Seattle Bike Blog

Region passes gigantic transit investment, but it feels so feeble today

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 9, 2016

We passed the largest transit expansion measure in our region’s history by far. But it was hard to get too excited last night.

It seems like just yesterday we were arguing about whether Sound Transit 3 was too big of an investment. Yet by the time the big King, Pierce and Snohomish county vote totals hit the Crocodile stage during the ST3 victory party, it was hard for the crowd to muster much of a cheer.

Sure, people made sounds that were a lot like cheers. But it could also have been the release of nervous, distraught energy as it became more and more clear that the Midwestern votes Hillary Clinton needed weren’t going to come in.

When someone who has made such horribly racist, sexist and Islamophobic promises is given this level of power, it’s time to question everything we are doing are transportation activists. ST3 is great — yay! — but holy shit, the terrain of our nation just shifted. What are we going to do to fight for justice, equality and a sustainable future? We got good at passing big transportation funding measures, but the challenges ahead will be very different.

tags: st3

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Eat dinner and talk about grassroots bicycle movements Monday

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 8, 2016

For years, Microcosm Publishing’s Elly Blue and Joe Biel have been traveling the country with chef Joshua Ploeg to make dinner and talk with local people working to improve their communities through bicycling.

They have collected these stories of grassroots change, and they want to share them with you here in Seattle over dinner.

Dinner and Bikes will be hosted locally by the good folks at G&O Family Cyclery at the Greenwood Chaco Canyon 8 p.m. Monday. It’s $20 at the door, dinner included. (Register online to help them get a good count)

More details from the event page: (more…)

tags: dinner and bikes, elly blue, g&o family cyclery, joe biel, joshua ploeg

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Today, Seattle speed limits dropped to 25 downtown, 20 on every minor street

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 7, 2016

Did you feel it overnight? A strange feeling that even though the street outside your window looks the same as before, there’s something different about it?

OK, probably not. But something did happen: The speed limit was lowered by five miles per hour.

New speed limits are in effect. Residential streets are 20 mph, arterial streets are 25 mph unless otherwise posted pic.twitter.com/sLIDBayYeC

— Dongho Chang (@dongho_chang) November 7, 2016

Proposed by SDOT’s Vision Zero team at the urging of safe streets advocates (props especially to Seattle Neighborhood Greenways’ Gordon Padelford) and passed unanimously by the City Council, Seattle has lowered default speed limits across the whole city. All minor “non-arterial” (typically residential) streets now have a 20 mph limit. All busier “arterial” streets have a limit of 25 mph unless otherwise noted.

Because most arterial streets outside of downtown and some nearby central neighborhoods have their own set speed limits (usually 30, though sometimes 35 or higher), this change only affects those streets noted on the map above. (more…)

tags: 20’s plenty, speed limits, vision zero

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Seattle women #BikeTheVote today + How you can help final ST3 push & where to party

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 7, 2016

My actual ballot. ST3 is at the very end.

I voted for ST3. It was at the very end of a very long ballot. But damn it felt good.

Seeing hours-long lines outside polling places in many communities across the country, I am so thankful for Washington’s vote-by-mail system. You can put those hours saved to work by helping with the final get-out-the-vote push with the Mass Transit Now campaign.

If you have been procrastinating and still haven’t opened your ballot, it’s time to take a deep breath and confront that monster. See our previous post for some help making decisions and finding a ballot drop box near you.

If you identify as a woman and have yet to deliver your ballot or simply want to spend Election Day Eve biking around town with other awesome women, then get yourself to the Seattle Center Fountain at 6:30 p.m. for Menstrual Monday’s Tour de Dropbox. I feel privileged to send my ballot on this ride in the care of my amazing spouse Kelli. A powerful woman biking with other awesome women, delivering my vote for the first woman to hold the office of U.S. President. I can’t think of a better way to vote.

More details on the ride, from the Facebook event page: (more…)

tags: 2016 general election, st3

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11/7-Early 2017 Trail Alert: Burke-Gilman getting much needed repairs east of UW

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 4, 2016

Map of (some) of the planned trail repairs. See more on the project website.

This will surely come as a huge relief to the many people who battle abrupt tree root heaves on the Burke-Gilman Trail in the U District, U Village and Laurelhurst area: Seattle Parks will start repaving sections of the trail Monday.

The five sections are scheduled for work over the next couple months moving from east to west. Detours will be provided where needed, but give yourself a little extra time just in case.

The work is part of the city’s effort to catch up on a long deferred maintenance backlog in Seattle parks, as promised to voters when they passed the Parks District measure in 2014. In addition to being a vital transportation corridor, the Burke-Gilman Trail is one of the city’s iconic parks. But many sections have not received serious attention since they were first paved decades ago.

More details from Seattle Parks: (more…)

tags: Bike Route Alert, burke-gilman trail, seattle parks district

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Roosevelt bike lane opens with Kidical Mass and community party Saturday

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 3, 2016

As we reported previously, it took a lot of advocacy work to convince SDOT to add a bike lane to Roosevelt Way NE as part of the recently-completed scheduled paving project. Seriously. And the result is a huge improvement over one of the most important bike routes in NE Seattle.

Sure, there are some issues with some of the intersections (they aren’t protected intersections), and there are growing pains with people parking in the new lane. But compared to the old skinny door zone bike lane, wow. It’s just so much less stressful and more inviting. Hopefully data will show that it is also safer and attracts new riders.

The city is hosting an opening celebration Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the U District Food Bank.

Kidical Mass will ride 10:30 a.m. from the Tangletown Mighty-O Donuts to the ribbon-cutting. So biking parents, that’s the place to be.

Now, on to the next advocacy goal along this corridor: Connecting from the University Bridge where this project ends to downtown. The network is coming together. Slowly, sure, but it is happening.

tags: roosevelt

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