bikeway Extension Starts on Monday
The two-way 2nd Avenue Protected Bikeway will be extended from Pike Street to Blanchard, with construction starting on Monday and last four weeks. Like the existing 2-way protected bikeway on 2nd Avenue from Pike Street to S Washington Street, the extension will be on the east side and every intersection with have “no turn on red” restrictions” for drivers. An added feature is the buffer will be a concrete curb with concrete planters.
3. Activists Land $83 million for Bikes, Housing, Placemaking
As part of its expansion proposal, the Convention Center agreed to the investment requests of a coalition of neighborhood, bike, and housing activists, including $31.1 million for bicycle and pedestrian improvements and $29 million for affordable housing.
4. Activists Push SDOT’s Buttons
With a few cheeky stickers on crosswalk beg buttons, this week the City was on the defense of its crosswalks policies, writing a whopping three city blog posts (1, 2, 3). Receiving such a high level of response will surely encourage these anonymous “SDOTransformation” activists to ratchet things up further. For the City’s sake, hopefully SDOT’s good work on crossings to schools and community centers won’t go unnoticed.
5. City Budget Season is Here
Today, city councilmembers will submit their proposals for amending the mayor’s proposed 2018 budget. Duwamish Valley Safe Streets is asking for funding to build a trail to connect Georgetown to South Park, and Bicycle Security Advisors is working for funding to register bikes and investigate bike theft. Council committees will consider these changes over the next few weeks, and the full council will vote on the final budget in mid November.
SOCIAL, LIFESTYLE, & ADVENTURE
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Thursday, October 19
- 4:30-7:30pm, Prairie Line Trail Celebration and Artists Forum
- 7pm, Point 83 Ride
Friday, October 20
Saturday, October 21
Thursday, October 26
- 6:30-8:30pm, Cascade Presentation Series: Family Bike to the Movies: E.T.
- 7pm, Point 83 Ride
Friday, October 27
- 5:30-10pm, Critical Mass Halloween Ride
ARTICLES & POSTS
- Seattle Bike Blog: Aviva Stephens: How a bike saved my life
- Velocity: Greg Barton, Pedaling Paddler
- Mic: What I learned bicycling my way across America
- Velocity: A Bike (Re) Fit
- Seattle Times: Readers’ responses: How do you use your bike lights, reflectors?
- King County Parks: 5 ways to stay safe for fall biking
- Jan Heine’s Blog: Reader Feedback on the Autumn Issue
POLICY & INFRASTRUCTURE
ACTION
- Tell City Council you want a trail connecting Georgetown to South Park.
- Tell SDOT to add protected bike lanes to NW 35th Avenue.
- Tell the King County Public Health Board to repeal the bicycle helmet law.
- Shape bike parking plans for First Hill, Columbia City, and Georgetown.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, October 19
- 4:30-8:30pm, Pierce County Trails Conference
- 5:30-7pm, South Lake Union Greenways meeting
Saturday, October 21
- 10am-12:30pm, SDOT’s 35th Ave NE bike lane + paving meeting
Sunday, October 22
Tuesday, October 24
- 5-7pm, SDOT “North Downtown” Mobility Action Plan Kickoff
- 6:30-8pm, Queen Anne Greenways monthly meeting
Wednesday, October 25
Thursday, October 26
- 5:30-7pm, Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee meeting
- 6-7:45pm, Beacon Hill Safe Streets monthly meeting
NEWS
Election
- Seattle Times: Seattle mayoral candidates both say the future holds fewer cars. Here’s how they would ease the crunch
- Seattle Times: Op-Ed by Doug MacDonald (WSDOT Director): The next mayor will need to be a traffic cop
Downtown
- SDOT: North Downtown Mobility Access Plan Kick-off
- Architects Newspaper: Renovations to Halprin’s Freeway Park move closer to reality
- DJC: $82M in public benefits for WSCC expansion
- Urbanist: Convention Center Acquiesces to Coalition with $83 Million Benefits Package
- Curbed: Community groups reach $82M agreement with Convention Center developer
- KUOW: Convention center developers and community groups reach agreement
- CHS Blog: Community groups pushing for public benefits package have $80M agreement with Convention Center
- Seattle Transit Blog: Seattle Budget Threatens the Center City Connector
- Urbanist: The Center City Connector Is A Critical, High Quality Transit Project
Trails
- Cascade: Bringing Trails to Life: Connecting Neighborhoods and Nature
- Urbanist: SDOT Reveals 60% Missing Link Design for Burke-Gilman Trail
- Seattle Bike Blog: The community-advised Missing Link design keeps getting better for everyone
- Urbanist: It’s Time To Connect Georgetown and South Park
- West Seattle Blog: In ‘issues’ phase, City Council budget sessions raise questions about remote bridge openings & more (connecting Georgetown & South Park)
Vision Zero & Crashes
- GovTech: Can Better Data Make Zero Traffic Deaths a Reality?
- CHS Blog: No crime in E Pine truck vs. bike ‘attempted murder’
- Seattle Bike Blog: What can we learn from this scary close call video?
- West Seattle Blog: Yes, SDOT is still working on 35th Avenue SW Phase 2
- Seattle Times: Pedestrian dies after being hit by bus in downtown Seattle
- SDOT: Pedestrian Improvements Planned For Pinehurst Neighborhood
- SPD: Car/Pedestrian Collision Investigation at Rainier Avenue South and I-90
Crosswalks
- Seattle Bike Blog: Attorney seeks people who have had incidents at fatal Issaquah trail crossing
- KING5: Parents fear for kids’ safety crossing West Seattle intersection
- MyNorthwest: Hey pedestrian activists, stop being so dramatic
- SDOT: Crosswalk Math!
- SDOT: Are All Crosswalks Created Equal?
- SDOT: Why We Need the Pedestrian Push Button
- Stranger: Anonymous Group SDOTransformation Challenges the Car Power of SDOT
- Seattle Times: Where in Seattle would you like an all-way walk intersection? Let us know
- Safe Routes to Schools & Community Centers
- SDOT: Construction begins at Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center to improve accessibility
- SDOT: Mini grants to help your mini-me(s) get to school safely!
Bike Share
- GeekWire: Seattle bike shares show no signs of slowing as LimeBike and Spin expand to 3,000 bicycles each
- Wired: Why investors are betting that bike sharing is the next Uber
- Business Insider: Ofo Adopts Semtech’s LoRa Technology to Expand Bicycle Tracking Coverage
Designating New Urban Centers
- Urbanist: Puget Sound Considers Update To Regional Centers Framework
- Seattle Transit Blog: Transit Hubs Attracting Density
More
- CHS Blog: Play in the Street (safely) for Halloween!
- Officer.com: Bike Patrol Improves Communications, Fosters Relationships
SPORT
UPCOMING
Saturday, October 21
- Deschutes River CX in Tumwater
- 6-7pm, BMX Racing (SeaTac)
Sunday, October 22
- 9am-3:30pm, Cross Revolution’s Fair Cross: CXR Race #3 (Enumclaw)
- 10am-Noon, Evergreen MTB’s Mud is the New Black Ride (Black Diamond)
Wednesday, October 23
- 6-8pm, Beginners’ Bike Polo Night (Cal Anderson)
RACE REPORTS
SAVE THE DATES
- Oct. 27, Critical Mass Halloween Ride & Party
- Oct. 28, Poulsbo Pump Track Grand Opening Celebration
- Oct. 31, Seattle Halloween Play Streets
- Nov. 2, Commute Seattle’s Light Up Your Ride
- Nov. 2, SDOT’s Judkins Park Station Access Study Final Workshop
- Nov. 7, Final Election Day
- Nov. 11, SPACE RACE 2017
BIKE INDUSTRY JOBS
- Program Coordinator, Bike Works
- Seasonal Bike Mechanic, Bike Works
- Major Taylor Ride Leader/Instructor, Cascade
- Senior Transportation Planner, SDOT
- Associate Transportation Planner, SDOT
- Communications Lead, SDOT
- Principal Urban Designer, SDOT
- Senior Multi-Modal Design Engineer, SDOT
- Associate Multi-Modal Design Engineer, SDOT
- Public Space Management Inspector, SDOT
- Central Waterfront Program Assistant, SDOT
- Traffic Records & Data Supervisor, SDOT
- Senior Capital Projects Coordinator, SDOT
- Traffic Safety Investigations Engineer III, King County DOT
- Principal Transportation Planner, PSRC
- Traffic Safety Management Supervisor, WSDOT
- Multimodal Development Manager, WSDOT
RECENTLY STOLEN BIKES
Twelve bikes were reported as stolen to the Seattle Police Department. In case your bike is ever stolen, make sure you’ve registered your bike on Bike Index.
WEEKLY TIP
VOTE! Bike, transit, and urbanist advocates all agree on Cary Moon for Seattle Mayor, Teresa Mosqueda for Seattle Council District 8, and Lorena Gonzalez for Seattle Council District 9. Live outside Seattle? Washington Bikes may have a few recommendations for you.
Comments
5 responses to “Bike Happy: Introducing the weekly newsletter to Seattle Bike Blog”
Thanks for all the work to put this together, Brock!
Happy to do it, Tom!
Hey, this looks great! Goes together like peanut butter and jelly. Thanks to both of you for doing all you do to make Seattle a better, safer place.
Nice work!
I love this mash up of bike stuff!