Safe Bike Routes Through Georgetown NOW Slow Ride FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 at 4 pm
info on Facebook Events pagehttps://www.facebook.com/events/809974059604145
info on Facebook Events pagehttps://www.facebook.com/events/809974059604145
With Duwamish Valley Safe Streets, we support SDOT’s proposal to add a two-way protected bike lane on West Marginal Way SW from West Marginal Place SW to the crosswalk at the north end of the Duwamish Trail.
This will fill in the missing link in the Duwamish Trail, a regional bike route leading to the Alki Trail, West Seattle Junction, South Park, Georgetown, Green River Trail, SODO, Downtown Seattle, and the Mountains to Sound Trail. The route serves marginalized and underserved communities in the Duwamish Valley. This route is critical for all bike traffic between northern West Seattle and Greater Seattle at times when the Spokane Street Bridge is closed to bike traffic for inspections and repairs.
A significant benefit of the protected bike lane will be to improve traffic safety for all road users by slowing down speeding southbound traffic on West Marginal Way SW.
Crashes are frequent and severe. Median speeds were in the mid-40’s and did not come down after speed limits were lowered to 30. Now speed radar signs are up, resulting in only about a 5 mph reduction. There is no congestion problem southbound due to lane capacity. There is a speeding and reckless driving problem, causing crashes and making it treacherous to cross on foot. Traffic congestion only occurs at the south end at the Highland Park Way intersection, where the backup from the First Avenue South Bridge begins. Along most of West Marginal Way SW, frantic drivers are rushing to get into the traffic jam as fast as they can. To hurry up and wait. Making more of the north end consistently one lane will allow drivers who travel at or near the speed limit to control the speed of all traffic, without any effect on throughput across the bridges. The bridges are the choke points, not the street.
For the short distance between the Duwamish Trail crossing and the Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center, we support SDOT’s option to allow parking in the curb lane north of the new signal and crosswalk. This will eliminate the current illegal use of the sidewalk area for parking that blocks pedestrian access.
Port of Seattle and Seattle Freight Advisory Board members are concerned about losing a traffic lane and about truck maneuvering at drives. We support their goals for good, efficient truck routes including on West Marginal Way SW. Our members and our neighbors are employed by these industries, and we all depend on them. We support SFAB’s request to maintain traffic lane width meeting standards for this Major Truck Street. However, we think the concerns about the PBL are not justified. Some industrial users also want lower traffic speeds, to help them get in and out of their driveways safely. Making the southbound direction continuously one lane from the Chelan intersection to the Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center will eliminate the Freight Board’s concerns about traffic merging from two lanes to one approaching SW Alaska Street. If it turns out we are mistaken and SFAB’s fears are realized, the PBL would be easily reversible. If it turns out we are correct, this would help tame a free-for-all speedway into a street that prioritizes freight for industries and the seaport, but also safely accommodates people on bikes and walking as well as people driving personal cars and trucks.
Building a sidewalk where it is missing on the west side will provide a safer, more comfortable walking route from the nearest bus stops on SW Spokane St and on Delridge Way SW to the industrial employers and the Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center. However, sidewalks are not a safe substitute for protected bike lanes in the roadway, due to narrow width and poor sightlines at driveways where buildings are built to the property line at the street. Some have suggested cutting all the street trees to widen the sidewalk to the curb. Cutting more than two dozen healthy street trees would be contrary to City policy and would put cyclists just inches away from the most reckless drivers passing traffic on the right at speeds often exceeding 50 mph, making the route less safe.
We appreciate the proactive effort from SDOT to improve safety and mobility on West Marginal Way SW. We also appreciate the ongoing community outreach and engagement to make this work responsive to the needs of all people traveling on this important corridor.
Strategies for Community Healing! We need community healing.
Please consider making this session a part of your day tomorrow, to honor the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and all people working for racial equality and social justice in America, particulary in our area of focus: safe streets. Register here.
“The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.” -MLK, Jr. Strength to Love.
“A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi to come back — but they are gone. We are it. It is up to us. It is up to you.” – Marian Wright Edelman.
Pandemic. Bridge out. It was bad. We are all trying to cope and are grieving our losses, including lives, contacts with loved ones and friends, income, access to education, and more.
But it wasn’t all bad. Some good things we’ve been working are happening. All of them due to years of work with other people and groups, building relationships, trust and mutual support. Here are five highlights to give us good cheer. Let’s celebrate the end of a miserable year.
and intersection safety improvements are completed! We’ve been fully involved with SDOT, local businesses and other stakeholders to make this key West Seattle bike and transit route safer for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike and take the bus. Thank you!
Protected bike lanes, intersections with bike signals, and off-street path from S Spokane Street to the Portside Trail are funded and designed for construction in 2021 . This is a big win. We and our allies at Port of Seattle have been working for this since 2012. It is a catalyst for increasing the number of people riding bikes to downtown and points east and north.
Many of our “Biking to Bridge the Gap ” measures to get more people on bikes for mobility while the West Seattle bridge are in the plan, thanks to a concerted effort with our allies at Duwamish Valley Safe Streets, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and Cascade Bicycle Club. Some are completed. We even did one ourselves with friends from Highland Park. We’ll need to advocate for more in 2021
Another top priority project is under construction. Fast, frequent bus service on the RapidRide H to downtown Burien and downtown Seattle is a big win for West Seattle transportation where it’s needed most. The project does not include everything we’d like to see, and actually removes some bike lane, but is adding a protected bike lane south bound for the south half; greenway improvements on 26th SW, SW Andover and SW Croft, a bike-triggered signal at SW Juneau, and safety improvements at SW Andover to the bridge trail under a Neighborhood Street Fund grant that Kathy Dunn proposed.
While waiting for SDOT to get back to us on our April 28 (!) action requests for biking to the bridges, we did some of it ourselves, with folks from Highland Park Action Committee and the West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails Group.
Seattle has been an early adopter city for ebikes in the U.S. and they can be found all over the city every day of the year. The transportation calamity of the closure of the West Seattle Bridge has set the stage for West Seattle to be the epicenter of this adoption going forward. It is going to be easier and faster to get almost anywhere in the city from West Seattle, by bike for years to come. Even with the contingency of closing the Spokane bridge to all traffic. Riding an ebike will be preferable to idling in the gridlocked traffic we can anticipate on the arterials leading to the 1st Ave bridge.
The upside is that for many people in the past few years, commuting into work on an ebike has already become the best part of their day. The pedal assist technology has enabled people to switch their primary transportation to a bicycle. People typically list several obstacles to using a bicycle as transportation to work. An ebike is not a solution to every issue but it is a solution to a quite a few and probably the most common; hills and sweat. Hills really don’t matter on an ebike. Sure you still have to pedal up hills but if you purchase the right bike they will no longer be an obstacle. You will not arrive at your destination with any extra sweat and in need of a clothing change or shower. You will even find that taking out all that exertion means breathable fabrics can easily achieve their purpose and riding in the rain becomes a minor inconvenience. As people in West Seattle are now confronted with a dire need to find a new way to get to work West Seattle Bike Connections will offer assistance to those interested in exploring bicycles as primary transportation.
In 2016 I started commuting by ebike and have been riding to work in Little Saigon everyday since. The following is a combination of what I have learned and what I struggled with when I first looked for my ebike. I always start with two recommendations; ride as many different bikes as possible to gain an understanding of the different user interfaces and spend more than you think you want to because once you own it, its perceived value will rise dramatically.
What Does it Mean?
As I’ve mentioned several times already, bicycles are deeply tied to personal preferences. Although ebike technology is a big leap in the evolution of bicycles the overall foundation remains the same as the acoustic bikes. This means that there is a plethora of aftermarket options for personalizing your ebike. The ability to tailor the fit of your bike to your stature and riding style is the key. The factory cannot design a one style fits all bike but a lot can be done with changing the geometry of handlebars, handlebar stems/necks and seats. Almost all ebikes can accept a variety of these components to the original bike frame to allow for a more custom fit. Be aware however, that there are many ebikes utilizing some proprietary accessories and mountings that might restrict your use of aftermarket components. You either appreciate this or not but be aware of it if you plan on customizing your bike. You can also change the overall performance of an ebike by changing the size of the front chainring. Once you have your bike you can explore how changing this part of your drivetrain can really tune the bike to your style or standard terrain.
This traditional bicycle foundation means that the lion’s share of maintenance and repair work is no different from other bikes and is not beyond most people. I’m inclined to encourage everyone to learn basic bike repair either from youtube or local businesses that offer classes. At bare minimum learn how to fix a flat tire. Again we are very lucky in West Seattle to have bike shops that are quite familiar with ebikes. Please support these businesses when possible.
Nothing is more relative than the value of a dollar. The price range of ebikes run the gamut from somewhere just short of $1000 to the bill for a semester at college. Your budget in this is up to you. I caution folks against the cheapest options in triple digits as it seems you need to be comfortable doing a fair amount of maintenance and repair and many owners seem to end up spending a lot of time and money upgrading the components (both electrical and mechanical). I’m writing this article for people facing a major transportation shift imposed on them for years, you should be thinking of this as transportation not a toy or piece of exercise equipment. I guarantee that you will quickly discover that this vehicle has value far beyond what you first considered. Can you conceive your commute being the best part of your day? That is likely inconceivable. People have found that once they own this technology they discover many more uses for it, grocery shopping, transporting small children, neighborhood errands and simply getting out for a day trip.
My hope in writing this is that you will now feel prepared and perhaps emboldened to explore ebikes as an immediate solution to the systemic shift in transportation faced by our local community. We are lucky in Seattle and even West Seattle to have commercial support for ebike adoption. Your local bike shop in almost every case will have an ebikes on the floor. This wasn’t true just a few years ago but the US market shifted in 2017. No single bike shop is going to have every option covered and once again my first and final recommendation is to ride as many different bikes as possible.
Resources
West Seattle Bike Connections, Advocacy and Support:
Local shops (not a complete list)
Taylor Knowles, SDOT’s Outreach person for the East Marginal Way Corridor Project, will present the 60% design for discussion. Please join us!
We are really excited to see progress on this catalyst project. It is West Seattle’s main bike route to downtown, and the Port of Seattle’s most important “last mile” freight route. This design milestone is a great opportunity for input to dial in the design so it will really work for bike riders and truck drivers.
We and our allies at Northwest Seaport, BNSF, and SODO industries all want a safe route with clear and robust separation of vehicle and bike traffic. The result should be bike riding that is predicable for truck drivers and comfortable for bike riders of all abilities.
If you can’t make the meeting, here’s a link to the project website. One more click takes you to a survey for online input.
It’s Bike to School Day for Bike Month! Lots of little engines powered the bike trains to Alki ES, Louisa Boren STEM K-8, Genessee ES, and other schools around town. There are always lots of riders to Lafayette year round, thanks to active parents and teachers – it only takes a few to make every day can be bike to school day!
West Seattle Bike Connections members helped out. Joe Laubach organized the day at Louisa Boren. Bryan Fiedorczyk, Al Jackson, Kathy Dunn and Don Brubeck led and “caboosed” the trains to Alki ES. Bryan had some awesome custom Alki slap bracelets and stick-ons for the kids.