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  • City will (finally) start accepting street closure permits for businesses

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    We have known for a while that the coronavirus doesn’t spread as easily outside as inside, yet so many Seattle businesses are obviously based inside storefronts. What if businesses could move more of their operations outside?

    Cities all over the world have been allowing just that. Streets in major businesses districts have closed to traffic to allow a major expansion of outdoor restaurant seating and outdoor retail space. Nearby Bothell has demonstrated the concept well, for example:

    The city already has permits for expanding onto sidewalks and parking spaces, which can work for many businesses. But those spaces are still limiting, and they can also cause added congestion on sidewalks or even accessibility problems if done poorly. Closing a street entirely provides a lot more space for everyone, which is vital right now.

    The city will start accepting street closure permits Wednesday.

    Of course, the biggest risk is that it becomes too popular. There’s a balance between helping businesses operate more safely and creating a crowded destination. The outbreak is on the rise, and Governor Jay Inslee just announced new restrictions such as prohibiting indoor service at bars and breweries. That makes expanded outdoor space even more important, but it also points to the general need for more social distancing and mask wearing. So yes, more outdoor business space. But also, stay home. Life during the outbreak is full of contradictions.

    Not every street will be eligible for a full street closure, and permit applications must demonstrate support from neighboring businesses. The city offers permit “coaching” for interested applicants to better understand the process.

    More details from Mayor Jenny Durkan’s press release: (more…)

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  • Alert: Postponed U Bridge bike lane work rescheduled to start Monday

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    SDOT will close the northbound bike lane of the University Bridge Monday to Wednesday to install a higher-traction surface treatment across the bascule section of the bridge. The southbound bike lane will then be closed August 10 to 12.

    As we reported previously, this work was delayed from its original schedule due to issues with the primer crews were planning to use. For more details on the project, see our original post.

    Work both weeks will hopefully only require Monday and Tuesday closures, SDOT said in an email.

    “If we are able to complete the work ahead of schedule we will check back on Tuesday evening to see if the treatment has completely set and the lanes can be reopened early,” said an SDOT spokesperson.

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  • Peace Peloton rides Saturday, expands to Tacoma + Video

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    The Peace Peloton rides Saturday from The Station coffee shop near Beacon Hill light rail station to Maple Wood Playfield in South Beacon Hill.

    Meet at The Station from 10 to noon, then ride all over Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley before ending in the park. Food trucks Al’s Gourmet Sausages and Swagg-N-Wagon will be there for snacks and such.

    The Peace Peloton is a growing and expanding effort to ride bikes, learn about economic reform for Black people and support businesses owned by Black and brown people. Watch the video above for more insight into the mission.

    RSVP online if you plan to attend so organizers and businesses can be better prepared.

    In other exciting news, Peace Peloton organizer Doc Wilson told the Cascade Blog that organizers are planning the first Tacoma Peace Peloton August 9.

    More details from the InGaj website: (more…)

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  • Thanks to concerned neighbors, SPU is reconsidering multi-year Ship Canal Trail detour

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Thanks to concerns from neighbors, especially Queen Anne Greenways, Seattle Public Utilities and a contractor working on the Ship Canal Water Quality Project will not be closing the Ship Canal Trail and detouring people to Nickerson Street as announced in a recent project update. Work is moving forward, but the trail will remain open in the meantime while they figure out a different detour route (if one is needed at all).

    This is a very big deal because this detour was set to be in place for more than two years.

    The detour route previously announced (pictured in the tweet above) would have required people to bike in mixed traffic on Nickerson Street. The announcement said the people could bike in the Nickerson bike lanes, but there is no eastbound bike lane on this stretch of the busy street. City bike maps note the street as a bike route because it has a westbound bike lane. But as anyone who bikes is very aware, a bike lane in only one direction does not make a bike route because people don’t only travel in one direction. And the Ship Canal Trail is used by people of all ages an abilities, including children. Detouring the trail into traffic for years is not an acceptable option.

    If the trail does need to close, the obvious solution would be to create a temporary trail along the north side of Nickerson St. SPU had a fairly high quality trail for a long-term closure of the Burke-Gilman Trail in Fremont in recent years, and that should be the standard for the Ship Canal Trail, too.

    The messy detour rollout is likely also due to the way the pandemic has impeded public outreach. Work is moving forward, but the usual opportunities to solicit public feedback have been limited. This is the kind of issue that could have been caught and fixed much earlier. The planned detour probably looked fine if you were only looking at the Seattle Bike Map, but anyone who bikes in the area could have told the team that the reality on the ground is much different. Both public and private project teams need to find ways to make sure they are not skipping or glossing over public outreach during the pandemic.

    More details from SPU: (more…)

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  • Following successful test, Lake Washington Blvd will go car-light again

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Map of the Keep Moving Street route.Lake Washington Boulevard is going car-free(ish) again starting Friday and continuing until at least Labor Day.

    SDOT and Seattle Parks tested the concept of what they call a “Keep Moving Street” on the stories lakefront street for five days in late June. The street is marked as closed to cars, though people can still drive on it if they are accessing a home (whether they live there, are visiting someone or are making a delivery or service call). So it’s not entirely closed to cars, but cars are very limited. People are allowed to walk in the street, which helps limit overcrowding on the skinny sidewalks and paths along the lake.

    The city collected feedback following the five-day test, and the response was very positive, according to an SDOT Blog post. More than two-thirds of respondents enjoyed the pilot, according to a non-scientific online survey.

    Parking lots along the waterfront remain closed in an attempt by Seattle Parks to limit crowding in what would typically be one of the busiest summertime waterfronts in the city. This is where Seafair festivities are centered, after all. So closing the street helps to maintain that goal while also creating more open space for the people who do go there. Extra accessible parking has been added at both ends of the route, and the Seward Park parking lot is entirely dedicated to accessible parking.

    How did the pilot go?

    City staff studied travel habits and measured car and bike volumes before and after the June pilot, and it was successful by nearly every measure. Biking increased a lot, but not so much that overcrowding would become a problem, they found: (more…)

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  • POSTPONED: Southbound U Bridge bike lane closed through Tuesday, NB closed 7/27-29 – UPDATED

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    UPDATE 7/24: The work is now scheduled for 7/27-29 northbound and 8/10-12 southbound.

    UPDATE: This work has been postponed. From SDOT: “Unfortunately, this work has been postponed. When we opened the buckets of primer yesterday, we discovered that it had hardened inside of the sealed buckets and was unusable. So we reopened the bike lanes last night around 7pm and are waiting to hear back from the manufacturer on when new materials will arrive.”

    Previous post:

    The southbound University Bridge bike lane will be closed today until early Wednesday morning, SDOT announced today. The northbound lane will be closed July 27 until early July 29.

    SDOT crews are installing a high friction coating to the sections of bike lane over the bascule bridge. The metal grating has long been filled in with concrete for the bike lanes, but the concrete is recessed a bit. Bike tires still touch the metal, which can be very slippery when wet. Hopefully, the new coating will make it more comfortable to bike and improve traction in case users need to brake.

    Unfortunately, users don’t have great options for getting around the closures. There is a sidewalk, but it’s pretty skinny. You can also bike in the general purpose lanes, but be aware that the metal grating can be very slippery when wet and can feel a bit squirrelly when dry.

    The city started testing the idea back in October, and you may have noticed a small rectangle of green. I guess it was successful, because now the whole bike lane is getting the treatment:

    The closure will be 24-hours because the materials need to cure. Timelines are weather dependent. More details from SDOT: (more…)

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