Bellevue is getting ready to rollout its first take at a neighborhood greenway this summer, a north-south route running along side streets to the east of 164th Ave NE between Nothrup Way and SE 14th St, where it will meet up with the Lake to Lake Trail.
The 2-mile project is very low-cost, coming in at just $200,000. The project team will add wayfinding, which is very useful since so few side streets go through in this area. They will also install new paint-and-post traffic circles at some intersections and turn stop signs to face cross-traffic instead of greenway traffic. And they will drop the speed limit to 20 mph.
The nearby 164th Ave NE is more direct and already has some stretches of painted bike lanes, though they are very incomplete and are definitely not welcoming to people of all ages and abilities.
The proposed route was trialed as a Healthy Street in 2020, and the number of people biking on the route increased 160% after the project opened, according to the city’s Healthy Streets Pilot Evaluation Report (PDF).
Neighborhood greenway options are more limited in suburban communities because so many developments have cul-de-sac designs that purposefully prevent through-traffic. It makes sense to take advantage of the greenway opportunities like this when they are available, but the bulk of the bike network is going to require bike lanes on major streets and trails. For example, the northern terminus of this route is Northrup Way, which has a skinny painted bike lane in only one direction. A lot more work is going to be needed to connect this route with other major bike routes, like the 520 Trail, or to connect to and through major business districts like Overlake Village.
But hey, do you have an opinion on how the traffic circles are painted? Well, you’re in luck. Bellevue wants you to let them know via this online survey. They’ve narrowed it down to these four concepts: (more…)
Seattle resident Lindsay Caron was seriously injured while biking in San Diego last week when someone struck her from behind and drove away.
She is in the hospital in San Diego, where doctors have kept her in a medically-induced coma. Caron’s friends reached out to share a GoFundMe set up to help with her likely long recovery:
Our sweet Lindsay was seriously injured in a hit and run incident while bicycling in San Diego on Monday, April 19th. For the week since the accident, doctors have kept Lindsay in a medically induced coma to rest and protect her brain. She has undergone extensive surgeries on her brain, skull, face, and pelvis. We won’t know the extent of her condition until they wake her up and run tests, which could be days away. There are many unknowns, but one thing is certain, the road to recovery will be long and difficult no matter the outcome.
Many of us know Lindsay for her generous friendship and her love of bicycling, skiing, acro-yoga, music, and dance. She’s a thoughtful and creative entrepreneur dedicated to improving lives. The sparkle in her eye and her mischievous laugh brightens every room (or mountain summit).
Please send her your love, and we’ll post updates on her condition as we learn more. Lindsay has touched so many lives, in circles across the country and around the globe. Let’s share gratitude for the joy she’s brought to our world and hope for good news in the coming days. I can’t encapsulate all that Lindsay means to her many communities in this intro, so please feel free to leave comments about the ways that Lindsay has brought joy to your world.
This initial fundraiser is a landing page for our collective support. We don’t know yet what the need will be or what insurance will cover, but all funds will be used for medical expenses and to support Lindsay and her family with the expenses related to this event and related to her recovery. We anticipate that the fundraiser amount may be revised as we learn more, and we will continue to update you about how funds will be used here.
Hang in there Lindsay! Much love❤️
Before moving to Seattle, Caron was active in the Portland bike scene, Bike Portland reports.
Sending our best wishes to Lindsay as well as her friends and family.
Well this is an easy choice. Take the survey before May 10!
The city may close a three-mile section of Lake Washington Boulevard to most motor vehicles (people accessing homes and parking lots allowed) from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This would be like making every day Bicycle Sunday.
You can support this idea by taking SDOT’s online survey before May 10.
Seattle already has more than 50 years of experience with Bicycle Sunday on this stretch of the roadway, and the city’s experiments making it a Keep Moving Street in the past year have been popular. Seattle Neighborhood Greenways launched a campaign and petition in early April calling on the city to come up with a permanent concept for the street.
The survey has four options, but the permanent 3-mile options is obviously the best. Other options include a 1-mile option between Mount Baker Beach and Genesee Park, the 1-mile option plus the 3-mile option on weekends only and a weekends-only 3-mile option without any full-time routes.
Green Lake Keep Moving Street will allow parking access
The SDOT funding breakdown (left) vs the City Council’s proposed funding breakdown.
A City Council proposal would redirect $80 million over 20 years away from walking, biking and transit projects to finance a $100 million bond for roads and bridges.
With the West Seattle Bridge still closed and other bridges around the city in need to repair, replacement or removal, it is understandable that Council is seeking major funding for bridge work. However, the Vehicle License Fee is the wrong source because it is among the few transportation funding sources the city can invest in walking, biking and transit projects.
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways put out an action alert so people can contact City Council leaders and ask them to protect these funds:
Please support SDOT’s proposal for VLF funding.
Seattle is not making progress on Vision Zero, the city’s goal to reduce the number of road-traffic deaths and serious injuries to zero by 2030, which has been brought into sharp relief by three tragedies in the last month in Georgetown, Lake City, and Seward Park.
The proposal from SDOT for VLF funding doubles the level of progress on Vision Zero, fixes hundreds of inaccessible sidewalks, repairs bike routes, and plans for a bright transit future.
Please support SDOT’s proposal for VLF funding. SDOT’s plan would move Seattle towards our climate goals, our equity goals, and keep Seattleites safe as we get where we need to go.
The Council amendment currently appears to have enough support to pass with Alex Pedersen, Lisa Herbold and Debora Juarez listed as sponsors, and Andrew Lewis and Teresa Mosqueda listed as authors. I’m hoping at least some of them are open to changing their minds.
The vast majority of transportation funds in our state and country go to roads, and there are more sources of funding for such projects than there are for walking, biking and transit. For example, Washington State law requires that gas tax revenue be spent only on “highway purposes,” which is often interpreted to exclude transit service. But vehicle license fees do not have this limitation, providing an ongoing source of revenue for the walking, biking and transit investments Seattle residents consistently and overwhelmingly support.
Despite voters approving the Move Seattle Levy by a landslide in 2015, the walking, biking and transit promises of the levy plan have fallen far short. The city prioritized an overbuilt and very expensive Lander Street bridge in Sodo, and then ran out of money to complete the walking, biking and transit promises. As Seattle Neighborhood Greenways notes, we are falling behind on our Vision Zero goals.
None of the projects listed in the Council’s news release (West Seattle High Bridge, Spokane Street Bridge, Magnolia Bridge, Ballard Bridge, Fremont Bridge and University Bridge) are in Southeast Seattle. (more…)
As a major event producer, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Cascade Bicycle Club hard along with so many other organizations and businesses. After Chilly Hilly in February 2020, nearly all of Cascade’s annual events were cancelled.
But after more than a year, the club is finally ready to start hosting events again. The lineup includes many long-standing events mixed with a lot of new ones, all designed around pandemic safety.
“We are trying to make our events as safe as jogging outdoors,” Events and Rides Director Dave Douglas said in a Cascade blog post. So, for example, the club has limits on how many people can start in each wave and how many people can start per hour.
Unfortunately, that means the club’s biggest events are still not possible. The Emerald City Ride, the Seattle to Portland Classic and the Ride Seattle to Vancouver and Party have all been cancelled. The club’s biggest rides can draw 8,000 to 10,000 people in a typical year, far beyond the scope of an event during the pandemic.
But the limitations have led the club to get creative, launching a new hub-and-spoke style of multi-day touring that starts and ends each day at the same place. They are calling these “Tour Lite” events, and the first one kicks of near Lake Chelan April 30 (registration is closed). They also have a Gig Harbor Tour Lite May 14–16 (registration open through May 7, as advertised on Seattle Bike Blog) and two tours in the fall. For the Gig Harbor tour, people will book rooms at the same inn, and Cascade will handle mid-ride food and support.
The lineup also includes a couple Bike-N-Brews rides, a DIY Wine Ride and classics like Flying Wheels, High Pass Challenge, Ride for Major Taylor and the Kitsap Color Classic, though many of the details are still TBD.
A Seattle Police officer driving a police cruiser turned in front of and struck a person biking near the East Precinct Tuesday evening.
The 31-year-old man was checked out by Seattle Fire Department medics, but was not transported to the hospital, according to SPD. Hopefully this means his injuries were not serious.
Wow so SPD just cut off a cyclist along their wall and caused the cyclist to collide with the SPD cruiser. @SeattlePD you never learn to check your mirrors? Morons. tear down your wall, both of you are a hazard to the community.#seattleprotestspic.twitter.com/WYgnxuoyUc
In the video, the officer appears to pass the victim near the Pine Street intersection, and both of them continue southbound on 12th Avenue. Then the officer makes a right turn mid-block directly in front of the man on the bike, who does not have enough time to stop and collides with the cruiser. It is the responsibility of the person turning to check for people biking and yield.
To make matters worse, there is technically a bike lane on 12th Ave, but the city constructed a wall out of concrete blocks that infringes on the usable bike lane space in addition to closing the sidewalk and decreasing visibility of the precinct garage entrance. Central Seattle Greenways has been trying to get the city to remove the wall, writing in November:
it was shocking to see SDOT fabricate this concrete and steel wall around the East Precinct, blocking sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes, seemingly overnight, with not a single word of outreach or advance notice.
SPD told Capitol Hill Seattle in early April that the department would remove the wall, but has not yet done so.
I have questions out to SPD to see if the officer was cited and to learn more details. I will update if I get more information.
But in the meantime, tear down this wall, Mayor Durkan. And send these concrete blocks to Stay Healthy Streets and bike lanes that need them for safety.
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
Bellevue is getting ready to rollout its first take at a neighborhood greenway this summer, a north-south route running along side streets to the east of 164th Ave NE between Nothrup Way and SE 14th St, where it will meet up with the Lake to Lake Trail.
