I’m trying something new here, so definitely let me know what you think. I created a stream-style video that’s me talking through the RapidRide J project and the Eastlake bike lanes. It’s quite long and definitely rambling. But it also has a ton of information and background on the project that would be hard to squeeze into a single blog post.
Maybe you’re looking for something to watch in the background? Or maybe you want to just listen to it in the background and check in if you want to see what I’m talking about. I don’t really know. I’d love your thoughts. Would you want to see more videos like this? Is it too long? (the answer is yes) Would you want to watch Seattle Bike Blog interviews that are taped like this? Do you have good ideas for future such videos? Let me know!
In our post about the planned Eastlake Ave bike lanes, we mentioned that the bike route there would be part of a regional network once the 520 Trail reaches across I-5. It might be hard to imagine what that connection will be like because it is so different from the way things are today, so here’s a closer look at the latest design plans from a November report to the Seattle Design Commission (PDF).
A trail was not always part of the so-called “Rest of the West” phase of the state’s $4.6 billion 520 Bridge Replacement Project between Montlake and I-5, but a lot of organizing a few years back by advocates, including Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and Cascade Bicycle Club, made sure a biking and walking connection continued all the way to Capitol Hill and Eastlake. The project includes a new bridge across Portage Bay, a new freeway lid park near Roanoke Park and an improved I-5 crossing. Put it all together, and you get a complete biking and walking path from Eastlake all the way to Kirkland and Bellevue.
Though the project is not scheduled to be complete until 2029, the major design decisions (like whether to include a trail and lid park) have already been made, and the details will be finalized over the next couple years. So let’s take a look. (more…)
It’s hard to think of many potential bike lanes in Seattle as important and fundamentally game-changing as Eastlake Ave. I would probably put it at number two behind only Rainier Ave. There is no other viable option for a quality bike route along the east side of Lake Union between the University Bridge and South Lake Union.
Not only is the route today is one of the most dangerous for people biking, but it will also some day connect to the 520 Trail once the state completes their new connection between Montlake and I-5. So if you think Eastlake Ave is important today, just wait a decade when it becomes the most direct bike route between much of the Eastside and Seattle.
But bike lanes on Eastlake are not just about people biking through the neighborhood. They are also about opening up the neighborhood to customers on bike and providing more residents with a safe way to bike to and from their homes. And this is a chance to support local businesses and build more capacity for people to get there by bus and bike.
The Eastlake Ave remake is part of the larger RapidRide J project, which would include major bus priority improvements between downtown and Roosevelt. Because the project is due to receive significant Federal funding, it is currently undergoing a Federal environmental assessment (PDF). That’s where you come in. You can voice your support for the project, especially the Eastlake bike lanes, via this online comment form and by attending an open house or town hall meeting this week. The biggest meeting is likely to be Thursday’s 6 p.m. town hall at TOPS Elementary with Councilmember Alex Pedersen. From Share the Cities:
Show up to CM Alex Pedersen’s town hall at TOPS elementary school tell your personal story and connection to Eastlake and to show support for climate friendly changes and safety improvements in Eastlake that help all of us move throughout our city.
Let’s gather at 5:50 pm in one section of seats to show support. Share The Cities will be bringing small hand held paper signs & stickers to show support.
Handmade signs are welcome.
There are also drop-in open houses about the project all week: (more…)
So you finally got used to biking around the SR 520 construction in Montlake, eh? I have bad news. It’s about to get way worse for two weeks.
Starting as soon as Monday, people walking and biking on the east sidewalk, the current designated route, will have to cross Montlake Blvd twice to use the west sidewalk to get around a closure of the sidewalk between E Lake Washington Blvd and E North Street.
This is especially rough because using the east sidewalk was already a poor bike detour ever since the state closed biking and walking access across the 24th Ave E bridge in September. The signal at Lake Washington Blvd only has a crosswalk on the south side and there’s a slip lane for traffic to turn right from Montlake Blvd to Lake Washington Blvd. So everyone will need to squeeze into this tiny little triangle surrounded on all sides by traffic and wait for the walk signal:
Once this is the only biking and walking option, is everyone going to fit in the little triangle?
Imagine if instead of buying the cheapest bike you could find on Craigslist for getting around as a college student, you could rent a quality Kona complete with helmet, lock and lights all for just $75 per quarter. Well, UW students now can thanks to the U Bike bicycle library program.
This is a pretty solid deal, especially for students who aren’t sure whether they are going to bike enough to make buying a bike worth it. Throwing down the $600 a bike like the Kona Dew would cost new is a lot of money for many college students. Sure, DIY-minded folks can piece things together with much lower-cost used bikes, but many people aren’t interested in learning bike maintenance. They just want a fun, reliable and affordable way to get around.
The program grew out of a senior project in Community, Environment, and Planning by alum Cole Laush, according to The Daily:
“By providing students [with] a quarterly bicycle rental service, we hope to educate users on how a bicycle can fit into their everyday life,” Laush said. “I believe this experience will encourage users to continue cycling into the future, or at least give a user insight into the barriers cyclists face.”
While operating within the UW campus, the program’s overall purpose is to contribute to the growth of Seattle’s cycling culture, leading to a more equitable, livable, and sustainable city.
“More bikes on the road means a reduction in emissions, more connected cities, healthy citizens and safer streets,” Laush said.
The North Segment of the E Lake Sammamish Trail was completed in 2015.The County is preparing to construct the final section of the trail.
Last week, King County took action to reclaim public land in one of the wealthiest areas in the state: Sammamish. The County fought and won a very difficult legal battle to determine that, yes, the public does own the entire rail corridor along the east side of Lake Sammamish. And as it prepared to construct the final section of the East Lake Sammamish Trail, the County is trying to get lakeside homeowners to clear any structures or personal property from County land.
This is a persistent problem across Seattle and King County, especially near very valuable shorelines and parks. Sometimes, adjacent homeowners try to reserve public land for their own private use, and it’s often hard for the public to know when their land is being illegally seized. There may even be times when homeowners thought that public land belonged to them, and are dismayed to learn the truth.
But it’s hard for me to imagine fighting to keep public land for myself. Then, after losing a long and difficult court battle, to go to the Seattle Times and try to pretend that letters from the County telling me to move my stuff off public land within 9 months were “heavy handed.” The county is giving them until the end of September, which is frankly far too generous. This land is not just theirs, it belongs to all of us. How selfish can they be?
When people who have nowhere else to live set up a tent on public land, Seattle policy gives them 72 hours of warning time to remove their belongings before bringing in crews to throw everything they own in the garbage. Often, the city doesn’t even give that much time. These sweeps are ineffective and cruel. But isn’t it strange that people with million-dollar homes to live in get 9 months to move their decorative landscaping or whatever, but people who have no homes get 72 hours (at best) to move their whole lives? The disparity in how people are treated in our county based solely on how much money they have is galling.
My willingness to have sympathy for Sammamish property owners who have to move their things off public land ended when a group of them tried to blow up “rails to trails” nationally by challenging it at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court decided not to hear their appeal, luckily. But wow. Rail-trails have done so many wonderful things for so many communities big and small across our nation. To attempt to undercut the entire concept just so you can keep your damn cabana on King County land, that’s downright evil. (more…)
Details from Seattle Parks: On scheduled weekends from May to September, a portion of Lake Washington Boulevard will be closed to motorized vehicles from 10 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. “Seattle Parks and Recreation[…]
Details from Seattle Parks: On scheduled weekends from May to September, a portion of Lake Washington Boulevard will be closed to motorized vehicles from 10 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. “Seattle Parks and Recreation[…]
Meet up in the center of the park at 7ish. Leave at 730. Every Thursday from now until forever rain or shine. Bikes, beers, illegal firepits, nachos, bottlerockets, timetraveling, lollygagging, mechanicals, good times.ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
This is a repeat of my July 6 ride for those that could not make the first offering. Join me for a 5 mile bike ride around Seattle’s current gayborhood (Capitol Hill) and historic gayborhood[…]
Meet up in the center of the park at 7ish. Leave at 730. Every Thursday from now until forever rain or shine. Bikes, beers, illegal firepits, nachos, bottlerockets, timetraveling, lollygagging, mechanicals, good times.ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
