There’s finally a bike lane from downtown to the Lower Queen Anne/Uptown business district. Over the weekend, crews constructed a two-way bike lane on Broad Street between the existing bike lane on 2nd Avenue to 1st Avenue, then on 1st from Broad to Denny Way. Though just a few blocks long, the new lanes make a difficult connection from the downtown bike network to the recently-completed bike lanes on 1st, Thomas Street and Queen Anne Avenue. This is an improvement for people biking northbound, and a brand new option for people heading southbound.
As noted in our preview post last week, the new bike lane is a two-way bikeway that requires a pair of somewhat awkward turns at 2nd and Broad and at Broad and 1st. The whole thing feels a bit squeezed in, but it works OK. It certainly beats the way things used to be. Previously, people biking northbound needed to mix with car traffic on 1st, then cross the terrifying angled intersection with Denny into a skinny paint-only bike lane in the parked car door zone. But at least people headed northbound had an option. There was effectively no direct bike route for anyone headed southbound from Uptown to Belltown. The best option was to head several blocks and an extra hill climb out of the way to Seattle Center. (more…)
There’s a good chance you missed the news about this one because, well, let’s just look at the timestamp … oh no.
As part of the Climate Pledge Arena transportation plan, SDOT closed a short section of the 2nd Ave bike lane to create an additional lane for cars leaving the arena parking garage. Because nothing says “climate pledge” like turning a bike lane into a car lane. People started mounting a campaign to reverse this decision in early 2020, but you all know what happened next. Amid lockdowns and everything else in 2020, everyone had more pressing matters to attend to and the half-block of bike lane removal just south of Denny Way went through. Now the bike lane is routed up onto the sidewalk. No additional sidewalk space was created. It’s not great.
But OK, that’s all behind us. The city is beginning work this weekend on what they hope will be the primary bike route for people traveling between Belltown and Lower Queen Anne/Uptown. It does require a zig-zag, but it should be a big improvement for people accessing the business district rather than Seattle Center. This post does include feedback on the design, but we criticize out of love and because we care so much about this work. It is great that the city is building a connected bike route here, and this project required several blocks of on-street parking removal, which is rarely politically easy to do. Bike advocates have a habit of focusing on what needs to be improved rather than what has been accomplished, and that’s because the shortcomings are very important. But our city has never had a connected bike route to the Lower Queen Anne/Uptown business district before. This is a big deal. (more…)
See more charts and listen to the radio program on KUOW.
Traffic deaths, especially for people walking, are rising in communities all across the United States, and Seattle is no exception. We have known this increase in deaths is happening, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic changed traffic patterns. But why?
There likely is no single answer to that question because the traffic system in a city is a complex social space. But KUOW recently published an analysis of traffic collision data that points to a few clear factors. Local, state and federal agencies all have major roles to play in making our streets safer, and the responsibility for addressing the problem extends beyond just the transportation agencies.
“Seattle’s homeless, elderly, impoverished and non-white, especially Black, communities continue to bear the brunt of this devastation,” said KUOW reporter Gracie Todd. “And I’ll note that around 20% of pedestrians who die do not have housing.” Addressing traffic deaths relies on addressing inequality and vastly improving human services and housing affordability. These are all huge issues that are intertwined and span nearly every government agency.
One promising bit of news is that the the traffic collision rate for pedestrians has significantly decreased in Seattle. But counterintuitively the traffic fatality rate for pedestrians has increased. Seattle has been successful at preventing more collisions, but those efforts are undermined by other factors that are making the collisions that do occur more deadly.
Todd’s report highlights two big clues about what is leading to the increase in deaths: How wide and fast the road is and how big the vehicle is.
Peddler Brewing is closing in march, nine years after opening its bike-loving doors on Leary Way just west of the Ballard Bridge. Owners Haley and Dave made their bike-friendly intentions very clear from the start by dedicating a front corner of the taproom to indoor bike parking.
With the space mostly constructed, they ran a Kickstarter to fund some finishing touches and to build some hype for their opening (it was 2012-13, after all, and Kickstarter was a pretty big deal back then). One of the donation level prizes was a small plaque on their indoor bike repair stand. Seattle Bike Blog eagerly paid for one.
I found this video in an old Bike Blog post, and it’s pretty fun to watch now knowing how much the place grew and changed over the past nine years: (more…)
The Montlake Bridge will be closed for maintenance this weekend starting 10 p.m. Friday (today) and ending 5 a.m. Monday. The closure includes the sidewalks as well as the roadway.
There will be a shuttle to take people on foot or bike around the closure, but you’re probably best off rerouting to the University Bridge if possible.
As we wrote when the University Bridge was closed in November, the detour options between the Montlake and University Bridges on the south side of the Ship Canal are not great. It’s best to plan your reroute early rather than riding all the way to the closed bridge, then detouring. Perhaps this is a good excuse to ride Interlaken Boulevard.
The SR 513 Montlake Bridge will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, Jan. 24. The bridge sidewalks will also be closed.
Shuttles will be available to transport pedestrians and bicyclists from one side of the bridge to the other using a detour route. The shuttle stop on the north end is near the bus stop on eastbound Northeast Pacific Street just west of Montlake Boulevard. The stop on the southern end is on southbound Montlake Boulevard just south of Shelby Street. Shuttles will run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily on Saturday and Sunday. The sidewalks will be open outside of those hours.
I’m trying something new on the blog today. I’ve got two videos for you. Well, really they are two very different versions of the same video, which I shot while heading downtown to pick up my daughter from preschool. The first is a short hyperlapse video showing the route at 15X speed:
The second is a 360-degree video the plays in real time. You can view this 360 video in a number of ways. If you play it in a browser, you can click on the video to drag the view around. If you play it on a phone in full-screen, you should be able to move the phone to look around. Or you can play it in a VR headset:
There’s no consensus about the best way to bike from the University Bridge to downtown because, well, there’s no route that is all good. Eastlake Ave is the most obvious and direct option, but there are no bike lanes and the pavement is terrible for most of it. I can handle some bad pavement, but trying to dodge big bumps while also looking over my shoulder for car traffic? No thank you.
If you’re headed to Capitol Hill, there’s a pretty nice route via Lakeview Blvd, though it has its own challenges. But if you’re headed to the downtown core, the Lakeview route requires extra hill climbing. This is my second choice.
So that leaves one other option: Fairview Ave. There are really two Fairviews. Fairview Ave E is north of Fairview Ave N (because Seattle), and it connects from the University Bridge to South Lake Union. The skinny lakeside street is typically quiet, though it is lined with parking. Nobody seems to expect to be able to drive fast here, making it a quality bike route. Well, except for one big problem. There is a missing piece where the Mallard Cove development blocks public access. To get around this, you have to bike up an extremely steep hill, then down an alleyway that also has intense up and down grades. Able-bodied people might be able to handle it OK, but it will never be an all ages and abilities route for this reason. Well, at least not until the city builds a path through Mallard Cove (stay tuned for a post about some interesting old ideas to solve this problem).
I bike the Fairview route most of the time when doing preschool drop-off and pick-up. I think it’s the least-bad option. I’m often happy to trade dealing with car traffic for a short steep climb. It’s not quite as fast as taking Eastlake Ave, but it’s not too much slower since there are no stop lights. Plus you get some great views along the way (hey, I bet that’s why they named it that!).
Do you have a preferred route that I didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments below. Also let me know what you think of the two video formats. I’m still figuring out all the things I can do with this 360 camera, including how to edit footage. I want these to be useful for people looking for a route option, but also entertaining just to watch. I’m open to your ideas for the next one.
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
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
There’s finally a bike lane from downtown to the Lower Queen Anne/Uptown business district. Over the weekend, crews constructed a two-way bike lane on Broad Street between the existing bike lane on 2nd Avenue to 1st Avenue, then on 1st from Broad to Denny Way. Though just a few blocks long, the new lanes make a difficult connection from the downtown bike network to the recently-completed bike lanes on 1st, Thomas Street and Queen Anne Avenue. This is an improvement for people biking northbound, and a brand new option for people heading southbound.
