Seattle Bike Blog

Bike to these inauguration events and protests

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 20, 2017

From the Womxn’s March on Seattle event page.

Well, it’s official. Donald Trump is President. Now what are you going to do about it?

I’m not here to tell you the best way to get engaged and take action, but there’s a good chance your bicycle is the best way to get you there.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Stranger’s Resistance Calendar, which is packed with different events and protests over this weekend. Bike to something. Meet people. Strengthen your community.

The biggest event happens tomorrow (Saturday) in solidarity with the Women’s March in Washington DC. As the X implies, the Womxn’s March on Seattle is intentionally intersectional.

“It is our goal to provide the resources necessary for people to connect with one another, become accomplices, and work towards equity and social justice in this country,” the official poster reads.

The march meets 10 a.m. at Judkins Park and will march to Seattle Center.

With 50,000 people estimated to attend, I don’t need to tell you that driving to the start is a bad idea. But Judkins Park is directly connected to the I-90 Trail and popular bike routes to most of the city. You know what to do. (more…)

tags: Donald Trump, judkins park, womxn’s march on seattle

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Trail Alerts 1/19-20: Ship Canal Trail detoured near SPU, Burke-Gilman detoured at NE 125th for landslide work

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 19, 2017

There are two small trail detours to be ready for today and tomorrow. Neither should be a huge hassle, but it’s always wise to give yourself a little extra time when there is trail work just in case.

1/19-20: Ship Canal Trail near Seattle Pacific University

Project map from King County DNRP (full notice PDF).

The Fremont Siphon project team has been pretty great about providing quality trail detours for their work in Fremont. Now the project team is restoring a section of the Ship Canal Trail near their worksite on the south side of the Ship Canal. The trail will be detoured, but once again the project team appears to have a quality detour plan.

So there shouldn’t be much of a delay, but be ready to stop for construction equipment.

1/19: Seattle Parks clearing Burke-Gilman landslide near NE 125th

Regular Burke-Gilman users are surely used to the winter season landslide closures. It’s here again. (more…)

tags: Bike Route Alert

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WA distracted driving law is written for flip phones, bipartisan bill would give it a vital update

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 18, 2017

Read the full text of HB-1371 in this PDF.

Distracted driving is a rising cause of deaths and injuries in Washington State and across the world. But despite being one of the first states to ban texting while driving, Washington has failed to keep up with changing mobile use. The result is that it is currently legal to look at Facebook or binge episodes of Fixer Upper while operating a vehicle capable of causing enormous damage.

The problem is that the texting law was written and passed just before smart phones hit the market. So the WA law does not directly address all the other uses mobile devices are capable of. Only texting or holding a phone to your ear to talk are currently illegal.

Basically, Washington law still says, “No using your flip phone while driving.”

An attempt to update the law in 2015 was killed by House Democrats after the bill passed the Republican-held Senate 35-14. Senator Ann Rivers (R-La Connor) is again leading the effort in the Senate with Representative Jessyn Farrell (D-Seattle) leading the House effort (HB-1371).

There are going to be many partisan fights this session, with education funding likely to draw most the attention. But distracted driving law updates don’t need to be one of them. Watching TV while driving is obviously not acceptable. And reading Facebook posts has the same (or worse) affects on driving ability as reading texts. I think almost everyone can agree on this, whether Republican or Democrat.

I look forward to the state legislature coming together on this bill.

From the Seattle Times: (more…)

tags: 2017 legislature, ann rivers, distracted driving, hb 1371, jessyn farrell

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Dad from Philippines critically injured in collision at MLK/Graham + How you can help – UPDATED

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 17, 2017

Photo from Ronacin’s GoFundMe page.

UPDATE 1/22: Family reports on his GoFundMe page that Ronacin died Saturday evening after more than a week in Intensive Care:

Today has been by far the most hardest day for us. Ronacin passed away this evening at 7:50 pm along side him was our whole family and some close friends. No more suffering. We will really miss your smiling face. Your time with us here in Seattle wasn’t very long. I know you are in a much better place. Rest in peace kuya. We love you so much. We will make sure all your children are taken care of. We will try our best to be able to bring you home to the Philippines so your children can see you one last time.

Our deepest condolences go to his friends and family.

The crowdfunding page is still up and running, but now funds will go to help with funeral costs.

Original Story: (more…)

tags: injuries, mlk way, rainier valley, ronacin, s graham street

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Mayor Murray cancels bike share expansion, will shut down Pronto March 31

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 13, 2017

Mayor Ed Murray has scrapped his bike share expansion plan, ending the city’s efforts to create a new public e-assist bike system to replace the doomed Pronto system set to shut down March 31.

This officially ends a frustrating era for bike sharing in Seattle, making the city one of very few in the world where a modern public bike system has failed.

Some of the $5 million currently allocated for bike share expansion will go to decommissioning the current Pronto system and in case the city needs to pay back any grant money. In the meantime, the city will try to sell the equipment, which still functions very well, to recoup costs.

About $3 million of the funds will go to Safe Routes to School and other 2017 biking and walking projects in the downtown area, including bike lanes on 4th Ave, planning for bike lanes on Pike and/or Pine, and accessible curb cuts in Pioneer Square.

Mayor Murray scrapped the bike share expansion plan before it ever went in front the City Council for approval. In an election year, perhaps the Mayor didn’t want this hanging over his campaign. But now he has a failure on his hands, which may not be much better.

“While I remain optimistic about the future of bike share in Seattle,” Murray said in a press release (see in full below), “today we are focusing on a set of existing projects that will help build a safe, world-class bicycle and pedestrian network.”

Rather than rehash how we got here (read up in this previous post), I’ll just reiterate that it didn’t need to fail like this. The idea of a system of public bikes that anyone can use to expand access to express transit service and fill gaps in the existing transportation system is still sound. Increasing people’s access to a working bicycle (one of the major barriers to cycling) is still a very worthy goal. (more…)

tags: 2017 mayoral race, ed murray, pronto emerald city cycle share

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How the Affordable Care Act helped me to start this independent news site

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 13, 2017

With Republicans in D.C. going through the steps to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I need to take a second away from bike news to talk about how the ACA is a major factor in the fact that Seattle Bike Blog exists. And given the continually dismal state of local journalism funding, it also seems relevant to share my indie news story.

My story is far from the most dramatic (I’m healthy, have a very supportive partner, and my middle-class white male privilege has freed me from many challenges others face), but I think it’s a decent illustration of how making health care affordable encourages people to make the leaps of faith needed to start any new business. And since you all read this blog, I figured you should know how the ACA helped during tough times.

(Also, before my haters say, “Another good reason to repeal it!” remember that this story could easily go for the future creator of Seattle Car Blog or ByYourOwnBoostraps.com)

When I scored a great internship at the Kansas City Star fresh out of college, I felt like I was on the path to being a career journalist that so many previous professionals had followed. Unfortunately, I had graduated in June 2008. (more…)

tags: affordable care act, seattle bike blog

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