Seattle Bike Blog

Seattle’s latest bike plan takes one step forward, one step back and continues neglecting South Seattle

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

June 14, 2019

Images from the 2019 Bicycle Master Plan Implementation Plan (PDF).

SDOT and Mayor Jenny Durkan yesterday released the city’s first “annual” short-term bike plan in 26 months.

That the plan itself was delayed well over a year is a good symbol for how SDOT and Mayor have been treating bicycle improvements since she took office. But it is here now. And though the contents are sure to be disappointing to people hoping the city would dedicate itself to bold and ambitious action to improve bike safety and access across the city, at least this time the mayor has put her personal stamp on it. No more blaming her predecessors. She is accountable to this plan.

“This Bike Master Plan Implementation Plan reflects our commitment to fight climate change, support a multimodal transportation system that encourages the reduction of single-occupancy vehicles, and supports Seattle’s Vision Zero commitment to eliminate fatal and serious traffic collisions by 2030,” Mayor Durkan and SDOT Director Sam Zimbabwe write in the intro letter. Though considering that this plan makes big cuts to the previous version, I’m not sure this sentence comes off quite as they hoped.

Compared to the draft version of this short term bike plan released earlier in the spring, the final version has some small tweaks but is mostly the same. Some changes are good, some are not so good, and some are maybe good but possibly pointless. Ultimately, the work outlined here gets Seattle nowhere close to building its Bicycle Master Plan on schedule. Instead, the city is moving at half-speed. At its current rate, Seattle won’t reach its 2035 bike facility goal until 2055. Considering the world has only until 2030 to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, 2055 is far too late to complete this little part of the solution.

The updated short-term bike plan, covering work through 2024, cuts about 23 miles of bike facilities that were included in the 2017 short term plan. So the city is not positioned to catch up on its slow bike plan progress.

Now, it might be OK for the city to meet only half its mileage goals if it were choosing the most important miles and doing them really well. But in many cases, especially in South Seattle and 4th Ave downtown, that is not the case, either.

I don’t expect this plan update will slow down Sunday’s Ride for Safe Streets, a rally at City Hall and ride/walk down 4th Ave to protest the recent cuts and call for more city action on safe streets.

The good

(more…)

tags: 2019 bike plan, bike master plan, jenny durkan

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Saturday: Seattle’s 9th annual women/trans/femme/non-binary Moxie Summer Jam Alleycat

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

June 13, 2019

The 9th Annual Moxie Summer Jam meets 2 p.m. Saturday at Gas Works Park. Organizers say it is one of (if not the) biggest women/trans/femme/non-binary alleycats in the world.

What is an alleycat? What can I expect if I show up at Gas Works with $10 entry and my bike? Here’s more details from Moxie Summer Jam’s Marley Blonsky:

The 9th Annual Moxie Summer Jam Alleycat rides again on Saturday, June 15th starting at Gas Works Park and ending at the Boxcar Ale House. This race is Seattle”s (and possibly the world’s) biggest WTFnon-binary alleycat and we’d love to have you join us!

All who identify as a woman, trans, femme, or non-binary are welcome to join for a day of fun, community building, and bikes! All speeds, ages, and types of pedal-powered bikes are welcomed. We’ll have separate categories for Single Speed/Fixed Gear, Out of Towners, and Masters (45 years and older.)

Not sure what an alleycat is or don’t think racing is for you? While we won’t give away all of our secrets, you can expect to ride somewhere between 12-20ish miles in a choose you own adventure style race. Some racers ride like the lightning, others more of a casual pace, and everything in between. At the beginning of the race we’ll give you a manifest that will have a number of locations on it. You choose the order that you go to the stops and how to get there. Still not sure? Check out a primer we wrote a few years ago about what to expect at your first Alleycat here: http://www.moxiemonday.com/2012/06/what-to-expect-at-your-first-alleycat/

Registration begins at 2pm at Gas Works park and is $10 (no one turned away for lack of funds). The race wraps up around 6:30 at the Boxcar Ale House with prizes, drink specials, and karaoke! (more…)

tags: marley blonsky, moxie summer jam

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Sunday: Join the Ride For Safe Streets starting at City Hall

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

June 12, 2019

Under Mayor Jenny Durkan, Seattle has cut bike lanes from paving projects and slashed its short-term bike plan.

At a time when we need to make dramatic action to do whatever we can to reduce traffic injuries and deaths and combat climate change, her bike lane cuts are all backwards.

People already packed City Council chambers earlier this year to voice their concerns about the bike cuts. This Sunday, protest efforts go to the next level with a rally at City Hall followed by a slow ride/walk down 4th Ave (where a planned bike lane remains delayed) to Westlake Park for music. Meet at City Hall’s 4th Ave plaza at 1 p.m.

The Ride For Safe Streets has been organized with leadership from Brock Howell in partnership with a long list of organizations, including biking, walking, transit, climate and disability rights groups (see the full list here).

Many of the biggest barriers to making streets safer lately are coming from the Mayor’s Office, but there are also actions the City Council can take to make sure safety and climate policies and goals are followed. And it’s important to show city leaders how much enthusiastic support there is for bold safe streets action.

More details from the Ride For Safe Streets website (you can also invite your friends on FB):

(more…)

tags: ride for safe streets

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Days after SDOT acknowledged safety concerns on new 35th Ave NE, a collision critically injured someone on a motorcycle

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

June 11, 2019

Someone driving a pickup truck collided with someone on a motorcycle at the intersection of 35th Ave NE and NE 75th Street Monday evening. The person on the motorcycle was critically injured and was rushed to the hospital in life-threatening condition.

We send our best wishes to the person injured.

I’m in tears right now. I cannot believe this. This is why I post these videos to highlight how dangerous this street is. To try to prevent this

— Mitch (@wickedmitchnw) June 11, 2019

It is not yet known exactly how the collision occurred. It appears from photos by people who saw the aftermath that the person in the pickup may have been turning left from northbound 35th Ave NE onto eastbound NE 75th Street, but the exact nature of the collision is not clear. Seattle Police traffic investigators were working the scene.

UPDATE: SPD posted an update: “When officers arrived and contacted the 87-year-old driver. The 22-year-old motorcyclist received emergency medical care at the scene. Police spoke with witnesses who stated the truck began turning left when the motorcyclist struck the driver’s pickup truck.

Seattle Fire Department Medics took the 22-year-old man to Harborview Medical Center where he remains in critical condition.

A drug recognition expert evaluated the 87-year-old man at the scene and found no signs of impairment.

Traffic Collision Detectives are now investigating and will determine what led up to the crash.”

But this horrific collision comes less than a month after someone on a bicycle was struck and injured (though less seriously) five blocks away on NE 70th Street.

These collisions have all happened within weeks of crews painting the lines for the revised design of the street. At the direction of Mayor Jenny Durkan, SDOT removed the bike lanes and associated traffic calming initially planned and contracted as part of a major repaving project on 35th Ave NE.

The backlash against the mayor’s decision (and the subsequent cuts to the near-term bike plan) was two-fold. On one hand, people saw it as a sign that the mayor was not dedicated to the city’s traffic safety and climate goals. People packed City Council chambers to voice their concerns, including Tamara Schmautz and Apu Mishra who brought a hand-cranked paper shredder up to the podium and proceeded to shred the city’s Bicycle Master Plan, Vision Zero Plan and Climate Action Plan.

But on the other hand, people were concerned that the city’s planned bike-lane-free design for 35th Ave NE was going to be dangerous. Wide lanes are known to encourage speeding, for example. But the reality has proven to be even worse since the road opened. The center turn lane, which was supposed to help calm traffic, has instead been used regularly for making illegal passes. We posted a video from @mitchellplease on Twitter demonstrating the problem quite clearly: (more…)

tags: 35th Ave NE, jenny durkan, ne 75th st

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Saturday: Streets will go car-free for two hours before Ballard Crit for an open streets party

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

June 7, 2019

Route is marked in red, via Apex Racing.

Here’s a great idea: Ballard Criterium race organizers Apex Racing are already doing the hard work of securing permits, placing signage and barricades and informing the community about their annual event Saturday. So why not extend the time a few extra hours to create an open streets community event?

That’s exactly what’s happening tomorrow (Saturday) from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to play in the streets for two hours before the racing begins. Cascade Bicycle Club is helping to organize activities, including a free 5K fun run by Fleet Feet, a bike rodeo for kids, a scooter share pop-up with Lime and Shared, and live music.

Stay after the open streets party to watch one of the more unique bike races in the city, which has been a tradition for more than a quarter century. Here’s the race schedule:

tags: ballard, ballard crit, cascade bicycle club, open streets

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Seattle Parks starting Burke-Gilman Trail repairs from U Village to the city line

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

June 6, 2019

Work zones are marked in red. They will not all be under construction at the same time. Images from Seattle Parks.

Seattle Parks is getting ready to start fixing bumpy pavement and outdated bollards on some of the oldest sections of the Burke-Gilman Trail between 30th Ave NE (just east of U Village) to the city’s northern border with Lake Forest Park. So be ready for a summer of short detours as crews go section-by-section to complete this work.

Work is scheduled to begin this month. And some of the detours look like they include some tough climbing.

Much of this section of trail has not been paved since the 70s, so we have really gotten a lot out of that investment. But sections of the trail have deteriorated significantly since then either due to erosion or tree roots. In many sections, the trail has lost significant width due to the edges crumbling away over time. We have also learned a lot about trail design and construction since the city first laid this asphalt on top of the old railbed 41 years ago.

Below are the planned detour diagrams from the contractor for each segment. They will not all be in effect at the same time. I have not yet tested them, though some look tough. If you are familiar with these side streets, let us know your thoughts in the comments below (the orientation of the maps switch around, so remember that “streets” are usually east-west and “avenues” are usually north-south): (more…)

tags: burke-gilman trail, seattle parks district

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