By
| Posted
Be prepared for detours on the Burke-Gilman Trail in NE Seattle over the next two months.
Seattle Parks is making much-needed repairs to 13 segments of this aging, bumpy and extremely popular trail, starting with the divided stretch of trail that runs through a sunken area between 40th Ave NE and NE 65th Street.
All work is scheduled to be completed by the end of January, weather depending.
You can see Seattle Parks’ planned detour routes in these maps:
By
| Posted
Well, WSDOT has said all along that the 520 Bridge Trail will open in Fall 2017, and it technically will.
The region’s most significant new biking and walking connection in decades will open December 20 at 3 p.m., 17 hours and 28 minutes before the winter solstice.
As we’re written before, this bridge connection is going to revolutionize biking in the region, especially between Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond. For example, bike trips from UW to downtown Kirkland will be cut in half. The implications of such a change are immense. So many more trips will become accessible by a relatively easy bike ride. I hope Eastside cities are ready to take action to help make their streets safer to help encourage these new bike trips.
More details on the opening, from WSDOT: (more…)
By
| Posted
A new protected bikeway under construction in Interbay and Magnolia is about to fill a major gap in the region’s trail network and plug the neighborhood into one of the best trail networks in the nation.
A new two-way bikeway connects the Ship Canal Trail at Fishermen’s Terminal to Government Way (and Discovery Park) to the north and the Elliott Bay Trail to the south.
Once complete people will be able to bike from the downtown waterfront to Discovery Park and the Ballard Locks almost entirely separated from car traffic. The project also makes a vital improvement to the western terminus of the Ship Canal Trail, which until now ended just a couple very stressful blocks away from reaching Gilman Ave W. This improvement makes the whole Ship Canal Trail vastly more useful and comfortable.
This project is a slam dunk because it makes so many high-quality connections, which is the biggest challenge to biking in Seattle. Our city has many great stretches of bike infrastructure, but most of them end abruptly without making a meaningful link to another quality route. A bike route is only as comfortable as its least-comfortable segment, and both the Ship Canal and Elliott Bay Trails have been held back by their poor connections to and along Gilman Ave W. (more…)
By
| Posted
EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks again to Brock Howell of Bike Happy for putting together this comprehensive weekly newsletter.
CONTEST: DESIGN YOUR OWN BIKE LANE PERSONBased on the many, many fun, joyful bike lane “people” in Portland, a couple month’s ago, I asked Seattle’s chief traffic engineer if I could design a bike lane symbol here. His response, “send some ideas.”
Instead of sending just a couple ideas, I’d love to send him a hundred. So, I’m holding a contest for who can design the best bike lane person. I’ll judge submissions based on originality, creativity, whimsy, and storytelling. Winners will win gift certificates to Peddler Brewing.
Get all the details here and submit your bike lane person by Dec. 12. (more…)
By
| Posted
To win Seattle’s latest app-based game, you have to NOT look at your phone while driving, obey the speed limit, and smooth out your starts and stops.
On one hand, it’s a game. But it’s also a way for people to get feedback on how they are driving, something you rarely get after passing the driver’s test at 16.
The app runs in the background, so you don’t really need to do anything other than download it and sign up. You can then periodically check in on how you are driving and see areas where you need to improve (but not while driving, of course, or you’ll lose points).
The app was first used in Boston, and the city saw app users measurably improve their driving after installing the app. Speeding was reduced by 35 percent, and distracted driving was reduced by 47 percent.
The app also includes rewards for biking and taking the bus, which are the actual safest ways to drive.
Of course, the app only works on people who use it. And who knows how many of the behavior changes will stick for the long term? But it’s good to see street safety efforts aimed at the activity that holds the lion’s share of responsibility for preventing injuries and deaths.
More details from the SDOT Blog: (more…)
By
| Posted
Did you take one look at the massive influx of Giving Tuesday emails in your inbox today and click “Mark All As Read?” If so, you are a stronger person than me. I spent much of the day in the fetal position, mumbling something about Sisyphus and “inbox zero.”
But then I drank some coffee, did some silent meditation to center myself and started wading into the sea of appeal emails by good organizations doing genuinely good work.
So here’s what I’ve got for you: A digest of great bike and safe streets organizations participating in Giving Tuesday with excerpts from their appeals and links to donate. Many of the orgs have matching gifts, so this is a great time to make whatever amount you can spare go further. (more…)
As a supporter, you help power independent bike news in the Seattle area. Please consider supporting the site financially starting at $5 per month:
