The Cedar River Trail underpass at 154th Pl SE is full of water. Luckily, there is a street-level crosswalk that makes for what should be an easy detour. But we aware that increased rainfall could lead to more flooding for the riverside trail. Details from King County Parks:
Excessive rain and flooding has created adverse conditions on many of our trails today. The Cedar River Trail is closed at 154th Pl SE due to high water in the underpass tunnel.
A reader also noted in the comments of a previous post that the Green River Trail is closed in Tukwila near the I-405 crossing. So be on the lookout for other closures along that riverside trail if more heavy rain falls.
These closures are in addition to previous reports about closures on the Sammamish River Trail, Snoqualmie Valley Trail and Preston-Snoqualmie Trail.
Riverside bike trails are very pleasant for obvious reasons, and the grades are typically good, too, since they follow the river. But that obviously makes them vulnerable to flooding when rain gets too heavy for too long. I’m sure it will stop raining one of these days…
Heavy and persistent rains have caused more trail closures in the area. The Sammamish River Trail has closed in four places between Woodinville and Redmond because its namesake river has overflowed. See the links in the notice below for maps of the closures.
A section of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail is also closed near Boxley Creek due to a landslide.
And as we reported earlier, a landslide has also closed a section of the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail near Snoqualmie Ridge and Fall City.
More details from King County Parks:
Trail closed due to flooding under multiple overpasses
Excessive rain and flooding has created adverse conditions on many of our trails today. The Sammamish River Trail is closed at Redmond Way, NE 90th St, NE 124th St, and NE 145th St, due to flooding and high water over the trail.
The Northgate bike/walk bridge between North Seattle College and Northgate Station is scheduled to open in fall 2021. It’s been a lot of work to get this thing designed and funded, including a lot of advocacy from Cascade Bicycle Club and others as well as leadership by city, regional and state leaders.
Today, Seattle Mayor Durkan and Councilmember Debora Juarez hosted a groundbreaking celebration to mark the start of construction on the Northgate Pedestrian and Bike Bridge over Interstate 5. They were joined by other civic leaders, transportation agency partners, and community organizations who have supported this project.
The bridge will reunite two neighborhoods that have been divided by I-5 for nearly 60 years.
“Our City is under construction before our eyes and investments like light rail will be transformational for North Seattle. This bridge will be an important connection between the reimagined Northgate with light rail and North Seattle College, and will provide convenient and safe routes for pedestrians and bikers,” said Mayor Durkan. “I want to thank all the community partners who have helped us make this project a reality, including Representative Valdez and Pollet, and Senator Frockt, who along with bike and neighborhood advocates helped Seattle achieve this important milestone.”
By Fall 2021, people will be able to walk and bike across the bridge, connecting people to thriving neighborhoods and retail centers. This bridge will provide an easy connection between the future Northgate light rail station and North Seattle College.The light rail stop will see about 40,000 riders boarding there daily, making this pedestrian and bike bridge crucial. (more…)
A landslide has closed a section of the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail near Snoqualmie Ridge and Fall City, King County Parks said Thursday.
The trail is closed between Preston-Fall City Road and Lake Alice Road. King County did not have an expected timeline for reopening at the time of publication.
Details from King County Parks:
Excessive rain and flooding has created adverse conditions on many of our trails today. A landslide has caused the closure of the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail between Preston-Fall City Rd SE and Lake Alice Rd SE.
Sound Transit work on Mercer Island will close a section of the I-90 Trail starting Thursday and lasting through Saturday.
And unfortunately, this stretch of N Mercer Way does not have bike lanes, so people biking will be directed to mix with car traffic. People walking will be directed to use a path on the street. It’s not a terribly busy road, so people comfortable with a little mixed traffic biking will be fine. But it’s not a great option for people of all ages and abilities.
Mayor Jenny Durkan has completely changed her tune about bike lanes since her first year in office. Well, that’s not entirely accurate because in her first year in office, she said very little about bike lanes at all. Projects were quietly delayed, scaled back or, in the case of 35th Ave NE, cut completely. She wasn’t saying she was against bike lanes back then, but her actions made it clear they weren’t a priority for her.
But it’s not that way anymore. For the second time since August, Mayor Durkan has spoken at a bike lane celebration about the importance of building bike connections and reducing the number of people driving alone in the city.
“A city of the future has to be a city that is safe and more connected for people that bike and walk and roll,” she said to a gathering of bike advocates and reporters Monday in South Lake Union. “We’ve got to make sure that in our climate fight we’re really doing what we need to do in the city of Seattle, and that means getting people out of cars as much as we can, particularly single occupancy vehicles.”
And at least for biking, she has lately been backing her words up with action, building major bike network connections that had been delayed during her first year and a half. That includes finishing 9th Ave in South Lake Union, 8th Ave downtown, parts of Pike Street between downtown and Capitol Hill, and a south downtown connection to the ID via S Main St and 5th Ave S. And as I write this, a connection between the 9th Ave and 2nd Ave bike lanes is under construction on Bell St. Once complete, it will be possible to bike between the ID and the Fremont Bridge/Burke-Gilman Trail without ever mixing with car traffic except through the traffic-calmed Bell St Park.
A single connected downtown bike route is not a complete network, sure, but it’s a remarkable feat that was little more than a dream just a few years ago. So while the work is far from complete, this is definitely worth celebrating.
Vicky Clarke, Policy Director at Cascade Bicycle Club, spoke after the mayor noting that the work isn’t finished.
“Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways together launched the Basic Bike Network campaign in early 2017 to reinvigorate efforts to make biking to and through downtown safe and accessible,” said Clarke. “We set an aggressive but realistic goal of completing a connected minimum grid of all ages bikeways in downtown by the end of 2019. But there’s work to do. Realistically, gaps remain on 4th Avenue, 12th Avenue, Bell Street and around the new arena downtown. We know that the network was only as
strong as its weakest link, and we’ll be working with the city to fulfill their commitment to complete closing the gaps in the basic bike network including funding and building the two-way bike way on 4th Avenue next year.”
Of course, many people rightly remain cautious about trusting her dedication to biking. There are still no plans to restore the deleted 35th Ave NE bike lanes, and it’s going to be pretty hard for people who rely on biking in that neighborhood to forgive and forget. But it seems that all the organizing people did to protest the deletion of those lanes has paid off elsewhere.
There’s also a very practical and political reason to support biking and rebuild trust with bike supporters in Seattle: The Mayor needs to pass a voter-approved Transportation Benefit District measure in November. Mayor Durkan several times thanked voters for approving the Move Seattle Levy that funds much of the bike lane work, and she claimed the bike lane construction as evidence that the levy work is back on track. It’s important that people trust SDOT to fulfill its promises before giving the department more money. Cutting bike promises was a very dangerous narrative to have have in voters’ minds. SDOT’s budget would be decimated without the Transportation Benefit District, and bike supporters happen to be strong transportation ballot measure supporters. They don’t just vote, they also pack the phone banks and knock on doors. People who fight bike lanes don’t tend to do that.
As we reported yesterday, Mayor Durkan also announced her strong support for building the planned Eastlake Ave bike lanes as part of the 2024 RapidRide J project. This was a big win for biking that pretty much stole the headlines from the press event. The project is far from complete, but it’s hard to see a political path for people trying to block the bike lanes that doesn’t include the mayor.
Of course, all these improvements to north end bike connections make the city’s most glaring bike route gap stand out even more: Rainier Valley. The 2020-21 budget does include funding for a southend connection on either Beacon Ave or MLK. It’s going to be vital that the designs for these projects are high quality and complete. But no matter what the city builds, there are still going to be big missing gaps. It’s going to take a lot more funding than what is budgeted to put south end bike routes on par with north end bike routes. The 2020-21 budget is little more than a down payment.
