Seattle Bike Blog

MLK Jr Way bike lane construction to start in fall, includes crosswalk improvements at Rainier Ave intersection

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 28, 2023

After a delay finalizing the construction contract, SDOT is planning to begin work on the MLK Jr Way Safety Project in the fall. The project includes protected bike lanes from Mount Baker Station to S Judkins Street and includes significant safety improvements for everyone passing through the monstrous intersection with Rainier Ave S.
The project was selected after a huge amount of community organizing as well as consistent urging from the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board pushing the city to prioritize bike safety projects in the south end. And while the first maps showed the project ending before the intersection with Rainier Ave, the project now connects through the intersection to S Winthrop Street, providing a complete connection to Mount Baker Station. But perhaps even more importantly, the Rainier/MLK intersection changes will also add significant curb extensions to slow turning cars and add much-needed crosswalks between the light rail station and Franklin High School. At long last, all four legs of the intersection will have a crosswalk, doubling the current number. Honestly, these crosswalk improvements might be the most impactful and important elements of the whole project.
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tags: mlk way, sdot

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After community urging, SDOT adds last-minute safety improvements to 15th Ave NW paving project

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 26, 2023

From the SDOT project webpage.
SDOT just added some significant safety improvements to the 15th Ave NW paving project before declaring the design 100% complete and ready for construction. No, the changes to not fix the horrible sidewalks across the Ballard Bridge, which is easily the biggest problem with this stretch of the street.
However, SDOT will add a median between NW 50th and 54th Streets as well as a new signalized crosswalk at NW 51st Street, breaking up a five-block stretch that currently has no safe crossings. The new median will replace one of the three existing southbound lanes, and a new northbound bus lane will replace one of the three existing northbound lanes.
The result of these changes will be a major calming of this faux-highway cutting through Ballard. They will also mirror the road layout of the Ballard Bridge, which has two general purpose lanes in each direction. There’s no good reason to widen the street to 6 general-purpose lanes following the 4-lane bridge, and we know that having too many lanes encourages speeding and makes streets more deadly.
The changes come after safe streets advocates worked hard to push back on the lack of planned safety improvements to this major paving project. Fremont-Ballard Greenways even put together a detailed plan filled with safety ideas called “Reconnect Ballard.” The group suggested a new signal at 51st and improvements to the signal at 53rd, both of which are now in the plan. Shortly after he was picked to lead SDOT, Director Greg Spotts went on a tour of the area “exploring the potential for safety-related additions to the paving project that is planned.” This project was mostly through design before he came on board, so these changes are perhaps a glimpse into the kinds of changes he is pushing the department to deliver instead.
The project is planned for construction from “winter 2023 – winter 2024,” according to the project website. More details about the latest changes:
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tags: 15th ave NW, ballard, ballard bridge, fremont-ballard greenways, greg spotts, sdot

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Eastlake group is trying to kill RapidRide J (which includes bike lanes)

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 25, 2023

I’m traveling home today after a week in St. Louis and Las Vegas visiting family, but I wanted to put out this notice since it is a top priority bike network improvement.
The Eastlake Community Council is hosting a meeting at 6 p.m. tonight (July 25) at the Agora Conference Center (1551 Eastlake Ave E) with Councilmember Sara Nelson in which they will discuss the RapidRide J project. The Board itself seems divided on it, but there are folks trying to gather support for an effort to kill the fully-designed and ready project.
This has already been debated to death over a period of many years, and it is very late in the process to try to stop it. But until crews are out there pouring concrete, it’s best not to assume it will definitely happen.
So for anyone who missed it the first time (or times) this was debated, Seattle studied all of the potential bike routes in Eastlake extensively last time folks organized pushback against the project, specifically the planned protected bike lanes. SDOT’s report on the matter is lengthy and exhaustive, concluding that Eastlake Ave bike lanes are the only viable option for a safe and direct bike route through the neighborhood that serves people of all ages and abilities. There is really nothing left to say about it that has not already been said during the previous years of outreach.
The project also has significant Federal funding and has gone through the necessary Federal scrutiny in addition to the usual Seattle Process. It is on its fourth mayor, and even bike-lane-killing Jenny Durkan supported it.
The street is not safe for walking and biking as it is today. The city’s study found that while bicyclists and pedestrians only make up 6.3% of all crashes on Eastlake Ave, they represent a much larger percentage of serious (47.4%) and fatal (39.7%) crashes.
The street is also in terrible condition. This project will improve conditions and safety for all road users, including people in cars. It will also improve non-driving access to the many great businesses along the street.
Folks concerned about parking reductions could press the city to scour the neighborhood for blocks where parking could be added. I know of quite a few with parking allowed on only one side even though they are as wide as streets with parking on both sides. They could also expand short-term parking limits on blocks near businesses. These are reasonable asks, and I’m sure you’d find wide support for them. I’d support those effort, for what that’s worth. But trying to kill a needed safety and transit project that’s ready to build? That’s not being reasonable.

tags: eastlake, rapidride j, sara nelson

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Cascade, Appellants issue dueling press statements as Missing Link continues to be tied in legal knots

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 20, 2023

Ballard Oil parked a truck near a planned trail crossing so people could see what it would look like from a driver’s perspective as part of the trail design process in 2017. After a long collaborative design process that included representatives from appellant businesses, a group decided to sue anyway.
Josh Brower, attorney for the appellant group fighting the Ballard Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail in court, put out a lengthy press release claiming victory (see full statement below). Cascade responded, likening the statement to “a baseball team quitting before the 9th inning.”
My main squabble with the Cascade statement is that we are far beyond the 9th inning. It’s more like the 90th inning, and all the fans are asleep because the game should have ended a very long time ago. Or perhaps it is the 9th inning, but the officials have spent an entire decade stuck conducting a video review. And also 80% of people are rooting for the Shilshole team. And also it’s not baseball but some other game that nobody enjoys watching.
The legal fighting is about technicalities, not about the safety of the design or anything else that regular people actually care about. The location and the design of the trail was decided many years ago following an enormous amount of public input, which was clearly in favor of building it on Shilshole Avenue NW because it had the most direct route and the fewest driveways and crossings. All the city needs is the final construction permit before work can begin. But Brower has successfully stalled progress using legal maneuvers, challenging it on any grounds possible and finding ways to keep delaying that permit.
The latest July decisions in Superior Court are fallout from the Shoreline Hearings Board decision we reported about previously. But now the City of Seattle and Cascade are in the process of appealing over the legal standing of the Appellant group, so more arguing over technicalities that have nothing to do with building a safe trail so people stop getting injured just for trying to bike through Ballard.
Summary of survey respondents’ route preferences from the Environmental Impact Statement for the Missing Link.
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tags: ballard, burke-gilman trail, cascade bicycle club, josh brower, missing link, sdot

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Roundup of 2023 primary endorsements from transportation advocacy orgs – UPDATED

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 17, 2023

Your ballot for the August 1 primary election should have arrived in the mail, or should arrive very soon. Eligible voters have until July 24 to register or update your address online. After that date, voters will need to register in person at a voting center.
Every Seattle City Council district seat is up for election this year, and the new Council will be tasked with sending voters a transportation funding measure in 2024. This is a very important election for steering the next decade of transportation policy and investment, so don’t snooze on it.
Want to know which candidates will (hopefully) be good for safe streets, bicycling and transit? Below is a roundup of endorsements from Washington Bikes (WB), Transportation for Washington (T4W), the Transit Riders Union (TRU), and The Urbanist (URB). Washington Bikes also published a Seattle City Council “candidate scorecard” based on responses to their candidate questionnaire if you want to get a quick idea of how candidates in your district stand on issues like bike lanes on arterial streets. The Urbanist also published candidate questionnaires they received. I will also include video of transportation-focused candidate forums if you want to hear candidates speak to these issues themselves.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this post left out WA Bikes endorsements beyond Seattle. I have added them below. I apologize for missing them.
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tags: 2023 primary, the urbanist, transit riders union, transportation for washington, washington bikes

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Riding STP for a cause

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 14, 2023

Why do people ride Cascade Bicycle Club’s annual Seattle to Portland? There are going to be quite a few people asking themselves this exact question this weekend at some point during their 200-mile ride.
But every year, there are people riding for a specific cause, using the feat as a way to draw attention to an issue or raise funds. Of course the ride itself supports the bicycling and safe streets advocacy and education work by Cascade and Washington Bikes. But many people ride for causes unrelated, or only partially related, to bicycling.
Below are some of the causes people are riding for this year. Email a [email protected] to have yours added (include a short short description and any relevant links).
Ride for the Philippines
From the Ride for the Philippines GoFundMe:
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tags: ampersand bikes club, asha for education, bicycle nomad, cascade bicycle club, cystic fibrosis foundation, events, friends on bikes, gruppetto cycling club, northstar cycling club, outspoken cycle club, ride for the philippines, stp 2023, stp affinity bike clubs partnership

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