Seattle Bike Blog

PUBLIC Bikes now open on Capitol Hill

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 22, 2015

I just swung by the PUBLIC Bikes shop at Pine and Summit, and the crew there is mopping the floors and putting the final touches on the renovated shop space. They opened quietly this afternoon, and their grand opening party planned for closer to June, said VP of Retail Bryan Shawley.

As we reported previously, the Seattle store is the company’s first location outside of their Bay Area headquarters. With a focus on stylish and mostly affordable bikes, Seattle has already proven to be a good market for the company with strong sales online and at Ride Bicycles on Roosevelt (a Seattle Bike Blog sponsor).

The shop feels more like a boutique than a more typical parts garage bike shop. And don’t expect to take your non-PUBLIC bike there for a tune-up. At least at first, they are only going to be servicing PUBLIC brand bikes (if you just need something small like a flat fixed, they can probably help you out). (more…)

tags: 20/20 cycle, alex kostelnik, capitol hill, electric lady, public bikes

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CHS: Eastlake community looks to improve and expand I-5 Colonnade Park

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 22, 2015

From the Eastlake Community Council

I-5 Colonnade urban mountain bike park is one of the city’s most unique public spaces. It’s a powerful reclaiming of a space destroyed by construction of the elevated I-5 structure separating Eastlake from Capitol Hill.

Ten years later, the community wants to revist the park, improve walk/bike connections through the area and even expand the park further south.

Because I-5 destroyed a whole lot of space in the neighborhood, and it’s about time we did what we can to reconnect as many of the places as we can.

Capitol Hill Seattle reported on the plans ahead of Thursday’s public meeting:

Opened in 2005, the Colonnade is now in need of some work and the Eastlake Community Council wants input on how the park should be improved and expanded. An introductory public meeting on the project will be held Thursday night at 6:30 PM at the Agora Conference Center.

Located under I-5 along Lakeview Blvd. E, the Colonnade includes an off-leash dog park, pedestrian walkways, and an award winning mountain bike park. The Eastlake Community Council, which was responsible for obtaining the initial funds to open the space in 2005, has already kicked around some ideas for improvements to the park: (more…)

tags: eastlake, eastlake community council, I-5 colonnade

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Crowdfunding Highlight: MOBROLL, a Puget Sound bicycle, music, film and art festival

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 21, 2015

A bicycle, arts and music festival touring Puget Sound cities throughout May? I don’t think I really need to say anything more.

MOBROLL will be in Seattle for Memorial Day weekend and Folklife. Stay tuned for details on stuff happening as they tear through town.

Details from the MOBROLL Kickstarter:

MOBROLL is a springtime Festival of bicycles, music, film, & art that travels the vastly beautiful Puget Sound during the month of May.
For the last 5 years, MOBROLL has grown, learned, and deepened in so many ways! It all started because two friends weren’t hanging out together enough anymore, and needed something to create, something to share. It sure did the trick.

MOBROLL is different.

It is a festival dedicated to the culture of the Puget Sound. And it travels. Beginning May 1st and lasting for 2-weeks & 3-weekends it travels from Bellingham to Olympia stopping in 14-different seaside cities producing a huge array of multi-layered events.

tags: crowdfunding, mobroll

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WA bill would ticket people for driving below the speed limit

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 21, 2015

Text of SB 6105’s proposed changes

If you drive slower than the speed limit, you could get a speeding ticket. Well, that is if Spokane’s Sen. Michael Baumgartner has his way.

“The slower they drive, the higher the fine,” Baumgartner’s office said in a press release posted by the Herald. “It’s the same way speeding tickets work, but in reverse.”

So it’s illegal to go faster than the speed limit and, under this new bill, illegal to go slower than the speed limit. So the only way to obey the law in the left lane would be to go the exact speed limit.

Now, I have to believe that the Senator is simply trying to bring attention to the issue of people camping out in the left lane on highways. It’s a funny idea to give people tickets for driving under the speed limit, and he has certainly caught our attention.

The law already says you have to stay right except to pass. So if you’re in the left lane (except if HOV), you should be passing someone. But a lot of people don’t seem to get this, and this is a major trigger for people’s road rage. Baumgartner said left lane campers are “forcing other drivers to slam on their brakes, tailgate or weave around them to the right.”

Because there’s this paradox on our highways in which people so strongly expect to be able to drive 5–10 mph over the limit, and get frustrated when someone is obeying the speed limit. But at least when those rebels are staying right while obeying the law, others can pass them. That’s why people obeying the speed limit in the left lane is so annoying to so many people, you can’t pass them.

This video is a great illustration of the problem. Look what happens when people drive next to each other on all lanes of an LA freeway, then slow down to the speed limit: (more…)

tags: highway removal, michael baumgartner

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WA Transpo Bill Update: ‘Modest’ walk/bike safety boost, UW trail makeover, Eastside bike share + lots of highways

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 20, 2015

Image from the House Democrats (thus the politicized slant)

The WA legislature is getting closer to a possible deal on transportation funding, paid for in large part through a raise in the gas tax and raises in various weight fees.

As with state spending for the past generation, the vast majority of spending in both the House and Senate bills will be on highways, including new and expanded roads. In fact, from a high level, the two versions of the bill really aren’t very different, House leaders noted to the Seattle Times last week. This includes the remaining $1.5 billion needed to connect the 520 Bridge to Seattle, as well as widening I-405 and extending Highway 167 in the Tacoma area (the Urbanist doesn’t even see much time gain from this project).

But it’s a bipartisan state transportation package, and everyone is going to need to do a lot of nose holding if this thing is going to pass. I am not here to convince you that all this highway expansion money is OK. Instead, I’m going to focus on the biking and walking investments that have so far made it into the bill. Because there is some good stuff buried under all those highways.

To put the current House version into perspective, planned spending on the Bike/Ped Grant Program ($75M), Bike/Ped Projects ($100M) and Safe Routes to Schools Grant Program ($56M) combine to make up just 1.5 percent of the $15 billion package. Add the Complete Streets Grant Program ($160M) and you’re up to 2.6 percent. And while that might seem small, it’s a bigger piece of the state funding pie than usual.

Currently, only one in four of Safe Routes to School project proposals from communities all around the state will be funded. The House version boosts Safe Routes to School funding to $56 million. That’s great, but it’s not enough to meet the school safety need in communities across the state, according to Washington Bikes. (more…)

tags: 2015 legislature, broadway bikeway, burke-gilman trail, northgate station bridge, pronto emerald city cycle share, uw, washington bikes

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Cascade revamps Bike Month Challenge, now includes non-commute trips

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 20, 2015

Cascade Bicycle Club’s annual Commute Challenge has been a great and simple web tool to help motivate people to develop a habit of biking to work. People can organize commute teams at their workplaces to encourage people to give bike commuting a try and to motivate team members to keep it up all May. Because once you get in the habit of biking to work, you won’t want to get to work any other way.

But there’s one glaring problem: It leaves out the estimated 80 percent of bike trips that are not commute trips. And what about people who are unemployed or full-time parents? Could the challenge also be used to encourage people to bike to grocery store or to the park?

Well, that’s what Cascade Bicycle Club is hoping for. The Bike Month Commute Challenge is now simply the Bike Month Challenge. (more…)

tags: #unlockyourcity, bike month 2015, bike month challenge, cascade bicycle club

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