Seattle Bike Blog

Four years later, city settles with man terribly injured following streetcar track crash

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 12, 2019

Daniel Ahrendt was biking westbound on Jackson Street in May 2015 when he crossed the very wide five-way intersection with Rainier, Boren and 14th Avenues. A bus was stopped next to the curb, so he changed lanes to pass. That’s when everything went horribly wrong. The track grabbed his bike wheel, sending him crashing to the ground. Then the bus pulled away from the curb and ran over him, crushing his pelvis and leg. He nearly died of blood loss, but medics and the trauma team at Harborview were able to save his life. He was hospitalized for a month.

That was May 2015, and he just recently settled with the city for $1.55 million. He no longer bikes and now lives in New York, the Seattle Times reports.

“I learned through my attorney that nine other similar bicycle/rail gap accidents had occurred where bicyclists fell due to the First Hill Streetcar tracks before my crash,” he wrote in a statement. “Seven accidents had occurred after my crash. I hoped that my lawsuit would help prevent additional, similar bicycle accidents.”

His crash was nightmarish, but it was also preventable. Before building the First Hill Streetcar line, it was already well known that streetcar tracks are dangerous for people biking because the gap is wide enough to grab all but the widest bicycle tires. And once your wheel starts to slip into the track, you don’t stand a chance. Seattle and Sound Transit learned lessons from the dangerous design of the South Lake Union streetcar, especially on Westlake. That’s why the First Hill Streetcar runs next to a protected bike lane on Broadway.

But they did not continue this protected bike lane for the rest of the route, including heavily-biked Jackson Street. This was a huge mistake, and people continue to get injured.

As is common in settlements like this, the city did not officially admit fault. But something needs to happen to improve safety along our streetcar routes, including Jackson Street, Yesler Way and in various parts of South Lake Union. And experience from around the world shows that the only complete solution is to have separated bike lanes that cross streetcar tracks at safe angles as close to 90 degrees as possible.

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes has a truly despicable quote in the Seattle Times, basically telling everyone who has been injured (or killed) after their bike wheels got caught in the streetcar tracks that it was their fault. (more…)

tags: daniel ahrendt, first hill streetcar, pete holmes, streetcars

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Get ready for a major Fairview Ave N detour later this year + A look at some of your options – UPDATED

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 9, 2019

UPDATE 8/20: SDOT says the closure could start at early as September 16.

If you bike along the east side of Lake Union into the city center, then you should get ready for a significant change to your bike route later this year.

Work has already started to prepare for the Fairview Ave N bridge replacement, but the extended closure of the bridge will cut off the only flat bike route between Eastlake and South Lake Union/downtown for more than a year. So it’s not a bad idea to start trying out some alternate options to see what works best for you.

You may not fully realize you are on a bridge when you cross over the Fairview Ave N bridge. But if you walk along the floating path to the north of the bridge, you can see that the roadway is supported by aging timber that doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence. The structure does not meet seismic standards, and it is the final timber-supported major bridge left in the city. Replacing it was a key project in the Move Seattle Levy, which voters approved in 2015.

The full bridge is scheduled to close for construction in the Fall and won’t reopen until 2021. Exact dates are not yet listed on the project webpage. The new bridge will have a two-way bike lane and a sidewalk on the north side of the bridge:

Work is underway right now to build elements of the Aloha Street walking/biking/transit detour. This will probably be the best option for most people, though it does include some significant climbing. A new traffic signal at Aloha and Eastlake should help people heading north make that left turn onto Eastlake.

One big question is how well the paint-only bike lanes on Eastlake Ave will hold up under the expected increase in traffic.

Eastlake-to-Stewart

(more…)

tags: eastlake, fairview ave n, sdot

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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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