Seattle Bike Blog

Bike plan hearing delayed until May, 100+ ride for a safer Westlake

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 30, 2014

Councilmember Tom Rasmussen attended the ride and addressed the crowd

It’s official. The hearing to decide the lawsuit to delay the Bike Master Plan update has, itself, been delayed. Originally scheduled for March, the date is now set for May 14.

Meanwhile, Cascade Bicycle Club organized a bike ride along Westlake Sunday that drew around 100 people, including some members of the group suing to delay the Bike Master Plan and several City Councilmembers.

“I am committed to having a great bicycle track on Westlake,” said Tom Rasmussen, City Councilmember and Chair of the Transportation Committee. He said a safe place to bike in the corridor has been a long time coming, and that it could be designed so Westlake is “better for everyone.”

Councilmember Mike O’Brien also attended the ride and told the crowd that his concern about safety issues on Westlake was one of the first reasons he ever stepped foot in Seattle City Hall. When plans for bike lanes on the street were scrapped as part of a corridor remake in the early 2000s, O’Brien and a group went down to city hall to ask why. The city’s response: We’re working on a solution soon.

More than a decade later, there is still no clear way to safely and comfortably bike in the area. (more…)

tags: 2013 bike master plan update, westlake, westlake cycle track, westlake lawsuit

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Cascade: Bainbridge ferry terminal construction could bring cycling headaches

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 30, 2014

The 2011 Chilly Hilly. Photo from Cascade Bicycle Club

People who bike to and from Bainbridge should be ready for some changes and narrower lanes at the island’s ferry terminal starting Monday, Cascade Bicycle Club notes on its blog:

Construction will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and the lane closures will last about a month while the terminal undergoes renovations.

There have been several accidents involving bicyclists at the Bainbridge Island Terminal recently, so remember to be extra cautious and take it slow when boarding and disembarking.

Ferry folks urge people on bikes to use the bike lanes whenever possible, and not just for safety. I have often wondered why the bike lane heading to the ferry goes all the way around the line of often empty toll booths. Why shouldn’t I just ride through the empty toll lanes?

Because you trigger the car counter and screw up the ferry’s counts, resulting in “an administrative headache for some really nice folks,” as Cascade put it. I had no idea. So don’t take a short cut through the toll booths.

Here’s a map of the construction reroutes: (more…)

tags: bainbridge island, construction, washington state ferries

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After far too many injured and killed on 35th Ave SW, petition requests changes

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 29, 2014

Photo from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways: Gene Tagaban of the Tlingit Raven-Coho tribe plays a song for paddlers facing an important but difficult challenge at the site where James St. Clair was hit

After far too many people — on foot, on bike, on motorcycles and in cars — have been injured or killed on 35th Ave SW, neighbors have had enough. The street is too dangerous, and its highway-style design leads to speeding and makes it difficult to navigate safely. It’s far past time for a safety update, and that’s why West Seattle Greenways, the High Point Community Association, West Seattle Bike Connections and other West Seattle residents are circulating a petition requesting action from Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council.

You can read more about the recent heartbreak felt by friends and family or James St. Clair in our previous post. West Seattle Blog has also reported on other heartbreaks in recent years due to collisions on the street.

People often refer to traffic collisions as “accidents,” but allowing a dangerous street to remain dangerous is not an accident. The city knows how to make 35th Ave SW safer, but it has so far refrained from doing so. Hopefully James St. Clair will be the last person who needs to die on the street before the city finally takes action.

Below is the text of the petition. You can sign it online at change.org. (more…)

tags: 35th ave sw, west seattle, west seattle blog, west seattle greenways

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Wallyhood: School of Bike opens on Meridian

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 29, 2014

It’s not exactly a bike shop, but if you want to learn how to fix your ride, would like to rent the bicycle workspace or want to take a workshop on building your own bike, Wallingford’s School of Bike could soon be the place to go.

Founder Cory Gassman has a lot of experience in the bike repair world. He founded and owned Milwaukee’s Cory the Bike Fixer bike shop for 17 years before moving to Seattle recently, Wallyhood reports:

This past Saturday, I rapped on the window of the new building at 46th and Meridian, across from Cutz, and met Cory Gassman, proprietor of the soon-to-be-opened School of Bike. (more…)

tags: cory gassmann, school of bike, wallingford, wallyhood

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Get involved in push for safe streets: Meetings in Central Seattle, South Park

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 28, 2014

The city team working on a neighborhood greenway near the 23rd Ave corridor will be holding a series of drop-in sessions this week to gather community input and answer questions about the project.

Now dubbed the Central Area Greenway, the project is due to be designed and built on an accelerated schedule in 2014 so that it is ready to use before a major repaving project begins on 23rd Ave. Only Phase 1 of the greenway and repaving projects (between S Jackson and E John Streets) are planned this year, though later phases will stretch north to E Roanoke and south to Rainier.

The neighborhood greenway was funded after planners of the repaving project decided against including bike lanes on 23rd Ave itself, at least for the first phase. Plans for the street repaving project include a road diet and new, wider sidewalks. Currently the most dangerous street in the neighborhood, plans would change the street from four lanes of speeding traffic to one lane in each directions plus a new center turn lane. (more…)

tags: 23rd ave, central area greenway, central seattle greenways, meetings, south park

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Big Burke-Gilman Trail detours coming soon on UW campus

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

January 27, 2014

As work speeds up to get ready for the opening on UW light rail station at Husky Stadium, expect some significant and long-term Burke-Gilman Trail detours start in the area in coming weeks.

The biggest trail changes are part of the Montlake Triangle redesign. With the number of people walking and biking in this section of the trail set to skyrocket the day the light rail station opens (planned for early 2016), the redesign hopes to increase the capacity and safety of what might become the most heavily-used section of trail in the city (if it isn’t already).

Image from UW

(more…)

tags: burke-gilman trail, montlake triangle, uw

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