Seattle Bike Blog

Council bills say major paving projects ‘shall’ build planned bike lanes, push for downtown and south end bike lanes + Support these bills Friday

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 8, 2019

A proposed bill would require SDOT to go to the Transportation Committee and justify decisions like the one depicted here on 35th Ave NE, in which Mayor Durkan directed them to delete the designed and contracted bike lane. They would also need to outline how the needed bike connection could be made without the bike lanes.

Seattle already has a complete streets ordinance that says SDOT needs to consider the needs of all road users when making major road investments. The city also has a Bicycle Master Plan that notes where the highest-priority bike connections are. And yet Mayor Jenny Durkan and SDOT were still able to delete the planned, designed and contracted 35th Ave NE bike lane with little to no explanation or justification. That decision has proven to be an absolute disaster, failing to improve safety, failing to improve walking or biking connectivity and failing to make any progress toward the city’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.

That’s why a new bill from the Transportation Committee is sort of like a more specific and tighter complete streets ordinance that says an improvement identified in the Bicycle Master Plan “shall be installed” whenever SDOT “constructs a major paving project along a segment of the protected bicycle lane network.” Understanding that the Bike Plan has not gone far enough into design to determine for sure whether projects are feasible, there is still an out for SDOT. However, the department would need to justify their decision to the Council and present how the needed bike connection could be advanced without the bike lane. (Full disclosure: My spouse Kelli works as a Legislative Assistant for committee Chair Mike O’Brien and worked on this bill)

So while it still falls short of requiring the city to build the Bike Master Plan, it should be able to help avoid future 35th Ave NE fiascos. For example, if SDOT had to justify their decision, they would have had a very hard time doing so. And the Council could possibly have had a chance to take action to intercede if, for example, the decision were political rather than based on best practices or city policies. Which it was. And perhaps it could also be useful for a mayor who doesn’t want to take political heat for a project by diffusing responsibility across the Council, which is responsible for passing these transportation policies and plans.

Cascade Bicycle Club has put out a call to action urging people to attend the special committee meeting 2 p.m. tomorrow (Friday) to support this bill.

Here’s the key section from the draft bill: (more…)

tags: complete streets, jenny durkan, mike o’brien, transportation committee

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Parks levy with $166M for trails passes by wide margin, Council races take shape – UPDATED

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 7, 2019

Result as of 4 p.m. Thursday. Next ballot drop is expected Friday afternoon.

With more than two thirds of King County voters supporting it as of the initial ballot drop, the King County Parks levy is passing by a very wide margin. This levy includes millions for major regional trail connections, including funds needed to keep the Eastrail (formerly the “Eastside Raid Corridor Trail”) on track for opening in just a few years. This 42-mile rail trail connecting Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue and Renton is the single most transformative biking and walking project happening in our region. This is a really big deal.

The levy will also fund the Renton-to-Des Moines Lake to Sound Trail, the final sections of the East Lake Sammamish Trail, the missing Green River Trail link into South Park and a whole lot more. In all, about 20% of levy funding will go to trails.

Trail project list from the motion creating the levy (PDF).

So this vote alone makes yesterday’s primary a huge success for biking in our region.

The Seattle City Council races also took shape as the often huge fields of candidates in each district have been whittled down. Most of the worst candidates didn’t make it through (so long, Ari Hoffman), but neither did some great candidates (thanks for running Phyllis!). (more…)

tags: 2019 primary, king county parks levy

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Primary votes due Tuesday + It’s not too late to register or get a replacement ballot

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 5, 2019

A map of King County Parks Levy improvements.

Hey, you! Early primary ballot return rates have been less than inspiring, so I know many of you reading this right now still have your ballot sitting on your kitchen table. Hey, that’s fine. My ballot is still here, too. But you can’t get distracted today and tomorrow and forget to vote because there’s a lot riding on this primary.

First off, you get a chance to approve the King County Parks levy (Proposition 1), which includes absolutely vital funding for regional trails like the EasTrail (formerly the Eastside Rail Corridor Trail), the Lake to Sound Trail between Renton and Des Moines, and finishing the East Lake Sammamish Trail.

So even if you are experiencing decision paralysis over your district’s Council vote, voting for the Parks Levy (and the Seattle Public Library Levy!) should be reason enough to inspire you to open that ballot, mark your votes and get it in a mailbox (must be post-marked Tuesday or earlier, so not a great last-day option) or a dropbox (final collection at 8 p.m. Tuesday).

If you have lost your ballot, you can either head down to the King County Elections centers in downtown Seattle and Renton to vote in-person or download and print your ballot then mail it in. And new this year, you can now register and vote any day including election day. So even if you procrastinated, head down to the Renton or Seattle King County Election center and vote in-person.

For a refresher on the Seattle City Council district primaries, check out our posts:

District: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Have thoughts on races we haven’t explored in-depth? Share them in the comments below.

tags: 2019 primary

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Sunday: ‘Feast in the Street’ on Beacon Hill to support Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 2, 2019

Register here.

Eat food, listen to music and support the work of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Sunday, all in the middle of Beacon Hill’s Roberto Maestas Festival Street.

Feast in the Street is a fundraiser for SNG that also “lets us re-imagine our public spaces in a way that puts people first.” That’s pretty on-brand for the group, I’d say.

You can register online for a spot, and then you can even join one of five neighborhood rides to the feast (or you could just take light rail to Beacon Hill, since the party is right outside the station entrance).

More details from SNG: (more…)

tags: beacon hill, feast in the street 2019, seattle neighborhood greenways

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Bike News Roundup: Biking Seattle’s freeways

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 1, 2019

Wow, it’s been a very long time since I posted a Bike News Roundup. Oops. That means this one’s a doozy.

First up, here’s a cool first-person view of the 2019 Emerald City Ride by bobco85:

Pacific Northwest News (more…)

tags: bike news roundup

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TRU’s Wilson: Four steps ‘to spark Seattle’s transportation revolution’

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 31, 2019

Read on Crosscut: Part 1, Part 2.

Katie Wilson of the Transit Riders Union has penned a two–part op-ed for Crosscut, and of course they are both must-reads.

Seattle’s climate emissions are increasing. And transportation is our biggest offender. We need a lot more people to drive a lot less. And we don’t have a lot of time to change course. So how are we going to do this?

For regular readers of this blog, few of her suggested solutions will be a surprise. But unfortunately, not everyone is a regular reader of this blog (hard to believe, I know, but it’s true). Wilson does a good job simplifying a set of complex and intertwined issues into ideas Mayor Jenny Durkan and the city has the power to improve.

The mayor can prioritize walking, biking, transit and accessibility, even in the face of opposition.

“After a century of auto dominance, most of us don’t even notice how much of our public space has been appropriated for cars, or how deeply driving is subsidized and written into our laws,” she writes. “There’s no way to revoke this planet-destroying privilege without making some people angry. The mayor needs to stand firm in defense of projects that shift us toward a sustainable future, even when it’s hard.” (more…)

tags: crosscut, jenny durkan, katie wilson, transit riders union

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