Seattle Bike Blog

City Council will vote on ‘mandatory’ bike lane bill + funding bike parking and southend bike lanes – UPDATED

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

September 3, 2019
Yes, please!

UPDATE: The ordinance and both resolutions passed unanimously. Details on amendments in updates below.

The City Council will vote today on an ordinance and set of resolutions that would all but require the Seattle Department of Transportation to build planned bike lanes when repaving streets, would dramatically increase the bike parking supply and would request additional funding in the mayor’s budget to build key southend and downtown bike lanes that were left out of the mayor’s most recent short term bike plan.

The Council meets 2 p.m. at City Hall today (September 3). You can watch online via Seattle Channel. I will update this post after the meeting, so stay tuned. UPDATE: Passed!

As we reported previously, the bike lane ordinance (CB 119601) would effectively strengthen the city’s existing complete streets ordinance by stating, “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.”

The ordinance does create an out for SDOT if the department determines a bike lane to be infeasible, but they would need to justify the decision to the City Council’s Transportation Committee. (Full Disclosure: My spouse Kelli works as a Legislative Assistant to Councilmember Mike O’Brien.)

UPDATE: A Councilmember Lisa Herbold amendment (with Councilmember Debora Juarez’s support) to water down the ordinance did not make it to a vote. A note was added that requires broad community outreach.

The two resolutions up for a vote are budget requests to the mayor as city leaders head into its annual budget season. Resolution 31898 seeks funding to build an additional 3,000 bike parking spaces, mostly in the form of on-street bike parking corrals, to support parking private bikes as well as shared bikes and scooters. This is key to the city’s goal of reducing sidewalk blockages from dockless bikes (and, soon, scooters).

Resolution 31894 seeks funding to add a list of vital bike projects in the southend and downtown that did not make the mayor’s cut in her latest short-term bike plan. Specifically, the resolution highlights:
- Beacon Ave S Segment 1 (S 39th St to Myrtle St)
- Beacon Ave S Segment 2 (Myrtle St to S Spokane St)
- Beacon Ave S Segment 3 (S Spokane St to Jose Rizal Bridge)
- Georgetown to Downtown
- Martin Luther King Jr Way (Rainier Ave to Henderson St)
- Two-way protected bike lane on 4th Ave (Main St to Vine St)
- Alaskan Way (Virginia St to Elliott Bay Trail)
UPDATE: Two amendments passed: Councilmember Herbold added the Georgetown-to-South Park Trail to the list. Councilmember Bagshaw added Vine St from 2nd Ave to Thomas St.
tags: cb 119601, city council, mike o’brien, res 31894, res 31898

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Bike News Roundup: Everything you ever needed to know to pronounce the word ‘pannier’

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 30, 2019

It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! Here’s a look at some of the transportationy stuff going around the web lately.

First up! This spring, Russ at The Path Less Pedaled worked very hard to finally answer an enigma that has plagued non-French-speaking bike riders for ages: I bought these bike bags that attach to my bike rack, and the person at the store called them “pan-YAYS,” but then my friend called them “PAN-ee-yers,” and now I have no idea what to call them. How am I supposed to pronounce “panniers?” Well, even if you know (or think you know) the answer, Russ’s exploration of the question is surprisingly fascinating:

Pacific Northwest News (more…)

tags: bike news roundup

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Bike-in movie tonight: Bike Works is showing Lilo & Stitch at Pratt Park

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 29, 2019
Hey, you! Bike to Pratt Park (20th/Yesler) tonight to watch Lilo & Stitch with Bike Works. Because free bike-in movies are awesome, and our city is awesome, and public music and art is awesome, and Bike Works is awesome, and what else were you gonna do?

There music and public art starting at 6, and the movie starts at 8:15.

More details from Bike Works:
Join Bike Works, NW Film Forum, Urban Artworks, and NW Folklife for our BIKE-IN MOVIE NIGHT in Pratt Park! Bring a blanket, snacks, and friends of all ages for this free summer event.

This year, through our partnership with Urban Artworks, we’ll have an interactive arts and mural activity for youth to participate in, as well as performances from a diverse group of musicians from Northwest Folklife before the film. We’re also screening 2 shorts featuring bicycles from Northwest Film Forum’s Children’s Festival before the feature film.

Music & public art start at 6 PM, the movie starts at 8:15 PM.

Performances from:
We’ll be screening Disney’s Lilo & Stitch about a young girl who adopts an ugly ‘dog’ who turns out to be an alien. They embark together on a raucous adventure via trike & surfboard around the Hawaiian islands.

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/231977897479019/
tags: bike works, central district, pratt park

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Should the next Ballard Bridge be high, low or in between?

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 28, 2019

Images from the display boards presented during a late July public open house (PDF).

The city is currently conducting an early, fairly high-level study of the options for replacing the Ballard Bridge. The actual project is pretty far away and has no funding, but this study is intended to outline the pros and cons of various options and gather public feedback.

For a while, long-term planning for the Ballard Bridge was on pause because there was a chance Sound Transit was going to route light rail line over the bridge, which would have been a good excuse to rebuild it at the same time. But Sound Transit ~~will dig a tunnel for the Ballard light rail line instead, so now it’s on the city to figure out what to do about the bridge~~. UPDATE: I jumped the gun here, sorry. It’s still not clear whether Sound Transit will pick a tunnel or elevated crossing, as the Urbanist reported recently. Environmental review will study multiple tunnel and bridge options.

The Move Seattle Levy included $700,000 to start planning the next Ballard Bridge, and the team plans to wrap up that study by the end of the year. The study will not even recommend a preferred alternative, but will provide information needed to take the next step for deeper analysis. Projects of this scale typically move very slowly, and the bridge is not a serious earthquake risk thanks to a seismic retrofit a few years ago.

However, the bridge is a serious bikeability and accessibility barrier due to its very skinny sidewalks. And this was apparent from their survey results, which saw a lot of participation from people who bike and walk (good work!). (more…)

tags: ballard, ballard bridge, interbay, sdot

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Bike share use steady with fewer bikes and higher prices, but bike parking remains a problem

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 26, 2019

The meteoric rise of bike share in Seattle in recent years has plateaued as the number of bikes in operation shrink and prices rise. However, despite these changes, people in Seattle took about as many bike share rides in the second quarter of 2019 as they did in 2018, showing that demand for the service remains strong.

In quarter 2 of 2018, people took 595,000 trips when there were about 10,000 bikes, some of which were $1 pedal bikes and some of which were Lime’s e-bikes that cost an extra 5¢ per minute, according to SDOT’s Quarter 2 Bike Share Summary Report (PDF). In quarter 2 of 2019, people took 588,000 trips on about 5,000 bikes that cost 25¢ per minute.

So the good news is that bike share use is still strong, and a single e-bike seems capable of doing the lifting of multiple pedal bikes. But the bad news is that fewer bikes and higher prices have stemmed the growth in bike share use, which had been climbing fast since the services launched in summer 2017.

This report comes as the city is developing the details for an upcoming e-scooter share permit. Scooters have shown to be more popular than bikes in many other cities, and companies have been trying to convince Seattle to permit them for years. So this time next year, we may have scooter data to add to SDOT’s quarter 2 report. (more…)

tags: bike share, jump, limebike, sdot

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Upcoming weekend Link closures a good chance to try biking + Last chance to take station access survey

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 23, 2019

In order to complete work necessary to connect the existing light rail line to the under-construction East Link line, Sound Transit will not operate trains between Capitol Hill and Sodo Stations for three upcoming weekends: October 12-13, October 26-27, and November 9-10.

There will be a free bus serving the stations during the closure, but it could also be a good excuse to try biking if that works for your trip.

And this weekend work is just a warning of larger challenges to come. Crews will be building a temporary center platform at Pioneer Square Station that Link trains will use during a very tough ten weeks starting in January. Trains will remain in operation during “Connect 2020,” but passengers will have to change trains at Pioneer Square Station. Not only that, but there will be fewer trains than usual. And people with bikes will have to exit at University Street Station (if southbound) or International District/Chinatown Station (if northbound) because there are concerns that there will not be room on the temporary platform.

So these upcoming weekend closures could be good practice for January for anyone who currently relies on taking a bike on Link through downtown.

Take this survey today

Today (August 23) is also the final day to submit comments to Sound Transit’s station access survey. Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is encouraging people to give the two Seattle projects in the North King Subarea a high (3) rating.

Please take 1 minute and let Sound Transit know you want to make it easier to walk and bike to light rail in South East Seattle! Please check "very important" for Judkins Park Station Access and SE Seattle High Priority Sidewalks. https://t.co/oHSO6LIx9Q #SafeRoutesToTransit pic.twitter.com/T1Vsk1709m

— Seattle Greenways (@SNGreenways) August 7, 2019

tags: connect 2020, east link, sound transit

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