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  • Seattle’s new ‘mandatory’ bike lane law faces its first real test on Delridge Way SW – UPDATED

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Project overview map.Led by former Councilmember Mike O’Brien, Seattle passed an ordinance last year that all but requires SDOT to build out the planned bike network as part of any major repaving projects along a planned route. And the ordinance faces its first test as SDOT does not plan to build complete bike lanes on Delridge Way SW as part of the RapidRide H project.

    We already saw the law have a positive impact on the joint SDOT/Federal environmental assessment of the RapidRide J project that includes Eastlake Ave bike lanes. Because compliance with local laws is an important factor in environmental review, the Eastlake bike lanes were cited in the study as in compliance with Seattle’s new ordinance. As we noted in our story about that study, the law flips the old script by making construction of planned bike lanes the path of least resistance for a project. Decisions not to build them would require jumping through hoops and review by the Seattle City Council Transportation Committee. (Full disclosure: My spouse Kelli was a legislative aide to Councilmember O’Brien and worked on this ordinance)

    The key line in the ordinance is: “Whenever the Seattle Department of Transportation constructs a major paving project along a segment of the protected bicycle lane network, a protected bicycle lane with adequate directionality shall be installed along that segment.” “Shall” is a particularly strong legal term, though the ordinance does provide a path for SDOT if they feel they cannot build planned bike lanes. And that’s the process that’s being tested for the first time now.

    SDOT has sent a letter to Council (PDF) outlining why a planned project will not build the bike lanes noted on Delridge Way SW in the Bike Master Plan when the RapidRide H project redesigns the street. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer or fall and be complete next year. UPDATE 2/28: For more information, here’s SDOT’s longer response (PDF) to Councilmember Lisa Herbold’s budget proviso on the project.

    We wrote about this project in October, arguing that there is room for better bike lanes on Delridge than what is planned. The city’s plan is to build a one-way protected bike lane that only goes southbound from SW Juneau St to SW Cambridge St. Going northbound? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (more…)

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  • Got a buck? The Bikery launches $1 membership program + Seeks people to join their Board

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Photo of a shop packed with bike parts and people working on bikes.
    From the Bikery website.

    $1 now gets your a lifetime membership to the Bikery, part of an effort to expand participation in making decisions about the community bike organization.

    For example, your first act as a member could be to apply to join the Board. Applications are due Saturday (February 29).

    If you visit, volunteer or attend their events and have $1, you are eligible to be a member.

    The volunteer-powered organization is based in a bike repair shop on Hiawatha Pl S not far from the intersection of Rainier Ave S and S Dearborn St since moving there in 2013. Its doors are open to anyone who wants to learn how to fix their bike. They have tools and space for you to work on it and helpful volunteers to teach what you need to know to get it rolling again. They do ask for a modest $5-15 per hour for your bike stand time. They also have a stock of new and used parts available and some bicycles for sale.

    Details from the Bikery: (more…)

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  • Bike News Roundup: Marley joins to talk about fat cyclists making national headlines

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Transcript (auto-generated .txt)

    The nationally-famous Marley Blonsky joined me to talk about a recent Washington Post story that featured her: “They call themselves ‘fat cyclists’ — and they want to get more people, of all sizes, on bikes.”

    We talk about that story at the start, then we move on to talk about a few of the stories in the roundup. So if nothing else, watch (or listen to) the first 20 minutes or so. Thanks for joining the show, Marley!

    First up in the Bike News Roundup, StreetFilms made a quick edit comparing Madison Square before and after the city built large public plazas in the street:

    Pacific Northwest News (more…)

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  • With sales projected to keep rising, what more e-bikes could mean for Seattle

    By

    Conor Courtney

    | Posted

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is by Conor Courtney through our partnership with UW’s Community News Lab journalism course.

    Photo of person biking at night with cars headed in the other direction.
    A cyclist on a pedal-assisted Jump bike passes cars near the University Bridge. Photo by Conor Courtney.

    Seattle cyclists can expect to see a substantial increase in the number of riders zipping around the city on pedal-assisted e-bikes in the next few years, according to an industry forecast by consultants at Deliotte.

    Internationally, the number of e-bikes in circulation in 2023 will reach 300 million, up 50 percent from the number currently in use, according to Deloitte’s projections.

    This increase in cyclists will bring significant benefits to the Seattle community, according to Kristi Straus, a lecturer in the University of Washington’s College of the Environment who teaches a course focused on personal and societal sustainability.

    Viewing sustainability as an intersection between the environment, economy, and society, e-bikes help all three, says Straus. Cycling to your destination can often be faster than driving, especially in Seattle, which traffic analytics company Inrix ranked the sixth most congested U.S. city in 2018.

    “E-Bikes are awesome, and can be a stepping stone for people who otherwise might not choose to bike or be able to bike the distances or hills that they’re now biking with e-bikes, and more e-bikes is likely to increase bike infrastructure and benefit all people in Seattle, not just all people who bike,” said Straus.

    E-bikes can also make cycling more accessible to new parents, older cyclists, and cyclists in hilly areas.

    “I think that e-bikes make a big difference for folks who are a little bit older, who aren’t as strong as they used to be,” said Clara Cantor of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. Cantor also says that e-bikes make it easier for community members with chronic pain or other disabilities to have a reliable, healthy transportation option. (more…)

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  • Cascade: Bike safety p.e. classes expanding to Seattle middle schools

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    A person waits as another brings a bike out of a storage container.
    Photo from Cascade Bicycle Club.

    Nearly all Seattle elementary schoolers already go through the Let’s Go Bicycle and Pedstrian Safety program as part of their physical education. But now the program is expanding to include middle schools, as well.

    The course, offered by Cascade Bicycle Club and Outdoors For All, will reach 40,000 students per year, doubling the number of students reached by the existing 3rd through 5th grade programs. That’s pretty great.

    Students in the Let’s Go program “not only learn how to safely navigate their neighborhoods and get to and from school by bike, they also gain the confidence to hopefully become lifelong bike riders or transit users,” said Cascade Education Director Rachel Osias in the organization’s press release about the program’s expansion.

    Funding comes from Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Department of Transportation. And, of course, donations to Cascade support their programming.

    More details from the Cascade press release: (more…)

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  • With major WA Legislature deadline looming, crosswalk and bus lane camera bill passes Senate + More

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Today is the final day for bills in the Washington State Legislature to pass out of at least one chamber in order to stay alive this short session. Any non-budget bill that hasn’t passed either the House or the Senate by 5 p.m. will almost certainly be dead for the year. And while passing one chamber is needed for a bill to stay alive, it still needs to pass the other, have the chambers work out differences if needed and then get signed by the Governor. So there’s a lot of work left to do.

    Funding is, of course, the elephant in the room. The outcome of I-976 is still uncertain as legal fighting will extend beyond this session, so talks about how to fill the potential funding chasms in transportation departments across the state are in a bit of a strange place. Budget debates will really get going in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

    But there are a lot of non-funding bills moving this year, and there’s a lot of good news. Yesterday evening, the Senate passed SB 5789 by a divided 25-21 vote to allow crosswalk and bus lane enforcement cameras in downtown Seattle. This is the second year Rooted In Rights has helped lead the effort to get this bill into state law.

    Here’s a look at the so-far-successful status of Washington Bikes’ other priorities:

    • As we reported earlier today, the House voted 96-1 recently to create a Scenic Bikeways program in Washington.
    • The Senate passed SB 6208 by a 44-1 vote, which would allow the Safety Stop (AKA Idaho Stop) in Washington, joining Oregon’s lead last year.
    • The House passed HB 2461 by a more divided 57-41 vote, adding health a state transportation goal (how is that controversial?).
    • The Senate unanimously passed SB 6493, which Washington Bikes described as a “technical fix” concerning the existing Cooper Jones Active Transportation Safety Council.
    • UPDATE (correcting a previous version that had the wrong bill number and current status): The House unanimously passed HB 2197 this week, which would allow equipment like a bike rack to temporarily obscure a license plate.

    (more…)

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