EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks again to Brock Howell of Bike Happy for putting together this comprehensive weekly newsletter.
TOP THINGS TO KNOW & DO
- Seattle City Council adopted a bold new bike parking code.
- Mayor Durkan delayed the 4th Ave protected bikeway, halted the 1st Ave streetcar, and wants congestion fees for downtown.
- There are grand opening ceremonies for the Pioneer Square alleys tonight, the Arboretum Loop Trail on Saturday, and a crosswalk in Georgetown on Tuesday.
- Cascade’s Emerald City Ride is on Sunday, and it’s probably the first and last time you can ride across the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
IN MEMORIAM
A driver, suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, struck Marcus Henthorn on March 28 in Port Townsend. Marcus, 75-years-old, died two days later at Harborview Medical Center. He was active and well-loved within Port Townsend’s bicycling community. (PT Leader)
SOCIAL, LIFESTYLE, & ADVENTURE
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
- Thursday, Apr. 5
- Saturday, Apr. 7
- Sunday, Apr. 8
- Tuesday, Apr. 10
- Thursday, Apr. 12
ARTICLES & POSTS
- “Join the Swift Campout,” Jan Heine’s Blog.
- “Top five reasons to ride a bike,” Biking in the Rain.
- “Have no fear, your bicycle is here,” Biking in the Rain.
- “Aviva Stephens | Bikes are for boys: Cycling while woman,” SBB.
- “Redmond based Propella E-Bike let’s you choose how hard you want to work,” KING5.
- “Cyclists Prepare to Ride Alaskan Way Viaduct,” Seattle Weekly.
- “A chance to bike the Alaskan Way Viaduct before it’s demolished,” KING5.
- “Community Transit honors Edmonds all-weather cyclist,” MyEdmonds.
- “Premera employee named Smart Commuter of the Year by Community Transit,” MLT News.
- “Coffee cancer label doesn’t worry Seattle roaster [Conduit Coffee, a pro-bike business],” KING5.
- “A ride for everyone: Bicycling on the Key Peninsula,” Key Pen. News.
- Seattle resident Jessica Kelley won an adventure award of $1,000 for her plans to complete a 1,350 mile bike-rafting loop of paved and gravel roads and sections of the Yukon, Tanana and Susitna rivers; Jessica will also be raising money for Anchorage GRIT, a bike mentoring program for middle-school girls (Rock & Ice).
POLICY & INFRASTRUCTURE
ACTION
- Take SDOT’s survey for its pilot bikeshare program.
- Take the Rainier Ave RapidRide survey, and write-in protected bike lanes for the length of Rainier Ave S as your top priority (because not enough people will).
- Tell Mayor Durkan to move forward on the 4th Avenue protected bike lane in Downtown.
- Apply to have your building named best for bicycling parking in the Seattle region.
- Tell the King County Public Health Board to repeal the bicycle helmet law.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Thursday, Apr. 5
- Saturday, Apr. 7
- Sunday, Apr. 8
- Noon-3pm, Arboretum Loop Trail Grand Opening
- Monday, Apr. 9
- 4:30-6pm, SDOT’s West Seattle Greenways Drop-in Session
- 6-8pm, Central Seattle Greenways meeting
- 7:30-9pm, Licton-Haller & Greenwood-Phinney Greenways Meeting
- Tuesday, Apr. 10
- 5:30-7:30pm, Urbanist Meeting with Rep. Noel Frame
- 6-7pm, Georgetown Crosswalk Opening
NEWS
- Bike Parking
- Seattle City Council updated the off-street parking code for new buildings, which included a major overhaul and improvement to the bicycle parking requirements for bike rooms, bike cages, and on sidewalks. The legislation also reduced requirements for car parking, especially in transit-rich neighborhoods (Bicycle Security Advisors, Seattle Times, SDCI, Curbed, CHS Blog, KING5).
- The parking reforms were too late for Bellwether Housing, which was required to build a $1.5 million parking garage for an affordable housing project in South Lake Union (KING5).
- Bikeshare
- Downtown
- SDOT is delaying a protected bikeway for 4th Avenue and Pike and Pine Streets until after the Sound Transit extension to Northgate opens in 2021 (Seattle Times, Cascade 1, Cascade 2, SNG, Urbanist).
- The repaved & re-bricked Nord and Pioneer Passage Alleys in Pioneer Square officially open this evening (Back Alley Bike Repair).
- Mayor Durkan will explore congestion pricing for driving downtown (KUOW, Seattle Times, CHS Blog, KIRO7).
- Mayor Durkan has halted all work on the Central City Connector streetcar until an investigation is completed for why costs have gone up more than $20 million; the delay in design work will likely cost the city additional $10 million if the project proceeds (Seattle Times 1, Seattle Times 2, Crosscut, Railway Age, Stranger, Seattle Met, STB, Curbed, CHS Blog, CM Herbold, KOMO, Seattle PI).
- The Convention Center Expansion will invest $20 million in new biking and walking improvements (KING5, CHS Blog).
- Central Seattle
- South & West Seattle
- SDOT pulled back its plans for safety-focused rechannelization of 35th Ave SW (West Seattle Blog).
- SDOT’s Rainier Avenue Corridor Project lacks vision, protected bikeways (Urbanist).
- Eastside
- In its battle against King County’s Phase III design to the East Lake Sammamish Trail project, the City of Sammamish lost an appeal of a federal District Court decision to the federal Surface Transportation Board (FELST, Decision).
- Bothell’s golf course recently turned public park is now open as a park, and in seek of a name and a master plan, which may include mountain bike trails (Bothell Reporter, Everett Herald).
- Issaquah is studying improvements to its Front Street (Issaquah Reporter).
- Public comment has opened for the EIS for WSDOT’s I-405 expansion project, which will build an overpass for the Eastside Greenway Trail Corridor (Bellevue Reporter).
- Snohomish County
- Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers issued a Tourism & Outdoor Recreation Executive Order that commits the county to investing in regional trails (Bothell Reporter).
- The future of mountain bike trails at Lord Hill Park continues to be debated (Snohomish Tribune,
- A new kombucha brewery in Arlington located along the Centennial Trail in part to attract people biking as customers on their morning commutes (Marysville Globe).
- Arlington and Marysville want to develop a 4,000-acre area into an industrial center, possibly with trail access (Everett Herald).
- South King & Pierce County
- Public comment for extending light rail from Federal Way to Tacoma is open through May 4; some stakeholders want improved biking & walking connections across the Puyallup River (STB).
- Statewide
- The Iron Horse / John Wayne Trail may be renamed (Yakima Herald).
SPORT
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Thursday, Apr. 5
- 5-7pm, Seward Park Crit Series (Seattle)
- Sunday, Apr. 8
- Monday, Apr. 9
- 5:30-8:30pm, Evergreen MTB West Sound Monday Member Meetup
- Tuesday, Apr. 10
- Wednesday, Apr. 11
- 5-8pm, Wednesday Night Worlds Registration Party
- 6pm, Seattle Bike Polo’s Beginner’s Night (Cal Anderson)
GET OUT
- 2018 Gorge Gravel Grinder, Apr. 8 (The Dalles, Oregon)
- USA BMX Great Northwest Nationals, Apr. 6-7 (Redmond, Oregon)
- Hub-a-Palooza 2018 Double Down Hoe Down and The People’s Enduro, Apr. 6-8 (Spokane)
SAVE THE DATES
- State Mountain Bike Championship, Apr. 15
- Washington Bike Summit, Apr. 29–30
- Bicycle Sundays: Twelve Sundays, May 20 – Sept. 16
JOBS
Bike Retail & Industry
Sales Clerk, Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
Professional Bicycle Mechanic, Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
Bicycle Mechanic-in-Training, Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
Seasonal Bike Shop Mechanic, Bike Works
Seasonal Bike Shop Sales & Retail Assistant, Bike Works
Seasonal Recycle & Reuse Assistant, Bike Works
Mechanics & Retail Staff, Gregg’s Cycles
Sales and Marketing Specialist, Sportworks
Director of Sales and Marketing, Sportworks
Product Design and Development Engineer, Sportworks
Nonprofit
Program Coordinator, Bike Works
Sounders FC Bike Valet Attendant, Bike Works
Volunteer Program Assistant (Seasonal), Cascade
Major Taylor Ride Leader/Instructor, Cascade
Summer Camp Head Counselor, Cascade
Summer Camp Counselor, Cascade
Business Relations, Policy & Operations Manager, Commute Seattle
Government
Curbspace Management Supervisor, SDOT (4/17)
Public Space Management Inspector, SDOT
Traffic Records & Data Supervisor, SDOT
Supervising Project Manager, SDOT
Walk N Roll Teacher Assistant, Intercity Transit
Bicycle Specialist – Recreation Leader II, City of Auburn
Specialized Recreation Cycling Assistant – Recreation Leader I, City of Auburn
Commerce Specialist 3 – Community Development Block Grant, State Dept. of Commerce
STOLEN BIKES
In the past week, ten bikes were reported as stolen to SPD, not counting stolen bikes part of burglaries and assaults. Help fight back by (1) registering your bike on Bike Index, and (2) always locking up your bike with a U lock, even inside a bike room. Bicycle Security Advisors provides additional information on how to keep your bike safe.
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Comments
5 responses to “Bike Happy: The Future of Downtown Shifts”
One thing to watch out for with the battery assisted Lime Bikes – you can’t really creep forward like you can in a pedal bike because as soon as you push the pedal even a little bit, the motor engages and tries to move you faster. When trying to cross a busy street, this could pose a safety hazard by adding precious seconds to the time it takes you to stop when you see an oncoming car.
Fortunately, there’s an easy solution – when crossing a busy street where you don’t have the right of way, just get up and walk the bike across. But, this isn’t obvious to first-timers, and could cause somebody to get badly hurt if an oncoming driver has a lead foot and isn’t paying attention to the surroundings.
Yes, or one can use the brakes to hold it back, which I did automatically (as I bike routinely). It was still surprising how I had to brake to avoid moving into traffic faster than I wanted to go. I can see how this might be a hazard especially for less experienced cyclists.
Are the brakes hooked up to the motor, in the same way that breaks on a car cut off cruise control? It seems like that would make sense and help. In general you don’t break while pedaling, but it happens in exactly that situation. I am sure it is quite common (I have done it, and have seen others do it). You are basically stopped, but you have your foot on the pedal (often while standing) trying to avoid having the bike tip over. The break is held firm. You let out the break just a bit, and inch forward, then clamp it tight again., all the time standing on the pedal in “go mode”. In a situation like that, ideally the motor would be turned off until I full disengage the breaks.
That being said, I agree with both of you, I could easily see myself (especially on a slight hill) jumping forward, when all I wanted to do was inch forward, even if the bike motor cut off when you applied the breaks.
I’ll keep the brake trick in mind, although pedaling and hitting the brake lever at the same time is not intuitive (but still obvious in hindsight, once you mentioned it).
[…] the latest in the ever-evolving series of One Center City concepts. The unwelcome headline was a two- to three-year delay for the Fourth Avenue protected bike lane and other bike infrastructure. Mayor Durkan’s […]