The South Interim Segment A trail route, from King County Parks.
King County Parks is working through design for building and improving an interim trail connecting the Black Diamond Open Space to SE Kent-Kangley Road in Maple Valley, and they are seeking feedback via a short online survey. Responses are due January 20.
The Green to Cedar Rivers Trail should eventually connect to the Green River to the south, including a connection to SE Green Valley Road and Flaming Geyser State Park. It should then travel through Black Diamond and Maple Valley before connecting to the Cedar River Trail near SR-18. Parts of this route already exist to varying levels of usability, but the full build out is not yet fully funded.
Improvements to the northern section of the trail, from Kent-Kangley Rd to the Cedar River Trail, have been put on pause in lieu of building an interim trail on the southern section. This makes a lot of sense because the southern connection currently ends abruptly at a rail crossing north of Black Diamond.
The interim trail will be 12 feet wide and paved using very bikeable hard packed gravel. The trail will also include “safe crossings at intersections,” according to King County. But perhaps most importantly, they will build a bridge over the rail line to connect Maple Valley and Black Diamond.
Yesterday, a flat tire deflated our plans. Then this morning, the chain broke on the way to preschool drop-off. I have clearly angered the bike gods, and must repent.
Oh, great Velocideity, your judgment is fair and righteous!
Forgive me my trespasses and restore your bountiful graces. Lead me not into the glass shards and shelter me from thine rain. If you bless my humble wheel, I shall cycle afar in your name!
UPDATE: My prayer was rejected. In fact, it only made Velocideity more angry. My rear wheel was stricken with two completely separate holes from two different pieces of glass just hours after posting this. I am filled with regret and fear.
The Seattle Martin Luther King Jr. Organizing Coalition will host its 40th annual Martin Luther King, Jr., event today. The rally starts at 11 a.m. in the Garfield High School Gym, and the march begins at 12:30 p.m. in front of Garfield High School. More details from the Coalition:
After three weeks stuck in its waterway-priority position, the Spokane Street Swing Bridge to West Seattle will be usable again this afternoon. SDOT noted in an announcement that it should be fully open by 2 p.m. today (Friday).
This is fantastic news for people who have faced a very long detour via the 1st Avenue Bridge several miles south in Georgetown ever since the swing bridge broke during the winter storm in the days before Christmas.
Sadly, this also means the end of the 1st Ave S emergency bike lanes, which made biking between Georgetown and Spokane Street safe and comfortable for the first time in modern memory. I hope the city gathered useful data from the experiment regarding its impact (or lack thereof) on traffic, vehicle speeds and bike volumes. Seattle Bike Blog has argued for bike lanes on 1st Ave S since the development of the Bicycle Master Plan in 2012–14, and having the opportunity to experience them only solidifies their potential. SDOT staff and Mayor Bruce Harrell deserve a lot of credit for building something quite extraordinary in just a few days. A lot of people worked hard, including during the holidays, to make that happen.
You still have one final evening to go ride the lanes yourself before crews remove them Saturday. They make Georgetown and other 1st Ave businesses feel so much more accessible and connected.
The city will not be removing the Duwamish Trail connection along the west side of West Marginal Way SW, which connected the Alki Trail near the Spokane Street Bridge to the Duwamish Longhouse and the Duwamish Trail. This trail connection has been in the works for years and has already gone through a lot of public outreach. It was nearly implemented in the weeks after the upper West Seattle Bridge closure, but the Jenny Durkan administration chose to delay it. So while this Spokane Street Bridge closure has been rough, a connected Duwamish Trail is an excellent parting gift.
People have been crashing on the train tracks consistently for decades as they try to navigate through industrial Ballard after the abrupt end of the Burke-Gilman Trail, and a group of eight injured riders filed a lawsuit against the city last year (full disclosure: Washington Bike Law advertises on Seattle Bike Blog but had no input into this reporting). There are many hazards in the Missing Link area, but the tracks under the Ballard Bridge are the worst. Many people have been seriously injured — left with everything from broken bones to head injuries — after crashing while trying to cross the tracks, which have wide and uneven gaps on either side of them that can surprise riders by grabbing their tires or otherwise knocking them off-balance.
The safest way to cross the tracks is to move across head-on at a right angle rather than trying to merge across them, and SDOT has redesigned the marked biking paths several times in an effort to encourage right angle crossings. The problem is that the designed turn is too sharp, so people cut the corners to make it more comfortable. So the department’s short-term solution was to … dig gravel pits?
The idea was to “make the correct route more apparent,” according to an SDOT spokesperson (see full statement below). Since people kept crossing at shallow angles within unevenly paved areas rather than follow the designated bike routing, the department’s hope was that the gravel would deter people from riding through those areas. But it didn’t work.
I observed people using the new routing for about 20 minutes on a surprise sunny day Tuesday, and a majority of riders in both directions ended up in the new gravel pits. I would estimate that only about 1 in 5 riders followed SDOT’s designed route, and at least one of them seemed unsteady while making the sharp and slow turns necessary to stay within the lines. There was no clear consensus on the best route through the area, and I saw people do all kinds of things. I sketched out a few of the more common choices on this SDOT diagram showing the interim design concept:
General purpose traffic detour map. Crews will maintain a walking and biking paths through the construction area. Map from SPU.
Seattle’s least-discussed megaproject is coming to Stone Way in Fremont/Wallingford, but crews have plans to maintain space for biking and walking.
Seattle Public Utilities’ Ship Canal Water Quality Project is estimated to total $570 million, a cost that could still increase before it is complete, the Seattle Times reported. The project will build large new tunnels and catchment basins designed to prevent “combined sewer overflows” that happen when rainwater overwhelms the sewer system and sends raw sewage into Puget Sound. Eww.
Part of the project involves a new facility at 35th Ave N and Interlake near the Evo bike shop as well as a new pipe traveling from that facility under 35th and Stone Way. These streets will be closed to general traffic, but a bikeway and sidewalk will remain open along the east side of Stone Way throughout construction. An SPU project manager reached out to alert to Seattle Bike Blog to the upcoming work (thanks, Stephanie!). Construction is set to begin as early as January 30. Details from SPU:
SPU’s contractor will periodically close the north portion of N 34th St, near the intersection of Stone Way. These closures may make the bike lanes on Stone Way N inaccessible from the south. Cyclists will be asked to detour to other north-south streets or dismount bicycles to travel along crosswalks and sidewalks around the work area. Our contractor will try to schedule N 34th St closures at night, but some daytime closures of N 34th St will be necessary. We will continue to share more information about cycling detours on our project website and email updates.
Despite being such a large project largely located along the Burke-Gilman Trail route, SPU has really set the standard for bike detours. A few years ago, they detoured the trail in Fremont, and it was reliable and comfortable. This is also the project that has been responsible for the trail detour near the Ballard Fred Meyer. Obviously, it’s not as nice as having the trail open, but it works and is reliable. So I’m hopeful the Stone Way detour will meet the same standard.
The biggest impact will likely be for people who bike on the detour route, which follows N 40th Street, Wallingford Ave N and N 34th Street. Expect big increases in traffic there. In fact, it might even make sense to take Stone Way if it ends up having lower traffic thanks to this project. Also be ready for increased traffic on other nearby side streets like Woodland Park Ave N, N 36th Street (SPU/SDOT might want to protect the Troll from detour traffic) and Interlake Ave N.
Celebrate the Buck Moon by adorning your bicycle with blinky & twinkly lights. It’s the height of summer – warm nights and easy riding with friends. Saturday July 20 Parking Lot at Mercer St &[…]
Meet up in the center of the park at 7ish. Leave at 730. Every Thursday from now until forever rain or shine. Bikes, beers, illegal firepits, nachos, bottlerockets, timetraveling, lollygagging, mechanicals, good times.ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
Details from Seattle Parks: On scheduled weekends from May to September, a portion of Lake Washington Boulevard will be closed to motorized vehicles from 10 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. “Seattle Parks and Recreation[…]
Details from Seattle Parks: On scheduled weekends from May to September, a portion of Lake Washington Boulevard will be closed to motorized vehicles from 10 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. “Seattle Parks and Recreation[…]
Meet up in the center of the park at 7ish. Leave at 730. Every Thursday from now until forever rain or shine. Bikes, beers, illegal firepits, nachos, bottlerockets, timetraveling, lollygagging, mechanicals, good times.ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
