Seattle Bike Blog

Councilmember Morales: ‘No excuse’ for city failing to make streets safer

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 18, 2022

Another person was struck and killed by a car in SoDo last week. My deep condolences to their friends and family.

These pedestrian and biking deaths are unacceptable because they're completely avoidable. There is no excuse for not creating safer streets and sidewalks. None. pic.twitter.com/F9UtryZ3Fn

— Councilmember Tammy J. Morales (@CMTammyMorales) May 18, 2022

Councilmember Tammy Morales gave a strong statement calling for Seattle to act on its street safety plans following the death of a person biking on 4th Ave S in SoDo last week.

“These fatalities are completely unacceptable because they are completely avoidable,” she said. “There is no excuse for not increasing the safety of our streets and sidewalks for the people of Seattle. No excuse. None. Even in parts of the city where industry thrives, there will be people who cannot or choose not to drive in the city. They deserve to be safe.” She then requested a Vision Zero update to hear the status of existing city safety plans.

“The safety of Seattleites is at risk, especially if we don’t make the investments in safety that we’ve been talking about for the past decade: protected bike infrastructure, sidewalk improvements, ADA compliance, and more,” she added on Twitter. “As part of Vision Zero, we have safety measures that have already been designed. I’m not interested in hearing about any more studies.”

Meanwhile, a recent update on the city’s Rainier Ave S design changes still fails to include desperately-needed bike lanes for the only flat and direct route option between Rainier Valley and downtown.

tags: tammy morales, vision zero

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Watch: My bike

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 17, 2022

Seattle Bike Blog is not a bike reviews site, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions.

Many people are searching for a bike right now, which can be both exciting and daunting. There are so many options, and it’s a lot to take in for a new rider. While I don’t necessarily have all the answers, I figured I would make a video talking through my bike and why I chose different components and accessories. This isn’t the perfect bike for everybody, but it is the perfect bike for me.

My advice is for people who want to bike around town, run errands and maybe go on some bike camping trips. All of my bike mechanic experience comes from trying to keep my bike rolling on Seattle streets over the past 13 years. If you have aspirations to race or do significant off-roading, then definitely seek advice elsewhere. My bike knowledge and style is about being practical, reliable and fun. A recurring theme in this video is, “It doesn’t really matter,” which is maybe unhelpful. If you are looking for actual advice on bike styles and components, I recommend watching The Path Less Pedaled.

But there’s just a lot of marketing and overly-complicated bike advice out there. What matters most is that you feel good when riding it and don’t want to stop.

tags: videos

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Cascade: Support the city’s Ballard Missing Link construction permit

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 16, 2022

Concept design from SDOT.

Seattle has applied for a permit needed to construct the simplified Burke-Gilman Trail Missing Link in Ballard, and you know what that means. It’s time to submit yet another comment supporting the completion of this long, long, long, long delayed trail.

Cascade Bicycle Club has created a handy online form you can use to send your comment of support to the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection. You have until Friday (May 20) to comment.

As we reported in November, Seattle changed its strategy for completing the Missing Link. By simplifying the project to focus on completing a safe and complete trail, the city hopes to bypass many of the legal hurdles that have long stymied SDOT’s efforts to finish this project while also keeping it within its existing budget and completing it before the end of the Move Seattle Levy. Voters approved that levy in 2015, and completing the Burke-Gilman Trail in Ballard was a popular highlight of the proposal.

There really isn’t much left to have a public debate about. The city has conducted exhaustive public outreach on this project in recent decades, and the response is always overwhelming: “Just build the trail already!” The only thing left is for the appellant group to finally run out of legal maneuvers to delay it further.

Under Mayor Ed Murray, the city tried to appease appellants by putting a large budget into the project, proposing a major rebuild of much of the roadway. The price tag for the project increased dramatically, much of which would have gone to elements that weren’t even part of the trail. However, even after a long stakeholder process to develop the high-budget design, appellants sued to stop the project anyway. After years of court battles, the appellants won a surprise, long shot decision based on a technicality that had nothing to do with SDOT or the design of the trail.

A separate legal action by the Ballard Terminal Railroad also challenged the city’s ability to realign the rarely-used railroad tracks, a key part of the design. Those tracks have caused an enormous number of injuries in the decades that this trail project has been on hold, and a group of injured bike riders recently filed a lawsuit against the city and the Ballard Terminal Railroad alleging that they failed to maintain the street “in a condition that is reasonably safe for ordinary travel.” (more…)

tags: burke-gilman trail, cascade bicycle club, missing link, sdot

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City announces new scooter and bike share permits: Spin and Wheels are out, Bird is in

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 13, 2022

It’s difficult to draw too many conclusions from this chart due to the pandemic (and smoke), but more devices and warmer weather generally resulted in more trips, as expected. From SDOT’s scooter share pilot program report (PDF).

Spin and Wheels have not received permits to operate in Seattle under the city’s 2022–2023 permit, SDOT announced. But for the first time, scooter company Bird will operate here.

LINK scooters have retained their permit, as have Lime’s scooters and bikes. The most recent entrant into Seattle, Veo, has also retained its permit for its bikeish-scooters.

SDOT says it selected the permits based on each company’s “commitment to safety, community engagement, and continual improvement.” From the SDOT Blog:

All three of the selected companies submitted robust proposals detailing their commitment to safety, community engagement, and continual improvement, as well as considering the needs of other people traveling on streets, sidewalks, bike paths, and trails.

The selection was difficult, and we are grateful for Wheels and Spin, two current scooter companies that will not continue operating in Seattle, for the transportation service they provided between 2020–2022.

We are issuing three permits at this time. We may issue an additional permit to another company in the future if we see a good opportunity to benefit the public.

Map of scooter trip destinations, from the scooter share pilot program report (PDF).

People took more than 1.4 million trips on shared scooters and bikes between October 2020 and September 2021, a figure that is likely to increase as more destinations fully reopen and the number of events grows. The top trip destinations were crowded areas like downtown or busy business districts, SDOT noted in their pilot permit summary. The average scooter trip was 15 minutes, traveled 1.4 miles and cost $6.63.

A portion of the fees collected from scooter and bike services help fund an adaptive cycling program the city hosts in partnership with Outdoors For All in Magnuson Park, providing people a chance to ride accessible cycles designed to work for people with many different disabilities.

Spin and Wheels will have “a few weeks to wind down their operations,” SDOT wrote. It will likewise take Bird a few weeks to get up and running.

tags: bike share, outdoors for all, scooter share, sdot

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Person killed while biking in SoDo just a block from site of January death

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 12, 2022

A person driving a Jeep struck and killed someone biking in SoDo Wednesday morning, according to Seattle Police.

The driver of the Jeep was trying to exit a parking lot onto 4th Avenue near Holgate Street, and told police they were looking south for a break in traffic so they could turn north onto 4th. The person biking was headed southbound on the sidewalk. “The driver collided with the cyclist while turning on to 4th Avenue,” police said.

We send our condolences to their friends and family.

The collision was just a block away from the site of another fatal collision in early January. A person driving westbound on S Holgate Street collided with and killed Antionio Tiongco as he biked across Holgate at 3rd Avenue S. Both cases unfortunately highlight the lack of safe biking and walking routes in SoDo, which has very wide roads with few quality street crossings and no complete and connected bike infrastructure. As Ryan Packer reported earlier this month,”Almost exactly two years before the [January] 2022 incident, on January 7, 2020, Douglas Mayhew was walking across Holgate at 8th Ave S, where there is no marked crosswalk, when he was struck by the driver of a vehicle. He later died of his injuries. On October 2nd of that year, another pedestrian was struck and killed at 1st and Holgate. SoDo’s wide streets and unforgiving intersections are not designed with the safety of people outside vehicles in mind.”

Councilmember Tammy Morales wrote on Twitter,” There are 4000+ miles of road in the city and less than 1 percent of it is protected bike lane infrastructure. These fatalities are unacceptable because they’re avoidable. My heart goes out to the victim’s family. I hope people will join in advocating for safer streets for all.”

Though it is not yet clear if it is related, the collision occurred around the time that the lower West Seattle Bridge was closed unexpectedly for an extended period of time. Anyone biking between West Seattle and downtown would have needed to detour to the 1st Avenue Bridge by biking through SoDo. Whether this person was detouring or not, the bridge closure highlighted yet another reason why safe routes through SoDo are needed. SDOT is set to begin the design process on a Georgetown to downtown protected bike lane this year. If all goes according to the current schedule, the lane should be open by the end of 2024.

More details from SPD:

SPD detectives are investigating after a driver in a Jeep fatally struck a cyclist Wednesday morning in a collision on 4^th Avenue.

Around 10:30 AM, the driver of the Jeep was turning out of a parking lot along 4th Avenue South and Holgate Street, preparing to turn north. The driver stopped to wait for vehicle traffic and was looking south when a cyclist approached on the sidewalk from the north. The driver collided with the cyclist while turning on to 4^thAvenue.

Seattle Fire personnel were in the area and immediately responded to render aid. The cyclist later died from their injuries.

The driver remained at the scene and was interviewed by police. He showed no signs of impairment. Traffic Collision detectives continue to investigate the incident.

tags: 4th ave s, deaths, holgate, sodo, spd, tammy morales

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Bicycle Sundays are now called ‘Bicycle Weekends’ + City begins ‘visioning process’ for Lake Washington Blvd’s future

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

May 11, 2022
Map of the car-free section.

54 years after the first Bicycle Sunday on Lake Washington Boulevard, the car-free event has long solidified as a beloved tradition. As was the case in 2021, SDOT and Seattle Parks will expand Bicycle Sundays into what they are now calling “Bicycle Weekends,” a series of car-free weekends during the summer. The first 2022 Bicycle Weekend is May 20–23. Here’s the 2022 schedule:
- May 20–23; 27–31
- June 10–13; 24–27
- July 1–5; 15–18
- August 12–15; 19–22
- September 2–6; 16–19
After a half century, public support has grown for making a permanent car-free space on the scenic and historic lakeside roadway. A 2021 online survey found overwhelming support for a permanently-car-free Lake Washington Boulevard. Though online surveys are a limited tool for collecting public sentiments, this one received 6,701 responses, 2,244 of which were from people living in the local 98118 zip code. That’s a lot of responses. Below are the results: (more…)
tags: bicycle sunday, bicycle weekends, lake washington blvd, parks and recreation, sdot

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