Year: 2015

If the USDOT video of bikes and trucks on East Marginal Way S (with riders from WSBC) does not convince you of the need for safe separation of bike and truck traffic on the main bike route between West Seattle and downtown, maybe this video by one of our founding members will do it.

http://westseattleblog.com/2015/09/video-west-seattle-bike-rider-survives-collision-after-truck-turns-into-his-path/

We need:

1. Port of Seattle, SDOT and WSDOT to require side guards on trucks to deflect pedestrians and bike riders from being caught under the rear wheels. The right hook by the truck driver can happen on any street, driveway or parking lot, not just East Marginal Way. There just happen to be a lot more bikes and trucks on EMW.  Side guards make an error by a driver or a rider more forgiving. They should be part of Seattle’s Vision Zero plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Protected bike lanes on East Marginal Way S from S Atlantic to S Spokane with a concrete barrier like on the Spokane St Bridge, with intersection controls at the terminal driveways, to make it safe and comfortable for all to drive and ride.

 

 

3.  SPU and SDOT move the fire hydrants from the sidewalk used by cyclists at Terminal 30 and 25.

Real improvements can happen on this road if we pass the Move Seattle levy, so the East Marginal Way Multimodal Corridor Project can be designed and built.

We were one of the stakeholder groups that US DOT Federal Highway Administration got involved in a pedestrian-bike-heavy truck safety assessment project in SODO in May.  Bruce Moody from US DOT forwarded video links from the project. Each of the 50 states had one pedestrian-bike safety assessment. Washington was the only state to assess safety of bikes and trucks sharing roads.  This is awfully relevant for West Seattleites, who cannot leave the peninsula to get to the rest of Seattle without riding through the Duwamish MIC alongside heavy trucks, freight trains and ships.

This first one from the Multimodal Non-Motorized Traffic Large Vehicle Safety Assessment South of Downtown (SoDo) – features representatives of US DOT, SDOT, Cascade, us, and industries and drivers using SODO streets, interviewed at the event.

Here’s the action video of bike riding and truck driving on a SODO route, starring WSBC member Bob Anderton, without a stunt double, and cameo from Kathy Dunn, and test pilot Brian Wood, who is now an intern at US DOT.

Lots of us ride parts of this route. Lots more would if it was improved.  This makes it look worse than it feels when actually riding on East Marginal from WS Bridge to downtown, but it does show that there is huge room for improvement!  Including a solid barrier-protected bike lane on East Marginal Way S between S Spokane St and S Atlantic St, and a separated bike trail south of S Spokane St.  Good reasons to vote for the Move Seattle levy, which includes the Multimodal Corridor project on East Marginal.