Seattle Bike Blog

Shoreline announces bold idea for a new trail next to light rail

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 9, 2017

From the project webpage.

The City of Shoreline has a great idea for taking advantage of Sound Transit construction to also revolutionize bike access in their city: A “Trail Along the Rail.”

Much like the Interurban Trail is a premiere asset for the city’s SR 99 corridor — providing vital access to businesses, homes, parks and schools — the new Link-adjacent trail could do the same for the city’s I-5 corridor.

And by coordinating construction of the trail with light rail construction, there will never be an easier opportunity to make this connection.

The early concept shows the trail connecting from the border with Seattle at Jackson Park all the way to N 195th Street, which has an I-5 crossing. The trail would provide access to planned stations at N 145th and N 185th Street Stations.

I-5 will remain a major impediment to east-west travel, but the city also has plans for improving access to the relatively few existing crossings.

The project is still only an idea, so it’s going to take a big push from neighbors to make this a priority. Since light rail construction is set to begin in 2018, this trail idea needs to get moving if it is going to be ready to break ground with the rail line.

If you want to learn more or provide feedback, Shoreline is hosting a public meeting 6–8 p.m. March 15 at Shoreline City Hall. More details: (more…)

tags: i-5, shoreline, trail along the rail

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The 2017 Emerald Bike Ride will make a big freeway loop on 520, I-90 and I-5

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 8, 2017

The 2017 route, from Cascade.

For the second annual Emerald Bike Ride, Cascade Bicycle Club is scaling up big time. The full route is longer, the start location is bigger and the rider limit has been set at a stunning 10,000 people. That’s 3,000 more people than the sold-out 2016 ride. If the 2017 event also sells out it would reach the same size as the club’s signature Seattle-to-Portland ride.

The May 28 route, announced this week, remains focused on providing bike access to freeways where biking is banned. The ride includes the I-5 Express Lanes and the 520 Bridge as it did last year. So if you regret missing a rare chance to bike on car-free freeways last year, you will have another chance.

But instead of going out and back on 520, the route will travel through Medina and Bellevue to connect to the I-90 Express Lanes leading back to the new start line on Occidental next to CenturyLink Field (why they dropped “City” from the former “Emerald City Bike Ride” name). This is almost certainly your only chance to bike on the I-90 Express Lanes, since East Link light rail construction is already underway and will soon occupy that space.

The full 24.4-mile route only includes 1,237 feet of climbing, a nearly impossible feat in this hilly region outside of the freeway system. There is also a cheaper, flatter and shorter 10-mile route option up and down I-5 for people who can’t or don’t want to bike 24 miles.

The biggest catch is that unlike many other open streets events in Seattle and across the world, this ride costs money. That’s not exactly Cascade’s fault, of course. It costs a lot of money to plan and host such a gigantic event. And the ride is a fundraiser for Cascade’s education programming.

The full route is $40 for non-members if you register online (there are discounts for members and youth as well as scholarships). Online registration is set to close May 24, or earlier if it sells out.

The experience is worth the cash.

Emerald City Bike Ride 2016 on the I-5 Express Lanes.

tags: cascade bicycle club, emerald bike ride 2017, emerald city bike ride, i-5, i-90, sr 520

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Pronto will refund remainder of outstanding memberships after March 31 shutdown

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 7, 2017

The member email from Pronto.

Many people bought annual memberships for Pronto Cycle Share before the city announced the decision to shut it down March 31. So what happens to those memberships?

Originally, the city had planned a new bike share system using e-assist bikes, and Pronto members would have been offered the choice of a pro-rated refund or credit in the new system. But Mayor Ed Murray scrapped plans for the new system before details were even shared with the City Council.

So now there’s only one option left: All members will have remaining balances credited to their cards on file automatically once the system shuts down (so make sure your card info is up-to-date). And that’s it. No more Pronto.

Here’s the text of the member email: (more…)

tags: pronto emerald city cycle share

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After a butane truck crash on I-5 snarls traffic, the Times Ed Board blames … bike lanes?

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 6, 2017

Screenshot from the Seattle Times (click to read)

It seemed every couple minutes, someone at KUOW radio would break into the news broadcast to let people know of another major traffic problem in the Seattle area. It was February 27, and a truck carrying butane had crashed on southbound I-5 downtown.

The very hazardous payload forced brave emergency crews to close both directions of the major freeway at the interchange with I-90. During all this, snow and hail was coming down in various amounts in different parts of the region, further complicating people’s routes.

Traffic got so bad, a heroic taco truck called Tacos El Tajin that was stuck on I-5 simply opened its window and started serving other stranded travelers.

As traffic backed up, people trying to drive downtown blocked intersections and bus routes. People often use the term “gridlock” hyperbolically to describe bad traffic, but this was legitimately gridlock. Buses got more and more delayed by car traffic, reducing the effectiveness of the city’s most vital congestion relief valve. Link light rail saved the day for many people as one of the only services running reliably. Those who braved rare snowy streets to bike to work that day also found ways to get out of the city relatively easily by working through the snarled traffic. Most everyone else had a long journey home.

Listening to the traffic news get worse, I joked that I wondered how long it would take before someone blamed the horrendous traffic on bike lanes. One week later, the Seattle Times Editorial Board* delivered:

Major incidents will keep happening, and their effects are worsened because Seattle eliminated numerous arterial lanes in recent years. This reduced capacity hurt on Monday.

Lanes were replaced with bicycle paths. The problem isn’t adding bike paths, it’s that the city did so by reducing general traffic capacity. This makes the street network less resilient and capable of handling surges — and more dependent on I-5.

(more…)

tags: brier dudley, one center city, seattle times, seattle times editorial board

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One year after the Greenwood explosion, G&O Family Cyclery opens its new home

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 3, 2017

It’s been a very long and hard year for many Greenwood businesses damaged or destroyed by the March 9, 2016, natural gas explosion.

Many are still struggling to hang on while insurance companies and Puget Sound Energy delay and haggle over who needs to pay out for the immense damage that has so far mostly fallen on the businesses themselves. Neptune Coffee may reportedly throw in the towel.

That’s why it was such a wonderful experience to visit the new location for G&O Family Cyclery, which opened for business Wednesday nearly one year after the explosion destroyed their original home just a block and a half south of their new shop. Owners Davey Oil and Tyler Gillies were clearly glowing, finally able to get back to doing what they love: Getting people on bikes built to handle whatever family life throws at them.

G&O will host a grand reopening party at the new shop (8558 Greenwood Ave N) 7–10 p.m. March 9, the one-year anniversary of the explosion (details below). (more…)

tags: #greenwoodexplosion, davey oil, g&o family cyclery, greenwood, tyler gillies

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Walk through the Battery Street Tunnel Sunday + What will be its legacy in our city?

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 2, 2017

Promo image from the event listing.

The Battery Street Tunnel has been part of Seattle for 65 years, but very few people have ever had the opportunity to walk through it. Well, Sunday morning is your chance.

Walk the Battery is a free public event, part of an ongoing art initiative “b’End Tunnel” by Aaron Asis and Project Belltown that will “celebrate the Battery Street Tunnel in its final years of service,” according to the event listing. You can register online for free to receive more info about the start.

Though participants are encouraged to bike to the start, no bikes will be allowed in the tunnel itself (you’ll have to lock up nearby).

The Battery Street Tunnel is set to be decommissioned when/if the new and much deeper SR 99 highway tunnel replaces the Alaskan Way Viaduct that feeds the Battery Tunnel today. Major work will reconnect much of the street grid between Belltown and the waterfront as well as in South Lake Union. (more…)

tags: alaskan way viaduct, aurora, b’End Tunnel, battery street tunnel, belltown, lid i-5, sr 99, waterfront

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