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It’s the Bike News Roundup! I may starting posting these more often so they don’t get so ridiculously long. The comments below are open to whatever at-least-somewhat-relevant topics you want to discuss.
First up, move over self-driving cars. The true future of transportation has arrived in Sweden. Luckily, we got a sneak peek at this fascinating technology:
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Of all the major transportation investments Seattle has planned using Federal grant assistance, the only one that is not at risk by the Trump administration is the one we need the least: The Lander Street Overpass.
That project is moving ahead at a very quick pace with final design planned for completion in July. SDOT is hosting an open house 4 – 6:30 p.m. today (Thursday) at Metropolist to discuss the Lander Overpass plans. You can also learn more and comment via the project’s online open house (it takes quite a few clicks to get to the comment form, but stick with it!).
The bad news is that planners have ignored essentially all the safety concerns raised earlier in the design process. The plans still call for a walking and biking trail on the north side of the bridge with no accommodation at all for people on the south side of the bridge, unchanged despite very clear feedback that this does not work for walking and biking safety.
This is horrible design for walking and biking safety, reminiscent of the kinds of people-hostile, car-focused bridges designed in the 1950s and 60s like this sorry excuse for a Denny Way bridge across I-5:
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If you have not yet tried Pronto Cycle Share, make it your civic duty to give it a spin before it shuts down for good Friday.
Yes, I’m talking to you, haters.
I’m also talking to all of you who ride your own bikes and never saw the need or use in trying Pronto. And to all of you who don’t work or live anywhere close to the service area. Go out of your way to try it in the next couple days.
Because after Friday, Pronto will become part of Seattle lore: The public bike system that once was.
So take the light rail to UW Station and grab a Pronto to get coffee on the Ave. Or take a bus or train to International District Station and Pronto up to Pike Place Market for lunch. Find an excuse. It will only cost you $8.
Because while Pronto is going away, the debate over bike share in Seattle is not ending any time soon. And if you want to have first-hand experience to know what you’re talking about, this is your last chance.
Bike share is simply one of those things that doesn’t totally make sense until you do it yourself. There’s this almost magical feeling that happens when you dock the bike at your destination and hear it beep. You get to just walk away. The bike isn’t your responsibility anymore. You don’t even need to bike back later if you don’t want to. You can take a bus instead. Or get a ride from a friend. Whatever.
In a word, it’s freedom. (more…)
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Several Capitol Hill community groups are working together to host a free training for anyone who wants to learn how to advocate and organize for safer streets Sunday. Afterwards, attendees will immediately put their new knowledge into action by heading out to businesses in the neighborhood to help gather support for safer streets and connected bike lanes.
“We want people to come to it and know that advocating for themselves isn’t a scary thing,” Marley Blonsky of the Capitol Hill Community Council told Kaylee Osowski at Capitol Hill Seattle.
The idea came from Capitol Hill Renters Initiative, Alex Brennan told CHS. Since, the Community Council, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and Cascade Bicycle Club have all joined to help.
The training starts at 2 p.m. in the “Pike/Pine Room” on the second floor of the 12th Ave Arts building. After an hour inside, people will hit the streets for two hours to build support.
There are many safe streets and bike connection needs on Capitol Hill, but protected bike lanes connecting Broadway to downtown is the most pressing. The One Center City effort is working on such a plan, and business support will be important to make sure it happens.
More event details, listed by the Capitol Hill Eco District: (more…)
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A key section of the new WSDOT-funded Arboretum Trail opened late last week, connecting Madison Street to the car-free Arboretum Drive.
The segment is fairly short, but it is one of the most important stretches of the whole plan for people biking. The trail gives people a way to get to Arboretum Drive without needing to bike on one of the busier sections of Lake Washington Blvd. Arboretum Drive is a beautiful, hilly route through the Arboretum that provides a lovely route for people heading to Montlake.
This connection will be even more important later this year when the 520 Trail touches down in Montlake, creating a direct biking and walking link between Seattle and Medina for the first time ever.
The full Arboretum Trail is scheduled to be complete late this year. Connections at the north end won’t truly be finished until the 520 Bridge project completes construction of its massive makeover of the Montlake area.
I biked down to check out the new section of trail and put together this video:
Some notes: (more…)
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A new petition under the hashtag #GivePedsTheGreen is calling on SDOT to make an essentially invisible and low-budget change to traffic signals that could have a big impact on walkability, safety and accessibility in all corners of Seattle. It wouldn’t require any new infrastructure at all, and people driving would likely not even notice the change.
The idea is to program traffic signals in urban villages, the urban center and other areas with many people on foot so the walk signal is never skipped. Instead, just make the program behave as though someone pushed the button every cycle. It’s a pretty simple idea that could pack a big safety benefit.
The campaign was started by Troy Heerwagen, who has written for years at his blog Walking in Seattle. He wrote a post for the Urbanist Thursday explaining the idea and urging people to support the petition. He also says to always push the button when walking so SDOT has proper counts of how many people are trying to cross the street and can adjust signals accordingly.
I can’t possibly support this idea enough. So many safe streets projects require tough trade-offs or big capital budgets, but this one doesn’t. It’s a simple tweak, but it would improve comfort, efficiency, safety and accessibility for people walking around town.
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