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It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! I’m in St. Louis visiting family this week, so that’s why news here is a bit slow. But here’s a long list of interesting stuff to read. And if I missed anything, this is an open thread.
First up, I know you all have heard some baffling reasons why a bike lane can’t be installed. Well, you’re in good company. StreetFilms put together a video highlighting some baffling anti-bike lane excuses people have heard from all around the country:
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SDOT will update the City Council Transportation and Sustainability Committee today on the progress (or lackthereof) on the downtown Basic Bike Network.
The City Council passed a resolution last summer calling on SDOT and Mayor Jenny Durkan to complete key sections of the downtown bike network by the end of 2019, including Pike/Pine, 8th and 9th Avenues, King Street, a south downtown connection and a segment of 12th Ave (see the resolution’s bike lanes in orange in the map above). The presentation notes that Pike/Pine and a south end connection are on target for December (so, as late as possible to meet the resolution), but does not include an update on the rest of the projects.
UPDATE: SDOT’s Jim Curtin told the committee Tuesday that the city had reached a “breakthrough” on 8th and 9th Avenues that will allow construction to start in the third quarter of this year. The biggest hangup for building the south downtown connection is Metro bus layover space, he said. And he noted that the stretch of 12th Ave between Yesler and King “will be very difficult.” You can watch the update via Seattle Channel (starts around the 34:20 mark).
The mayor and SDOT have nearly stopped building bike lanes, especially downtown. The only downtown bike lane to open under Mayor Durkan’s watch was already under construction before she took office. The City Council’s resolution last summer was essentially an attempt to remind her that the bike network is a Council and voter-approved priority. After years of bike network delays, SDOT would need to dramatically increase bike lane construction to catch up to the progress promised to voters who approved the Move Seattle levy.
The Mayor has already blown her chance to have a downtown bike network in operation before the city’s major transit and highway changes began earlier this year. The plans, funding, Council and voter support were all ready, but she chose to stop it. Even without a bike network, biking helped absorb a lot of trips during the initial Viaduct closure. This happened because neighbors got organized and people took it on themselves to bike despite her administration’s clear disinterest in helping people do so. And now that buses are due to be kicked out of the transit tunnel, another transportation crunch is about to begin. And once again, the mayor will have done essentially nothing to help more people shift to biking.
Has the number of people biking during these downtown transportation crunches inspired the Mayor’s Office to rethink their anti-biking stance? Will they rise to the challenge the City Council unanimously set last summer by building a connected skeleton of a downtown bike network by the end of 2019?
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Non-budgetary bills in the Washington legislature had until yesterday to pass in at least one chamber in order to remain on track for passage into law. We wrote about a few transportation-related efforts Tuesday, so how did they do?
Well, it’s a mixed bag. Heidi Groover has a longer list over at the Seattle Times. Below are some highlights:
We are really disappointed that #HB1793, the traffic safety camera legislation, isn't getting passed this year. But we know we've educated a lot of people about the dangers of #BlockingTheBox. Our video reached 1.5 million people on Facebook, viewed over 60K times on Twitter.
— Rooted in Rights (@RootedInRights) March 14, 2019
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Our local pride and joy is now officially a national treasure! After 8 years of tireless advocacy by @SenatorCantwell, Congressman Reichert, and the rest of our WA delegation, the Mountains to Sound Greenway has become our nation’s newest National Heritage Area. #YesGreenwayNHA pic.twitter.com/cgVvdo3qg4
— Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust (@MTSGreenway) March 12, 2019
The Mountains to Sound Greenway, a huge swath of land surrounding I-90 from Seattle to Ellensburg, has been designated a National Heritage Area.
This designation could qualify the area for National Park Service funding to the tune of $150,000 to $750,000 per year, the Seattle Times reports. As the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust wrote in a press release, this funding could help:
OK, maybe we need to take a moment to clarify what’s what here, since the term “Mountains to Sound” is used in a lot of different ways and can be confusing. The Mountains to Sound Greenway is 1.5 million acres encompassing much of King and Kittias Counties including Seattle. The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust is a non-profit organization that works to “conserve and enhance the landscape from Seattle across the Cascade Mountains to Central Washington, ensuring a long-term balance between people and nature,” according to their mission statement. The Trust was a leading partner in the campaign to have this area designated as a National Heritage Area. The Mountains to Sound Trail is the name of an incomplete trail that more or less follows the path of I-90, also commonly known in sections as the “I-90 Trail.” So while people in many parts of the country refer to such a “trail” as “greenway,” the Mountains to Sound Greenway is massively bigger in scope than just the Mountains to Sound Trail.
Here’s a map of the Greenway:
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So Washington Democrats have both legislative chambers and the Governor’s Office for the first time in a while, so what does that mean for transportation?
Well, some great things are moving forward, but so are some pretty not-so-great things. As the session nears its vital halfway point, Heidi Groover at the Seattle Times put together a handy transportation bill tracker to see what’s still alive. Check out the Times story for the full rundown. I’ll highlight a few below.
Non-budgetary bills typically need to pass at least one chamber by 5 p.m. Wednesday in order to stay alive. After this deadline, the chambers shift to working on amending and passing bills that have already passed in the other chamber. So if you see something in the list you care about (either in favor or against) that has not yet been approved by the Senate or House, now’s the time to contact your legislators. The bill must say “Approved by House” or “Approved by Senate,” approval by a committee is not enough.
Here are a few highlights:
📣Action Alert: Keep people safe and transit moving. Take a minute today to tell your legislators to bring HB 1793 to a vote by Weds, March 13! Take action and spread the word. #dontblockthebox https://t.co/7kDHqu5DYR
— Transportation Choices Coalition (@TranspoChoices) March 11, 2019
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$42.
That’s the “unsafe lane change” ticket a teenager received for striking and killing John Przychodzen while he biked in the shoulder of Kirkland’s Juanita Drive in 2011. Authorities claimed that because they couldn’t prove he was driving recklessly, the $42 ticket was all they could give.
That $42 ticket became a rallying cry for a change in state law to increase penalties for negligent, but not criminal, driving that resulted in a serious injury or death of a “vulnerable road user,” such as people walking, biking, riding an animal, using farm equipment, etc. The $42 became a symbol of the slap on the wrist too often given to people responsible for death or injury on our roads. It also became a symbol for the slap in the face victims and/or loved ones feel when they have to watch those responsible receive few or no repercussions.
But in the seven years since the law passed, law enforcement and prosecutors have not been regularly using it as was intended. So advocates such as Washington Bikes and lawmakers are working this session to pass a revised version of the law that increases penalties and makes them mandatory, putting the increased fines into a new “vulnerable roadway user education account.” In the process, the bill also revises the laws around various road use responsibilities, including many biking and driving interactions.
The Senate already passed SSB 5723 (sponsored by Senators Randall, Saldaña, Liias, Rolfes, Billig, and Nguyen) with a unanimous 48–0 vote (PDF). It is currently in the House Transportation Committee.
Currently, state law basically just says that someone driving a car must pass someone biking “at a safe distance.” The new bill would attempt to clarify that by stating: (more…)
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