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It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! Do you need something to read while nervously waiting for the King County ballot drops this afternoon (4 p.m.) and evening (8 p.m.)? Well, Seattle Bike Blog has got you covered.
First up! Here’s why Vancouver is getting rid of some of the only small pieces of freeway it ever constructed. And no, they aren’t digging a highway tunnel to replace them.
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I was at the Shaun Scott party last night, and the response to last night’s initial ballot drop summed up how I feel: Extremely uneasy.
I-976 looks almost certain to pass, which is devastating. The final result will likely be much closer than the initial 56–44 count, but I’m not sure there’s precedent for late ballots closing such a gap in a statewide vote.
There will very likely be a court battle challenging the legality of the initiative, and Tim Eyman has lost before. That’s a glimmer of hope, sure, but we will need to plan assuming the initative holds.
Many people focus on the big impact to Sound Transit expansion, but I am more immediately concerned about the impact on existing King County Metro bus service funded through Seattle’s Transportation Benefit District (“STBD”).
Seattle is a leader nationwide on transit growth in recent years, and that’s in no small part due to increases in frequent bus routes across the city. It’s not as tangible and sexy as a new light rail station, but by dramatically expanding the number of homes within a short walk of at least one very frequent bus (10 minutes or less) the city and county have made the bus a much more reliable and convenient way to get around.
A 10-minute or better bus is the point where you stop looking up schedules and just walk to the bus stop trusting it will arrive soon. It’s simple: People are much less worried about whether transit will work for them when they can trust it to arrive when they need it. Frequent buses also reduce the so-called “transfer penalty,” which is the time you have to wait between buses on a multi-bus journey. When switching buses is less of a worry, the whole network open up to you. So bus frequency is a really big deal.
As a result of both bus and light rail investment, transit use in Seattle has been growing steadily, bucking nationwide trends. That’s what’s so frustrating about the idea of cutting transit right now: It’s working!
The STBD also funds the ORCA opportunity program that provides transit passes to students, as well as providing funding for the Trailhead Direct hiking buses.
But the impact of losing these funds does not simply cut these STBD programs. City leaders are currently debating the 2020-21 budget, and they could choose to save STBD programs by making cuts elsewhere. I mean, we aren’t going to take away student ORCA passes, right? But cuts could be very bad for other budgeted and proposed transit, walking and biking projects if the Council chooses to target them. I know it won’t go very far, but could they start with the Adaptive Signals budget please? Maybe delay the safety-lacking Wallingford paving projects (50th and 40th Streets) if that’s still possible…
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King County Parks crews will repaint crosswalks and removing bollards at a set of Kenmore-area trail entrances starting Thursday and lasting as long as Saturday.
The trail will not be completely closed, but expect delays getting through worksites.
Details from King County Parks:
People out on the Burke-Gilman Trail should expect some delays along the Kenmore section due to scheduled repairs. Trail access striping replacement at three sites and bollard removal at one site will be completed over the course of 3 days beginning this Thursday, November 7, 2019.
Flaggers will be on-site during work hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. to help users navigate any obstacles. Cyclists may be asked to dismount their bikes and walk through work zones for safety.
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The Eastrail will be closed later this week near the under-construction Sound Transit light rail station in north Bellevue. The detour has folks leaving the trail near the South Kirkland Park and Ride and taking Northrup Way and 120th Ave NE to Spring Blvd.
Only a short stretch of trail next to the site is closed, but the long detour is needed to get folks around it because freeway hell really limits the bike route options (also why a complete Eastrail will be so great some day).
Starting on Thursday, November 7, Sound Transit’s Contractor Hensel Phelps, will be closing a small portion of the Eastrail in Bellevue, for three days, near the construction site of the Operations and Maintenance Facility on 120th Avenue NE. The closure is needed to connect the mainline track of East Link to the rail yard of the Operations and Maintence Facility in Bellevue.
What
Three-day trail closure and detour
When
Thursday, November 7 – Friday, November 8
Saturday, November 9 (if necessary)Where
Eastrail near the Operations and Maintence Facility East construction site on 120th Avenue NE in Bellevue. (see map on reverse)
More Information
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Washington, Oregon and California have all passed laws saying that they are ready to switch to permanent Daylight Saving Time, but we still need to meaninglessly and abruptly plunge the evening commute into darkness next week because Congress has not yet approved the West Coast time zone change.
That means sunset today is 4:47 p.m. today, so you need to make sure your bike lights are in good working order if you aren’t used to biking in the dark.
Commute Seattle is hosting its annual Light Up Your Commute event 7–9 a.m. Thursday on the Westlake Bikeway near Lake Union Park. You can get swag there or just grab a breakfast burrito and some coffee.
If you are new to biking, lights are not optional. Not only is a front headlight and rear reflector legally required, but lights are vital for your safety. We have ranted about this many times before but it is ridiculous that lights are not a standard feature on bikes sold in the U.S.
tldr; Buy a headlight bright enough to see bumps in the road, don’t put it on flashing mode and don’t point it in people’s eyes. (more…)
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Washington Bikes’ annual Ride In the Rain Challenge starts today. So sign up online today, and invite your friends and co-workers to join you.
November is typically the rainiest month of the year in Seattle, which makes in my opinion makes it an even better month for a biking challenge than May’s Bike To Work Month. Because if you can make it through November biking every (or nearly every) day, then you have just proven to yourself that you can bike year-round.
And hey, it’s beautiful out, so you can get a running start to the month this year, which is nice.
Some people find online challenges to be good motivation to start or keep up a biking habit. Basically, you just log your bike trips on the Ride In the Rain website, and it tracks it all and enters you to win prizes. If your team wants to be competitive, there is a leaderboard. And if you do it with a group, you can all encourage each other to keep it up.
In the end, though, the real value from a November challenge (whether you log it online or not) is that you break out of old ruts and form a new habit. If you do something for four weeks straight no matter the weather, it sort of becomes your new normal. Rather than hiding from the weather, you force yourself to find solutions.
If you are looking for help getting ready for rainy months, check out this classic Seattle Bike Blog post and this column by Aviva Stephens.
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