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It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! Here’s a look at some of the transportation stuff floating around the Internet recently.
As always, this is an open thread. Discuss whatever bikey stuff is on your mind in the comments below.
First up, as the city debates very hyperlocal issues related to increasing density and improving affordability in Seattle, perhaps it’s a good time to consider how our decisions fit in a global context:
It’s Smart To Be Dense from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.
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Cascade Bicycle Club is searching for a new Advocacy Director as Jeff Aken steps back into a regional planning role at the organization.
The next person to take the job will be the fifth to hold that position in as many years. Aken moved into the spot last August and will remain in the role until the position is filled.
The search comes as campaigns for all City Council seats and the vital Move Seattle transportation levy are getting ready to kick into high gear. This November’s ballot may impact bicycling in Seattle more than any other in recent history.
Since the high-profile departure of longtime Advocacy Director David Hiller in 2011, nobody has lasted much longer than a year in the position. John Mauro, Evan Manvel, Thomas Goldstein and Aken have all held the position since. Manvel’s 13 months remains the record.
Think you can do better? Cascade has listed the job on their website. Applications are due July 31.
More details from a Cascade press release: (more…)
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Today, the WA House passed the appropriations part of the 16-year transportation package, earmarking money for lots and lots of highways and highway debt.
We here at Seattle Bike Blog are certainly distressed by all the new and expanded highways, but we’re especially concerned by the lack of leadership from any major voice in Olympia to connect highways to sprawling communities, traffic congestion, public health and climate change. The kind of package we would wholeheartedly support — focused on safety, transit (both urban and rural) and road/bridge repairs — was never even discussed.
But in this post we’ll try to put that aside and focus on the roughly six percent of funds that are directed to truly exciting multimodal (bike/walk/transit) projects.
Six percent might sound like a pitiful amount (because it is), but it represents a sevenfold increase in biking and walking funding compared to the previous 16-year transportation package passed in 2005, according to Washington Bikes. Indeed, walk/bike funding managed to forge its own bipartisan path through the legislature and make gains when other elements were being compromised away.
While Seattle Bike Blog typically focuses on biking in major urban centers, WA Bikes has made great strides highlighting to rural or small city legislators how safe streets, biking to school and bicycle tourism are powerful and relatively low-cost investments in their communities.
“No matter where you stand on other elements in the Washington state transportation spending package, one message is clear: we won big for biking and walking projects,” WA Bikes said in their blog post. They also created a handy online form so you can thank your legislators for the bike/walk funds (even if you don’t like all the highway funds).
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UPDATE: And they’re off!
Cascade Bicycle Club’s sold-out annual Seattle to Portland Classic leaves the Husky Stadium parking lots Saturday morning for a 206-mile ride.
You can cheer 10,000 folks on all morning either at UW or anywhere along Lake Washington Boulevard starting at 4:45 a.m. and continuing through 7:30 a.m.
Most people do the ride in two days, but some will go the whole way on Saturday.
For the first time, the 2015 route will go through the JBLM military base where “riders will not only enjoy comfortable, low-car roads, the military will display various military vehicles for a unique inside-look,” according to the STP webpage.
For a more detailed look at the route and elevation profile, check out or download the official Ride With GPS map.
KIRO recently had a good report on some Major Taylor Project students who will be embarking on the ride for first time. Check it out: (more…)
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The moment fences went up blocking the 2nd Ave protected bike lane just south of Pike Street, I started getting tweets and emails from baffled people who, rather than having a protected bike lane were detoured mid-block into the general traffic lane:
Holy cow @seattledot, that bike lane closure on 2nd Ave is brutal. @seabikeblog might want to raise a warning. #SEAbikes
— Matt White (@F_WRLCK) July 9, 2015
Somebody is going to get hurt at 2nd/Pike. No warning, closed bike lane spits you out into car traffic. @seattledot Can something be done?
— Marley Blonsky (@MarleyBlonsky) July 9, 2015
@seattledot @seabikeblog I gave kudos for the revamped 2nd ave bike lane, but in the last few weeks it has become worse than it ever was.
— JLand (@jland360) July 9, 2015
Work has begun on a 40-story building at 2nd and Pike, and construction equipment needs to be staged in the space currently occupied by the sidewalk and protected bike lane. That’s fine, so long as a reasonable temporary option is provided.
But the solution put in place is far from reasonable. (more…)
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The newest paved section of the E Lake Sammamish Trail has opened, and it’s far more than just a trail.
King County recently opened a 2.6-mile segment of the rail-trail stretching south from the segment already paved in Redmond. A very bikeable gravel trail finishes the connection into Issaquah, where the pavement starts again. The county plans to finish the rest of the trail in two segments.
This trail isn’t just about the trail, it’s also about increasing access to public spaces along Lake Sammamish. And on a Wednesday tour of the trail, those spaces were hopping. In effect, the paving project turned a gravel trail into a true linear park. (more…)
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