Seattle Bike Blog

Council seeks project list to determine if a $100 million bond is necessary

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 6, 2021

The SDOT funding breakdown (left) vs the City Council’s proposed funding breakdown. From Seattle Neighborhood Greenways.

A majority of the City Council, led by Councilmember Dan Strauss, voted Wednesday to defer their decision on issuing a large bond until they have more details on what it would fund and when the money would be needed.

As we reported last week, the City Council is considering a 20-year, $100 million bond on a $20 vehicle license fee that would put 75% of funds into bridge work rather than the focus on safe streets that SDOT’s community outreach process recommended. Over the course of 20 years, this could result in an $80 million reduction in funding for safe streets projects according to an action alert from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways.

Of course most of the city’s bridges are vital infrastructure, and the city will be hit with a significant bill for the West Seattle Bridge soon. So it may be that bonding against some of the vehicle license fee will be needed at some point. But Seattle does not have a list of shovel-ready projects that need the immediate funding a bonding measure would generate. That’s why Transportation and Utilities Committee Vice-Chair Strauss proposed a successful amendment that would hold off on issuing bonds until projects and their schedules are identified.

“We must dedicate city funding to the work of investing in our bridges that is matched by state and federal dollars,” said Councilmember Strauss during the meeting. “We need to have a more accurate and detailed understanding of our maintenance and investments needs, and we need to use this information to raise the correct amount of bonds at the right time to invest in our infrastructure rather than taking on unneeded debt until we’re ready to use it.

The initial version of the bill, as proposed by Committee Chair Alex Pedersen, would have called for issuing the bond without knowing the scope or schedule of the work it would fund.

“If this non-binding language was enacted on today, we would raise bonds without shovel-ready projects,” said Strauss. “This means we would be paying bankers interest on dollars we would not be ready to spend today.”

Strauss also rejected the argument that the bond money could pay for the planning studies to get projects shovel-ready, saying, “This would be akin to taking out a home loan to pay for our groceries.” (more…)

tags: alex pedersen, city council, dan strauss, seattle neighborhood greenways, vehicle license fee

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Cascade makes the Pedaling Relief Project permanent

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 5, 2021
My assistant helped me make deliveries one week.

The Seattle Pedaling Relief Project (“SPRP”) started in the spring of 2020 as a way to help food banks deal with the sudden influx of people who needed to access their services at a time when COVID restrictions made it more difficult for people to get there.

The SPRP was initially designed as a “cargo bike powered crisis response group” partnering with existing mutual aid networks and community organizations to extend the reach of their delivery abilities. Basically, an organization would let SPRP know how many deliveries were needed, and the SPRP would organize people to get the work done by bike.

“My thinking was, ‘What if we did a Cranksgiving in reverse? And did it every week?,’” co-founder Maxwell Burton told me during a video interview back in July 2020. Cranksgiving is an annual ride Seattle Bike Blog has organized for more than a decade in which riders gather food from grocery stores and other food vendors to donate to food banks. Burton and co-founder Mike Lang’s idea was to have riders take the food from food banks and bike it back out into the community.

I have been volunteering for the PRP, and it’s a wonderful excuse to get out and bike around. You get to practice your navigation skills and your cargo-hauling skills, and all while helping fill in one of the more difficult parts of the food support system: Getting it to individuals and families.

A few months into operation, Cascade Bicycle Club hired Burton and supported the work of the PRP. With the stable source of funding and deep well of volunteer power, the PRP has since grown to work with seven food banks as well as a growing list of farmers’ market vendors and community gardens. The 500 volunteers not only made home deliveries, they also helped stock Little Free Pantries all around town.

Now as the project turns one year old, Cascade announced during its annual Bike Everywhere Breakfast that the PRP is becoming a permanent “cornerstone” program for the organization:

Previously a grassroots initiative that operated with support from Cascade, the Pedaling Relief Project now joins the Major Taylor Project, Let’s Go, Free Group Rides, and Learn to Ride as one of Cascade’s cornerstone programs. The Pedaling Relief Project will be managed by co-founder Maxwell Burton, who has been hired as a full-time Cascade employee to oversee Pedaling Relief and its expansion.

“This is bicycling with a purpose and a heart, and with a direct goal of helping neighbors who are struggling,” says Burton, who encourages people who bike to sign up at Cascade.org. “The Pedaling Relief Project is a way for people who bike to make a difference in their community, while also enjoying the exercise, fresh air, and camaraderie of bicycling for a good cause.”

“Everyone in the Cascade community should feel proud to be involved with this initiative,” says Board President Tamara Schmautz. “The Pedaling Relief Project represents a new chapter for Cascade Bicycle Club as we add to our bicycling advocacy, events, and education programming to find new ways for our members–and the entire bicycling community–to use their bikes for good.”

Interested volunteers can sign up online. There are starting locations around Seattle and in White Center.

The added organizational support from Cascade will also enable the project to expand beyond Seattle. Similar efforts are already in the work in Spokane and Tacoma, and the organization will be putting together a tool kit to help more places get started.

The numbers (totals to date):
- 120 tons of food rescued or delivered
- 500 volunteers
- 7,000 miles biked
- 4,900 households served
- 4,000 pounds of carbon dioxide saved by biking
tags: cascade bicycle club, maxwell burton, mike lang, seattle pedaling relief project, tamara schmautz

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Apple Maps now has bicycling directions, and they are OK compared to Google’s dusty service

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 3, 2021

Eight years after Google Maps introduced biking directions in its iPhone app, Apple Maps has finally introduced the feature. And much like the Google version, it is…OK.

When Google first introduced biking directions, it wasn’t perfect. The route decisions were rarely what I would choose, and sometimes it chose very busy streets. But at least it gave a biking option and a time estimate, which were very useful. It was a promising start, and I was hoping that the company would continuously improve the service so it would more consistently find high-quality routes. But like so many Google services, the company has let the feature languish with very few if any improvements (they improve the map data, like which streets are one-way, etc, but the way it makes routing decisions is much the same).

Apple Maps also gives OK bicycling directions. They are almost never the routes I would choose, but at least they usually work. Both services offer information on elevation changes and give a couple different routes to choose from.

Apple does offer a couple interesting features that Google lacks, like options to avoid hills and busy streets, but they seem to be a bit confused by Seattle’s complicated geography. For example, if you select either “avoid hills” or “avoid busy roads,” it will suggest taking 3rd Avenue downtown rather than the 2nd Avenue protected bike lane.

(more…)

tags: apple maps, google maps

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WA Bikes: Some significant wins during the 2021 session, but the work is not done

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 30, 2021

The 2021 state legislative session is closing with some wins for biking, progress on other priorities and a lot of uncertainty about the future of transportation funding in Washington.

A massive transportation funding bill loomed over the 2021 legislative session, but in the end did not move forward. With a pricetag as high as $26 billion over 16 years in the House version, the transportation bill took a lot of the oxygen out of the room throughout the session. But the House and Senate couldn’t put together something that could get enough votes in each chamber to pass.

The legislature did pass a two-year transportation budget that includes a “$10 million increase to active transportation grant programs,” according to Alex Alston at Washington Bikes. The Senate version of the budget did not initially have this increase, so this was a significant win for Safe Routes to School and the state’s bicycle and pedestrian grant programs.

The state also passed a law change that will allow regional transit authorities (like Sound Transit) to “establish an alternative fare enforcement system,” according to WA Bikes. Fare enforcement is extremely inequitable. As the Times’ Heidi Groover reported in 2019, 9% of Sound Transit riders were Black but 43% of fare evasion citations and 57% of misdemeanor allegations (cases sent to the county for review, but not necessarily charged) went to Black people.

The legislature also directed the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Natural Resources to conduct a public review of “e-bike use on natural surface trails and roads that are limited to non-motorized use to determine where e-bikes can ride and which classes of e-bikes are acceptable,” according to WA Bikes. This process could become controversial among mountain bikers and other trail users, but it’s a conversation we need to have. E-assist mountain bikes have boomed in popularity, and the technology has the potential to greatly expand access to mountain and gravel biking to more people. However, there is a legitimate fear of allowing high-power electric bikes on trails, especially as the line between e-assist bicycle and electric dirt bike gets blurred. Perhaps there’s a middle ground? Would Class 1 and 2 e-assist bikes (capped at 20 mph) be acceptable as they are in city bike lanes and trails? Should e-bikes be OK on gravel trails and roads but not singletrack? These are questions folks will need to discuss.

The legislature also sort of passed a cap and trade bill modeled on California’s system (and supported by British Petroleum and some other major polluters). BP spent nearly $13 million to defeat I-1631 a couple years ago. I say “sort of” because the bill will only go into effect in 2023 if the legislature can pass a transportation package by then. The bill has divided environmental groups, as KUOW reported. (more…)

tags: 2021 legislature, alex alston, washington bikes

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Following Healthy Street success, Bellevue will trial its first neighborhood greenway this summer

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 29, 2021

Bellevue is getting ready to rollout its first take at a neighborhood greenway this summer, a north-south route running along side streets to the east of 164th Ave NE between Nothrup Way and SE 14th St, where it will meet up with the Lake to Lake Trail.

The 2-mile project is very low-cost, coming in at just $200,000. The project team will add wayfinding, which is very useful since so few side streets go through in this area. They will also install new paint-and-post traffic circles at some intersections and turn stop signs to face cross-traffic instead of greenway traffic. And they will drop the speed limit to 20 mph.

The nearby 164th Ave NE is more direct and already has some stretches of painted bike lanes, though they are very incomplete and are definitely not welcoming to people of all ages and abilities.

The proposed route was trialed as a Healthy Street in 2020, and the number of people biking on the route increased 160% after the project opened, according to the city’s Healthy Streets Pilot Evaluation Report (PDF).

Neighborhood greenway options are more limited in suburban communities because so many developments have cul-de-sac designs that purposefully prevent through-traffic. It makes sense to take advantage of the greenway opportunities like this when they are available, but the bulk of the bike network is going to require bike lanes on major streets and trails. For example, the northern terminus of this route is Northrup Way, which has a skinny painted bike lane in only one direction. A lot more work is going to be needed to connect this route with other major bike routes, like the 520 Trail, or to connect to and through major business districts like Overlake Village.

But hey, do you have an opinion on how the traffic circles are painted? Well, you’re in luck. Bellevue wants you to let them know via this online survey. They’ve narrowed it down to these four concepts: (more…)

tags: bellevue, neighborhood greenways

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Seattleite Lindsay Caron seriously injured while biking in San Diego

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 27, 2021

From her Instagram.

Seattle resident Lindsay Caron was seriously injured while biking in San Diego last week when someone struck her from behind and drove away.

She is in the hospital in San Diego, where doctors have kept her in a medically-induced coma. Caron’s friends reached out to share a GoFundMe set up to help with her likely long recovery:

Our sweet Lindsay was seriously injured in a hit and run incident while bicycling in San Diego on Monday, April 19th. For the week since the accident, doctors have kept Lindsay in a medically induced coma to rest and protect her brain. She has undergone extensive surgeries on her brain, skull, face, and pelvis. We won’t know the extent of her condition until they wake her up and run tests, which could be days away. There are many unknowns, but one thing is certain, the road to recovery will be long and difficult no matter the outcome.

Many of us know Lindsay for her generous friendship and her love of bicycling, skiing, acro-yoga, music, and dance. She’s a thoughtful and creative entrepreneur dedicated to improving lives. The sparkle in her eye and her mischievous laugh brightens every room (or mountain summit).

Please send her your love, and we’ll post updates on her condition as we learn more. Lindsay has touched so many lives, in circles across the country and around the globe. Let’s share gratitude for the joy she’s brought to our world and hope for good news in the coming days. I can’t encapsulate all that Lindsay means to her many communities in this intro, so please feel free to leave comments about the ways that Lindsay has brought joy to your world.

This initial fundraiser is a landing page for our collective support. We don’t know yet what the need will be or what insurance will cover, but all funds will be used for medical expenses and to support Lindsay and her family with the expenses related to this event and related to her recovery. We anticipate that the fundraiser amount may be revised as we learn more, and we will continue to update you about how funds will be used here.

Hang in there Lindsay! Much love❤️

Before moving to Seattle, Caron was active in the Portland bike scene, Bike Portland reports.

Sending our best wishes to Lindsay as well as her friends and family.

tags: lindsay caron

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