Seattle Bike Blog

Seattle Bike Style Updates: Iva Jean launches new line + Model Citizen adds women’s t-shirt

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 11, 2014

If you want stylish threads that stay that way even as you slog up a hill or pedal through a downpour, then perhaps it only makes sense that you should be looking to Seattle.

Right now, there are (at least) two Seattle-based designers working on lines of clothes that look good on and off the bike. Check them out:

Iva Jean launches new leggings, trousers and tops

We have written about Iva Jean before, but after receiving all kinds of good press following her 2012 line, Ann DeOtte Kaufman is back with another line and another Kickstarter. This one’s got a big goal of $50,000, so she’s really stepping things up for this line.

Over the last year, my team and I have been working to expand our line. Using the same principles we always have, our new collection goes beyond the bike. We’ve developed two pants that are both tailored, minimal, comfortable, and durable. Our tops are both luxurious and practical, perfect for any situation.

Our garments use high quality performance fabrics, feature feminine cuts and modern details, and will be made in Seattle, Washington.

(more…)

tags: ann deotte, business, iva jean, joshua weinberg, kickstarter, model citizen

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Work on Hwy 99 tunnel ramps will close Dexter bike lanes + Is this a chance to extend the redesign?

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 11, 2014

Map of construction zone (does not show exact closure info, just where to expect delays or bike lane closures)

The state is set to start utility relocation work to prepare the area between South Lake Union and Lower Queen Anne for the Highway 99 tunnel’s new on and off ramps. That means crews need to dig up parts of Dexter Ave between Mercer and Thomas Streets starting next week.

“A bicycle lane will be maintained in both directions on Dexter Avenue North during peak commute hours,” according to an email from WSDOT’s Alaskan Way Viaduct Project spokesperson Laura Newborn. “Bicyclists may have to merge with traffic during off-peak hours.”

But this work is just a taste of what’s to come. While these are short closures to do preliminary work, “there will be some longer-term lane-narrowing on Dexter Ave N. north of Mercer St. later this spring, lasting into summer,” Newborn said in an email.

Dexter is an absolutely vital part of the city’s bike network. It sounds like WSDOT will try to keep bike lanes open in each direction when they can, and I hope they take that goal seriously.

I also hope there are plans in the works to take advantage of the WSDOT work as an opportunity to redesign the south segment of Dexter. As we reported in 2011, the city widened the bike lane buffer space following the tragic death of Mike Wang at Thomas St. But that was not enough to prevent more collisions, and there was a clear call for more significant changes, like protected bike lanes and a center turn lane.

The city said in August that it will evaluate the street for more changes in 2014, but there was no indication of when work on any changes might begin. (more…)

tags: aurora, construction, deep bore tunnel, dexter, highway 99 north portal, laura newborn, lower queen anne, south lake union, wsdot

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City installs two blocks of protected bike lanes in U District

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 10, 2014

Photo courtesy of reader Robert Norheim

The city is nearly finished with work on two blocks of protected bike lanes on NE 40th Street in the U District.

As we reported last week, the section is intended to serve both as a permanent addition to the bike network and to help people detouring around construction on the Burke-Gilman Trail and on Brooklyn Ave.

As with all protected bike lane projects, the biggest challenge is the intersections. 40th and Brooklyn was already a four-way stop (temporarily 3-way stop due to construction west of Brooklyn), and that will remain essentially the same.

40th and the Ave had a traffic signal, but SDOT engineers studied use and determined that the vast majority of cross traffic was actually people walking. So they turned the signal into a flashing red all-way stop, which should decrease the wait time for people walking and help traffic flow, SDOT Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang told the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board.

At 40th and 15th Ave, SDOT added a “scramble” phase, also known as an all-walk phase. This allows people on foot to cross diagonally, saving them potential wait time. The city also added signs telling people biking they can go during the walk phase, but to yield to people walking.

Chang sent me this photo demonstrating the all-walk phase with the message: “All pedestrian walk signal… students catch on fast!” (more…)

tags: dongho chang, NE 40th Street, protected bike lanes, u district, uw

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Bellevue endorses NACTO guide + Could they beat Seattle to building a downtown protected bike lane?

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 10, 2014

Imagine if 108th Ave NE in downtown Bellevue looked more like this. Concept image from NACTO

The City of Bellevue has endorsed the NACTO Urban Street Design Guide, joining an ever-growing list of cities in North America looking to pool their experiences and knowledge into a guide for more active, efficient and safe streets.

Seattle’s largest nearby neighbor is currently full of very wide and unfriendly streets. But it’s growing population, dense urban core and planned transit expansions leave the outdated streets screaming for modern redesigns that activate the unrealized walking and biking demand already there.

The city is moving forward, but its streets are looking backwards to an era when people walking, biking and using transit were considered secondary to cars. But a vibrant city and business environment requires streets that are safe and comfortable for everyone.

“In our work in Downtown and in other mixed use activity areas in the the city, our focus is on creating places for people that are safe, vibrant, sustainable and livable,” said Bellevue Transportation Department Director David Berg in his endorsement letter to NACTO. “It is my responsibility as Transportation Director to provide the tools to help my staff plan for, design and deliver transportation infrastructure that meets the multiple functions of our streets.” (more…)

tags: bellevue, david berg, downtown, nacto, protected bike lanes

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Lose the delivery truck: New business will haul your cargo by bike

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 9, 2014

Would your center city deliveries fit in this cargo box? Then Freewheel can haul them

In a way, Freewheel is just rediscovering what the founders of UPS knew when they started the business in downtown Seattle back in 1907: Bikes are a fast, cheap and easy way to move goods around town.

UPS has long lost sight of the power of the humble bicycle, but after their drivers circle the block in their ubiquitous huge box trucks (and often illegally park) in order to make a delivery, Freewheel’s nimble blue cargo bike catches their eyes.

Seriously. I watched it happen. I was sitting in Caffe Vita speaking with Kohler when a Fed Ex delivery guy holding a package in his hand walked a full circle around the bike, ogling it (I know Fed Ex is not UPS, but you get the idea).

“That happens all the time,” said co-founder and delivery person Dan Kohler. “It’s so practical to make short deliveries on a bike that it sort of begs the question of, ‘Why isn’t more of this happening?’”

While people in Seattle have been delivering things by bike ever since bikes were invented, Freewheel stretches people’s imagination of what cargo by bike can really mean. While a messenger usually has items in a bag or simple bike rack and may not look much different from any other person on a bike, Freewheel’s box gives a very visual concept of what they can carry. And ever-improving electric assist technology has made it practical to haul a lot of weight even up Seattle’s hills (Kohler estimates their trike can haul 400 pounds).

If your center city deliveries could fit inside Freewheel’s cargo box, maybe it’s time to stop pulling out your hair searching for a loading zone or risking a parking ticket just to make your regular deliveries. (more…)

tags: business, capitol hill, capitol hill seattle, dan kohler, freewheel carbon free cargo, komo

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Seattle PI: Man charged with vehicular homicide for killing Darren Fouquette on Airport Way

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 9, 2014

Image from an obituary posted by St. John Bosco High School, which he attended in the 80s.

Michael Jordan, 22, was going 73 in a 45 and possibly chatting on a cell phone when he moved into the right lane to pass a semi on Airport Way near Boeing Field in the morning of May 30, 2013. But the semi had changed into the left lane to pass Darren Fouquette, 46, who was biking south about to cross the Seattle-Tukwila border.

Jordan pulled the emergency brake, but it was too late and he was going too fast. He struck Fouquette hard. After a day in the hospital, Fouquette died. He left behind a wife and four children in Gig Harbor.

Ten months later, prosecutors have filed vehicular homicide charges against Jordan, the Seattle PI reports. Cell phone records show he was talking on his phone “at or near” the time of collision. Combined with his very high speed, prosecutors say he was being reckless and thus deserves the very serious vehicular homicide charge.

He was arrested March 30 and held on $50,000 bail.

From the PI: (more…)

tags: airport way, crime, darren fouquette, deaths, michael jordan, seattle pi, vehicular homicide

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