Seattle Bike Blog

WA Bikes and Cascade Bicycle Club considering merger

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 24, 2015

Washington Bikes may dissolve its current organization and join forces with a restructured Cascade Bicycle Club by the end of the year.

Under the initial plan for combining organizations, “relevant” WA Bikes staff would join the newly reworked organization and WA Bikes members would become Cascade Bicycle Club members (as many already are).

Cascade Bicycle Club’s board has already voted to sign a Letter of Intent (PDF) crafted jointly to guide the merger. The WA Bikes board has discussed the letter and plans to vote early next week.

With 36 staffers and a series of major rides that attract tens of thousands of paying riders from around the region and world every year, Cascade is obviously much bigger than WA Bikes, which has only about five staff members (depending on grant cycles). But both Cascade ED Elizabeth Kiker and WA Bikes ED Barb Chamberlain were clear in a joint interview recently: “This isn’t a takeover or an acquisition,” as Kiker put it.

“The work is what’s important, and the work will continue,” said Chamberlain. “Cascade and WA Bikes will both evolve in this process.” (more…)

tags: barb chamberlain, blake trask, cascade bicycle club, elizabeth kiker, jeff aken, washington bikes

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Legal challenge to Move Seattle goes down in flames

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 21, 2015

In case you were wondering if there would be a campaign to fight the bold Move Seattle transportation levy, of course there is. And their first major showing this week has gone down in flames as quickly as it started.

The campaign tried to challenge the ballot language in court because they didn’t think the levy to replace the Bridging the Gap levy should be called a “replacement.” Not only was their argument questionable, but they also filed it too late.

The challenge first reported Monday was dead by Thursday. Spokesperson Eugene Wasserman blamed their lawyer (if Wasserman hired that lawyer for his fight to stop the Missing Link, maybe the trail would be completed by now!).

Let’s Move Seattle, the campaign to pass the measure, celebrated the prompt demise of the challenge in a statement:

The Let’s Move Seattle levy is a replacement for the expiring Bridging the Gap levy, and ‘would fund bridge seismic upgrades, transit corridor and light rail access projects, pedestrian and bicycle safety projects, new sidewalk installation and maintenance, synchronized traffic signals, street maintenance and repair, freight projects and neighborhood street projects,’ exactly as the ballot language states.

(more…)

tags: eugene wasserman, faye garneau, move seattle, move seattle levy

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Could painting zigzag lines on the road make trail crossings safer?

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 20, 2015

Photo from WSDOT

The faster someone is driving, the less likely they are to stop for someone entering a crosswalk. That’s just a street design fact.

So how can the state improve safety for trails that cross highways, especially in rural areas where traffic on both the trail and highway is relatively sparse?

Well, their newest experiment is in place now north of Arlington where the Centennial Trail crosses SR 9. The crossing already has a blinking light that trail users can activate by pushing a button. But a recent study found that 18 percent of people driving did not stop or even slow down for people trying to cross, according to WSDOT.

So WSDOT is testing the state’s first zigzag crosswalk warning. The zigs and zags get closer together as you approach the crosswalk, giving a very obvious warning that there is something coming up you need to pay attention to. Hopefully that plus the standard crosswalk markings plus the blinking lights will be enough to get people to stop.

They are also installing the zigzags on SR 20 in Concrete. If testing goes well, the state hopes to roll the cheap markings out at more locations.

Details from WSDOT: (more…)

tags: arlington, concrete, sr 20, sr 9, stanwood, wsdot, zigzags

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City assessing the condition of trails, looking for spots in need of upgrades

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 19, 2015

Map from SDOT outreach materials

Seattle’s trail network does a lot of heavy lifting for human-powered transportation around town. The Burke-Gilman Trail, for example, carries as many people during rush hour as a lane of a major freeway.

But the condition of trail sections has declined over the decades. Some sections haven’t been paved since the 70s.

To make things worse, many sections were paved without a strong base layer to prevent tree roots from pushing through, which can be especially dangerous in the dark. Other sections keep losing inches off the sides, making the trail width skinnier and skinnier as they deteriorate due to time, weather and landslides.

All this is happening as usage grows and grows with no signs of slowing. Increased use use on skinnier and bumpier trails is a recipe for problems.

How bad is the problem? Well, we don’t really know. That’s why the city is developing a Trails Upgrade Plan.

You can help out by taking this online survey. (more…)

tags: stop-go signs, trails upgrade plan

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King County fighting to maintain safe E Lake Sammamish Trail design

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 18, 2015

The North Segment of the E Lake Sammamish Trail was completed recently. Imagine how a tree in the trail path would create a dangerous situation.

King County Parks is in a legal battle with the City of Sammamish over plans to complete the E Lake Sammamish Trail between Redmond and Issaquah. And due to this battle, construction has been delayed on Segment A near Issaquah. Crews were supposed to begin work this fall.

Sammamish issued a construction permit in July, but with 19 conditions. And if you read through them, it becomes clear very quickly that a lot of lawyers and money got involved in this process (median household income in Sammamish is about $144,000 compared to the county average of $68,000). If you want a taste, try reading the permit language (PDF). The 19 conditions are at the end under “Conclusions.” More documents are available on the City of Sammamish project website and from King County (PDF).

The most clear conflict point comes down to trees. In order to meet modern trail safety standards for width and sight lines, some “significant” trees (trees taller than 4.5 feet) will need to be removed. These safety standards exist to prevent people from colliding head-on, which the only real danger on a separated trail like this.

Of 250 such trees in the project area, 221 will be saved and 29 will be removed (less than 12 percent of the total). King County plans to plant trees and other vegetation all along the trail to replace any that is removed for construction.

But the Sammamish-issued permit requires King County to squeeze the trail “as necessary” to save nearly every tree. (more…)

tags: city of sammamish, e lake sammamish trail, king county parks

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Pronto adds low-income housing partner + L.A. may offer transit/bike transfers

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 17, 2015

A plan to expand Pronto aims to reach “vulnerable” populations. Map from Seattle’s pending TIGER grant application.

Pronto Cycle Share announced a new partnership with Bellweather Housing last week, expanding the number of low-income residents who have access to reduced cost Pronto memberships to nearly 5,000.

Bellweather joins Capitol Hill Housing in providing residents access to annual memberships as low as $20 for people making 30 percent of median income or less (prices increase based on income: $30 for people making 50 percent or less, $40 for people making 80 percent or less), according to a story by Josh Cohen at Next City. And remember, the full price of $85 for a year is already a screaming deal. The lowest price would get you one year for less than the cost of just three day passes at full price.

The new partnerships will be great for people who live in the right buildings and have the chance to learn about the program and sign up. But experience from other cities and Pronto’s first couple months offering subsidized memberships show that it’s going to take a lot more work and investment to reach large numbers of low-income Seattleites (Cohen reports that only 34 subsidized passes have been sold since they first started offering them three months ago, though there has been limited outreach).

Transportation is a huge cost for people trying to scrape by in Seattle, so an affordable bike share system could be a huge boost for affordability. Partnering with affordable housing providers is one way to reach people and vet their income levels, but it only scratches the surface. (more…)

tags: josh cohen, next city, ORCA, ORCA Lift, pronto emerald city cycle share

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