Seattle Bike Blog

Seattle Cranksgiving 2021 rides with Bike Works November 20

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 15, 2021

For Seattle’s 12 Annual Cranksgiving, let’s ride bikes together.

Rather than the usual scavenger hunt, Cranksgiving 2021 will join up with the good folks at Bike Works Saturday, November 20, to collect donations for Rainier Valley Food Bank before going on a nice, long no-drop community bike ride to celebrate Major Taylor’s birthday.

Download the donation list (PDF or JPG), acquire your donation items on your own time, then bike them to the Bike Works shop (3709 S Ferdinand St) at 11 a.m. We will gather there for coffee and mini pies before heading out at noon for an 11.3-mile no-drop community bike ride, rain or shine. The ride will end back at Bike Works at 1 for pizza and beverages outside. You are welcome to donate and swithout joining the ride. To go on the ride, please register online with Bike Works (free to ride, but there’s a suggested donation of $13 to benefit Cascade’s Major Taylor Project).

I started planning a scavenger hunt style event, but I just didn’t feel comfortable sending lots of riders out to make an unnecessary number of trips into busy grocery stores. I was also a bit concerned about trying to host a warm and dry afterparty without having an indoor party. So when Bike Works reached out to talk about their plan to host their annual community ride to celebrate Major Taylor’s birthday, I realized this was an opportunity to rethink the 2021 event. We have never before been able to ride as a big group on Cranksgiving because riders scatter to the wind as soon as it starts. So while the scavenger hunt part won’t happen this year, we finally get ride together.

Also, Casey Lougheed is organizing a White Center Cranksgiving Sunday if you are really itching for more of a scavenger hunt style event (or if you want to ride all weekend). That event benefits White Center Food Bank. See the event listing for more info.

tags: bike works, cranksgiving 2021, rainier valley food bank

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With University Bridge stuck open, here are your bike detour options (none are great) – UPDATE: Open!

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 12, 2021

UPDATE 11/14: The bridge is open!

From from SDOT.

The University Bridge got stuck open Friday morning, and it has remained stuck into the afternoon. SDOT does not yet have an estimated time for it to reopen, so it may be wise to plan for a different route this evening. I will update this post when I learn more, but you can also check the @SDOTtraffic Twitter account for the latest.

Unfortunately, there is no great detour option south of the Ship Canal for people biking or walking. If you are heading north from downtown and are not familiar with biking to the Montlake Bridge, consider taking the Fremont Bridge instead even if it adds significantly more distance. It is the most intuitive and comfortable bike route option, and those extra miles are mostly on comfortable bikeways and trails.

If you are already in Eastlake near the south end of the U Bridge, the only option that doesn’t involve going all the way back to South Lake Union is to travel to the Montlake Bridge. Unfortunately the bike route options kind of suck. The only flat and somewhat direct option is to ride on Boyer Ave, which does not have bike lanes and will be extra busy due to the closure. Take a left on E McGraw Street, then left on 18th Ave, then right on E Calhoun Street. At the end of the street, there is a trail to the left that travels along the side of the field. That is called the Bill Dawson Trail, and it goes under SR 520 and spits you out onto the west sidewalk of Montlake Boulevard just south of the Montlake Bridge.

Another option for people starting downtown or on Capitol Hill is to take Melrose Ave to Lakeview Blvd to Boylston Ave, then turn east on Roanoke until it curves right and turns into Delmar Drive E. That will intersect with Boyer at a confusing traffic oval thingy. Go straightish and make your way to E Calhoun Street and the Bill Dawson Trail like above. Or if you really want a much longer and more scenic ride, take Interlaken Boulevard instead of Delmar, then connect to the Lake Washington Loop at 26th Ave E (the trick is that once you cross busy 24th Ave E, you have to veer left and take this little alley down to 26th Ave E because Seattle bike routes make no sense sometimes).

Boyer Ave really needs bike lanes because these bridge closures require such an uncomfortable detour and Boyer is the only flat option to get between them.

Do you have a route suggestion I missed? Let us know in the comments.

tags: university bridge

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Lake City’s newest street mural is amazing

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 11, 2021

Mural at 32nd Ave NE and NE 140th Street. From SDOT: “The large piece is a Tlingit ocean monster that was used by the Shatx’Heen Kwaan and the smaller designs are Chilkat blanket sections. Artist Romel Da Vinci Belleza’s intentions are to uplift native youth and honor his Indigenous heritage. Photo: Stuart Danford”

Street murals are wonderful, and the newest one in Lake City is one of the best in the city. Designed to be part of the Little Brook Stay Healthy Street, Romel Belleza’s mural is the product of a partnership between SDOT, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the community organization Lake City Collective.

Street murals may have a traffic calming effect, but they are more than that. They are a way for a community to define a space that otherwise looks like every other intersection. Now it is special, and it tells a story.

“This is my way of giving back to other communities who respect our struggle for our Tribal Sovereignty and that we are the children of the land and the oceans we fish from and the true owners of this territory where people don’t acknowledge this,” said Belleza in the city’s press release.

The process of creating and celebrating the mural is also a big part of the benefit. It is a community-building exercise full of positivity about their neighborhood. Congratulations to everyone involved. SDOT is collecting feedback on the short Little Brook Stay Healthy Street through November 17.

More details from SDOT: (more…)

tags: lake city collective, little brook park, murals, nacto, romel belleza, sdot

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New 2.5-mile section of EasTrail now open between Renton and I-90

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 10, 2021

Segment A is now open.

A 2.5-mile segment of the EasTrail is now open between the Seahawks training facility in Renton and Coal Creek Parkway in Bellevue. The very wide trail replaces the old Lake Washington Loop Trail, which is being swallowed up by the state’s $705 million I-405 freeway expansion project.

This significant segment of the trail keeps the full visionary project on track for a major series of openings in 2023 and 2024, connecting Eastside communities and East Link light rail stations in a way that is almost unimaginable today. This trail and light rail will revolutionize non-driving transportation on the Eastside. It will rival the Burke-Gilman Trail, especially if the neighborhood connections are designed well.

The paved portion of the new trail is 12 feet wide with additional gravel paths on both sides. The newly completed section meets up with the existing trail connection to Gene Coulon Memorial Park in Renton, though people biking will continue using Lake Washington Boulevard to connect to the trail (unless you want to walk your bike through the park).

The new segment was funded in part by the state’s I-405 project and in part by the voter-approved King County Parks Levy. King County even took some great drone footage to show it off: (more…)

tags: eastrail, king county parks, wsdot

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Congratulations Mayor-Elect Bruce Harrell

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 5, 2021

Then-Councilmember Bruce Harrell at a 2015 protest for a safer Rainier Ave.

Congratulations to Mayor-Elect Bruce Harrell on a convincing win. If past voting patterns hold true as the rest of the ballots are counted, Harrell is positioned to win the Mayoral race by a wider margin than Jenny Durkan did in 2017.

Lorena González not only lost the election, but she also will no longer be on City Council. We wish her the best on whatever she pursues next, but it feels like a big missed opportunity for our city government to lose someone who has been an excellent leader in very difficult times.

Biking and transportation in general did not play a significant role in this election, though it should have. It was barely discussed in debates, and a pre-election opinion poll Crosscut commissioned put transportation at 7th out of 8 issues tested. Homelessness, policing, crime and even residential zoning placed significantly higher. Regardless, the Harrell administration will have an enormous impact on Seattle’s transportation future. He will lead the effort to replace the Move Seattle Levy due to expire at the end of 2024, a once-in-a-decade opportunity to significantly alter transportation funding in the city.

Seattle Bike Blog did not endorse Bruce Harrell, but that does not mean Harrell will be anti-bike once in office. He received a dual endorsement from Washington Bikes, and his campaign platform included: “Continue investing in safe sidewalks and bike lanes while implementing Vision Zero concepts that will help keep every commuter safe.” Though he said during a televised debate that he “won’t lead with bikes,” he voted in favor of Seattle’s ambitious Bicycle Master Plan as a City Councilmember. His name is attached to that plan just like it is on the Move Seattle Levy, Vision Zero Plan, Climate Action Plan and many other bold and progressive Seattle policies developed during this time on Council.

Harrell should be a significantly better mayor than Durkan. He is a longtime politician and pragmatic leader who responds to and celebrates community organizing. He is also very familiar with how the City Council conducts its business and how transportation plans and priorities are created and funded. While Mayor Durkan had no problem ignoring Council-approved plans and policies, Harrell understands all the work and public outreach it took to make them. He also knows how persuasive and organized safe streets and bicycling supporters can be, and he has a big incentive to bring them into the coalition to pass an ambitious and successful transportation levy in 2024. (more…)

tags: 2021 general election, bruce harrell

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Scaled back Missing Link plans could put the trail on budget and sidestep lawsuits

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 1, 2021

The Missing Link appellants have won! But not really.

The Seattle Department of Transportation announced today that they are prepared to submit a significantly scaled-back version of their plans to complete the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail through Ballard. The trail connection remains, but many of the extra elements included with it have been cut. The result is a project that costs less, can be constructed faster, and should be small enough in scale to be exempt from the State Environmental Policy Act’s requirement for environmental review.

“Completing the Burke-Gilman Trail missing link is an important and too long delayed piece of safety infrastructure in Seattle,” said Mayor Jenny Durkan in a statement. “By redesigning the missing link we will finally be able to give the bike, walking and rolling community a safe route to enjoy the treasure that is the Burke-Gilman trail. After continued legal challenges, these next steps will bring us tangibly closer to finishing this crucial project.”

The design proposed in SDOT’s massive 2016 environmental impact statement was a full-scale remake of the entire corridor, complete with new traffic signals, a realigned railroad, and a lot of new pavement. Much of the cost of that design was from an effort to win over appealing businesses along the route through a community design process. Some of those businesses appealed the design even after the community process was complete, and they have successfully tied it up in court for years. Though the project’s latest court loss was completely unrelated to the trail design (more on that below), it would likely be impossible to complete that version of the trail before the 2024 expiration of the voter-approved Move Seattle Levy, which specifically earmarked funds to complete the Missing Link.

The new design will retain the safety benefits of the previous design, SDOT staff stressed during a call. But it won’t be as polished as the big-budget version. For example, the previous design would have paved a buffer space as wide as 5 feet for the entire length of Shilshole Avenue. The trail will still have three feet of buffer space separating it from general traffic. Many of the curb bulbs and other design elements that were planned to be fully constructed will instead be created with low-cost paint and posts.

Another major change is that because SDOT cannot move the railroad tracks, NW 45th Street will have to remain a one-way street. Originally, the design called for opening the roadway to two-way traffic plus a trail, but they cannot do so without moving the railroad tracks. So if anyone has a problem with this, they can file their concerns with the Ballard Terminal Railroad. Not moving the tracks has the added benefit of significantly reducing the scope and cost of the project. The trail will still be moved to the south side of the roadway as previously planned, and a new railroad crossing will be constructed west of the Ballard Bridge.

The last major change is that three planned traffic signals along Shilshole Ave NW have been removed from the design. Instead, the department will place an all-way stop at Shilshole and 17th Ave NW, which is a high-demand crossing for people accessing Ballard Ave. They will also install new crosswalks with rapid flashing beacons at NW Dock Pl and NW Vernon Pl. The signals previously planned were not warranted, SDOT said, but were included due to feedback from the community design process. They could always be added later in a different project.

So it won’t be as nice looking at the city wanted, but Ballard can thank the Appellant group for that. Their lawsuit successfully stopped the big budget version from going through before the levy ran out. SDOT really did try to deliver the full-build version. Instead, this version prioritizes the vital work of keeping people safe and connecting the city’s busiest biking and walking trail. People keep crashing on the Missing Link, and the injuries won’t stop until the city completes this project. We can’t wait any longer.

(CORRECTION: A previous version said SDOT will file a “Determination of Nonsignificance,” but that was an error. They will file for the environmental permits they need to begin work. Opponents will have opportunities to take legal action if they choose to.) This time, SDOT says they believe the project is too small to fall under the requirement for a full environmental review. If they are right, then they should be able to get through the courts easier and more quickly this time and begin construction in 2022 or 2023.

So let’s all hope they are right, because I am sick of these delays, and I’m sick of writing about this project. There’s so much more work to do in this city. We need to finish this one and move on.

Here is a look at the new project design details, from SDOT: (more…)

tags: ballard, burke-gilman trail, missing link, sdot

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