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  • Alert 10/28-29: Another Fremont Bridge overnight closure early Saturday

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Work to repair the deck of the Fremont Bridge requires one more overnight closure, according to SDOT.

    The bridge will close very early Saturday morning from midnight until 6 a.m. Just like the previous closure, the bridge will allow walking and biking across the span for 15 minutes at 1, 2, 3 and 4 a.m.

    So if you are going to out late Friday or if you work early Saturday, be ready to detour. I will say that while the Aurora Bridge sidewalks do suck, they’re not nearly as bad as the Ballard Bridge sidewalks. That is a very low bar, though.

    More details from SDOT:

    • The Fremont Bridge will be closed overnight from 11:59 p.m. Friday, October 28 to 6:00 a.m. Saturday, October 29.
    • During this time, our crews will be completing nighttime maintenance work to weld and repair sections of the bridge’s metal deck grating.
    • The bridge will be closed to vehicles all night. However, we plan to allow people walking, biking, and rolling to cross the bridge for 15 minutes at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 a.m.
    • The nearest other bridges across the Ship Canal are the Aurora Bridge (SR 99), Interstate 5, Ballard Bridge, or University Bridge.
    • King County Metro bus service is expected to be rerouted around the closure, and riders are encouraged to plan extra travel time. Riders also are encouraged to sign up to receive transit alerts via text or email to learn about temporary route changes. Information also will be posted online closer to the closure date on Metro’s Service Advisories page.
    • The work is weather-dependent.
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  • 2022 election endorsements from transportation and safe streets groups

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Ballots should have arrived by mail or should be arriving very soon, which means it’s time to fight your procrastinating tendencies and vote now. If you haven’t received your ballot, check to make sure your voter information is updated. If you have moved, you can update your address online. If you are not yet registered, you have until Halloween to register online, though you can register in-person at a voting center up to and including election day November 8.

    You can return your ballot by mail or take it to a ballot drop box.

    Seattle Bike Blog did not have the capacity to do our own endorsements in this election, but we have collected the endorsements of a handful of safe streets and transportation-minded organizations. Below you can find endorsements from Washington Bikes (WB), the Transit Riders Union (TRU) and The Urbanist (URB): (more…)

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  • Beacon Hill deserves as much safe streets urgency as Green Lake

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Beacon Hill project map.Two different bike safety projects in Seattle started development in 2020: A concept to complete the bike lane loop around Green Lake and a project to connect Beacon Hill to the downtown bike network. But even though the City Council specifically declared the Beacon Hill project to be a top priority project, the Green Lake bike lanes are nearing the end of construction while the Beacon Hill bike lanes are facing an extra year of delay.

    The city recently completed bike lanes on the Jose Rizal Bridge, and the Beacon Hill project is planned to connect the heart of the neighborhood to the new bridge bike lanes as well as the Mountains to Sound Trail. After exploring a couple different options, the city decided on protected bike lanes on Beacon Ave S and 15th Ave S. This was the most direct and flat route and was favored by the majority of people surveyed.

    The original schedule had SDOT finishing up design for the Beacon Ave S/15th Ave S bike lanes now and then beginning construction in winter 2023. But Ryan Packer reported for The Urbanist that construction has been delayed until 2024, the latest it could possibly start while still getting funding from the expiring Move Seattle Levy. Pushing it so close to the edge of the levy also makes the project vulnerable to unexpected delays or changes in available funding.

    Seattle must give Beacon Hill at least the same level of urgency as Green Lake. In fact, given the city and state’s long history of neglecting street safety in Southeast Seattle, leaders should be giving projects like this one extra urgency and attention. That was the City Council’s reasoning in 2019 when they prioritized this project, as they made clear in their resolution (PDF). The resolution specifically notes that “longstanding disinvestment in safe streets infrastructure means that Black and Latinx riders are disproportionately likely to be killed by a car compared to white counterparts” and that “this disinvestment is especially notable in South Seattle neighborhoods, including Rainier Valley, Georgetown, South Park, and Beacon Hill.” The resolution then specifically called on the Mayor and SDOT to use Move Seattle Levy funds to build a handful of southend routes, including this route on Beacon Hill as part of the 2020 budget. (more…)

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  • Alert 10/21-24: 520 Bridge Trail closed – UPDATE: Open!

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    UPDATE 10/23 8pm: The trail has reopened.

    Map showing the closures including the trail.The 520 Trail across Lake Washington will be closed starting at 11 p.m. tonight (Friday) until 5 a.m. Monday morning. I suppose the silver lining here is that this time the closure is for construction of the future biking and walking bridge, which will some day be quite nice after all these years of construction headaches.

    Details from WSDOT:

    Westbound SR 520 and its associated ramps will close between 92nd Avenue Northeast on the Eastside and I-5 in Seattle from 11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 24. During these hours, crews will drill shafts for the highway lid and the pedestrian and bicycle bridge we’re building in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood. The SR 520 Trail across the lake also will close over the coming weekend.

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  • Rain, finally! + Beware of extra-slick roads

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Haze and smoke looking down the 2nd Avenue bike lane.Rain is finally here. Time to joyfully dig out your rain gear and go for a beautiful wet bike ride. Seattle comes to life in a totally different way when it rains. So if you are new to town, don’t hide inside or put your bike away for the winter. With fenders and rain gear, you can bike year-round.

    But be extra cautious of slick surfaces because oils have built up during all this dry weather. The first rains after a long dry period create oil slicks, which are especially problematic on metal surfaces like grates or utility covers. Even some kinds of roadway paint can become slick.

    The trick is to avoid turning or braking when your wheels are in contact with anything potentially slippery. Keep your balance centered, let go of the brakes and glide over the slick spot. If you have to turn or brake on something slippery, then slow way down before you get there. After a few days of rain, most the oils will wash into our sewers and waterways, which is also bad but in a different way.

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  • Alert: Fremont Bridge closed overnight early Saturday

    By

    Tom Fucoloro

    | Posted

    Heads up to anyone out late Friday or working early on Saturday: SDOT is repairing the metal bridge decking on the Fremont Bridge from midnight to 6 a.m. Saturday morning.

    The bridge, including the sidewalks, will be closed except for 15-minute openings at 1, 2, 3 and 4 a.m. So you might be stuck waiting 45 minutes or having to reroute to the Aurora Bridge.

    More details from SDOT:

    Our crews will be conducting preventative maintenance from midnight on Friday, October 21 until 6 a.m. on Saturday morning to repair the Fremont Bridge’s metal bridge deck. The drawbridge will be raised overnight so that crews can repair sections of the metal grating of the bridge deck. This work is weather-dependent.

    The Fremont Bridge is over a century old and is believed to be the most frequently raised drawbridge in America and one of the busiest drawbridges in the world. Over time, the fasteners which hold the metal bridge deck in place have worn down and loosened, causing the metal grating to shift when a vehicle drives over it. It is important to repair and maintain the bridge deck in order to prevent the metal grates from moving around and damaging other bridge components.

    Crew members will be lifted as high as 100 feet above the water to complete the welding work. This will be done using a truck with a movable arm to reach the sections that need to be repaired. The process will involve super-heating the metal bridge deck with a welding torch to burn off layers of accumulated dirt, and then repairing the attachments that hold the metal grating in place.

    Performing this work while the bridge is raised is the most efficient way to complete the repairs. This gives crews the best access to the underside of the bridge so that they can finish the welding work more quickly and minimize the disruption for the traveling public.

    We hope to finish the work in one night, but if that is not possible, we will schedule a similar overnight closure the following week.

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