Bike Routes to Downtown

Here are a few. We will add more as the Viaduct Closure looms and Bike Everywhere Month approaches.
West shoreline route, flat and scenic, from Alki Point.
White Center, as flat as it can be, with a hill between Puget Ridge and Pigeon Point down to the Spokane St Bridge.

Alki to Downtown
Downtown to Alki

White Center to Downtown

Downtown to White Center

Pioneer Square to Arbor Heights Direct  [this is shortest route, but hilly, with a tough hill southbound from SW Alaska St up to Mt St Vincent]

If you have a fave, feel free to offer it up!

Viaduct Closure? Ride with us!

Avoid the Viaduct closure traffic jams!    Test ride a bike commute route this Sunday, April 24 at 9:00 am.

If you or people you know are interested, but uncertain, come join us and try it out!  If you ride a bike while Bertha has the viaduct shut down, you can save a seat on a bus or a car space on the road for someone who really needs it, while you get some exercise and save some time.  Any bike in working order can do the job for your 30 to 45 minute ride. It does not take special clothes or anything much else besides a lock and a place to secure your bike while you are at work.

Meet Al Jackson at Lowman Beach Park on Beach Drive, or Bob Winship at Thriftway in Morgan Junction or ~9:20 at California and Alaska at the bike corral in front of Starbucks at the WS Junction.
bob at bridge al jRide at a stay-together social pace into Pioneer Square and the 2nd Avenue protected bike lanes. And back!

Details in our Events Calendar.

We can also give you custom bike route advice, and have a few volunteers willing to be your bike buddy for a weekday morning or evening commute.  Ask here or on our Facebook page, or email us at westseattlebikeconnections@gmail.com

 

Viaduct closed? Come ride with us

IMG_0845“It was almost exactly 3 years ago that we first reported a Viaduct closure was possible when the tunneling machine went beneath it”

Three years went by so fast! Bertha went so slow. But this is just in time for Bike Month (May). So, if some more people are able to take bikes to downtown it will free up bus seats and help a bit with car traffic. West Seattle Bike Connections and West Seattle Cyclery will lead some guided rides. 30 to 40 minutes to downtown from most places in West Seattle, and the viaduct closure will not change that. We’ll announce ride times and places on our website and Facebook pages, and so will West Seattle Cyclery. Usually in May there are 1,000 to 1,200 daily bike crossings counted on the Spokane St Bridge. Maybe we can double that this year and make a difference.

If you are interested in leading or in taking a guided ride: where from? Best time for you?
http://westseattleblog.com/…/breaking-alaskan-way-viaducts…/

Joe to Move Seattle Oversight Committee

Good news tonight: WSBC member Joe Laubach has been selected to serve on the Move Seattle levy Oversight Committee!DSC04125

Here is what we said in recommending him:
Joe will bring a balanced perspective on movement of people and goods in Seattle, with financial abilities the committee can use for oversight of Move Seattle’s progress.
We know Joe from involvement in creation of safer streets for people of all ages and abilities to walk and ride bikes in West Seattle and the Duwamish manufacturing and industrial area. Joe rides a bike to his job as an accountant at a Port of Seattle shipping company tenant, often with a stop to drop his daughter off at daycare. He understands first hand the the safety and connectivity challenges and importance of moving freight and people on bikes through the same corridors.

Joe’s family has made a personal commitment to sustainable transportation, and they are working to make it safe and attractive for others, generously sharing their time and expertise.
Joe lives in and is fully engaged in one of Seattle’s most diverse neighborhoods for income, race and ethnicity. He will bring a good perspective of the issues of equity for our transportation spending.
Joe approaches advocacy, and people in general, in a friendly and cooperative manner, working well with others. We think you will find him a great asset to oversight of Move Seattle.

SW Spokane / Harbor / Avalon Safety

WSBC members Jodi Connolly, Bill Gobie and Don Brubeck met with President of Alki Community Council Tony Fragada and Seattle Chief Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang to look at opportunities to improve visibility and safety at SW Spokane/ Harbor SW/ Alki Trail/ SW Avalon Way intersection.   #1 problem: Coming down Spokane ramp, drivers in low cars turning right cannot see and fail to yield to people on foot or on bikes crossing with the light at crosswalk, due to guardrail and crosswalk locations. This is a main route by bike up to the WS Junction and beyond.

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Thank you Dongho and Tony, for spending part of your Sunday afternoon with us!

 

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We are planning to submit a Neighborhood Streets Fund grant application to improve safety and visibility here, working with Alki Community Council, Luna Park merchants, Nucor Steel, and reaching out to North Delridge Neighborhood Council. If you want to improve traffic safety at this intersection and willing to write or go to a meeting of your neighborhood association to put in a good word for this application, March is the time to do it

 

 

We are also supporters of a different grant application submitted by Luna Park merchants and neighbors to restore landscaping and make this a nicer entry to West Seattle, recalling local history and making it easier to maintain.  That’s for a small Neighborhood Parks & Streets fund grant.

 

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WSBC meeting March 2

We are meeting at 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm Tuesday, March 2
HomeStreet Bank, 41st Ave SW & SW Alaska St
and you are invited. Please come join the discussion and planning to make riding a bike a great way to travel West Seattle.
This month’s agenda includes safety at some key intersections and an update on the Move Seattle levy program.

West Duwamish TRAIL FAIL

When several of us sent requests to SDOT to fix the notorious B.I.G tree root problem on the West Duwamish Trail at the north end of South Park, we thought maybe the SDOT Bike Program would be able to fix the problem, now that we helped pass the Move Seattle Levy to fund the program.

Instead, it looks like it got punted to the city’s lawyers and sign shop, who might justifiably be taking seriously about our complaints regarding the danger of falling into high speed traffic here.

So, the bike route is cut off at this mud puddle that we could wade through on foot. This sign is thtree%20root%20with%20signs[3]e only response to our requests so far.

Would rather have it go to the arborists and paving crew.

WSBC Feb 2 meeting invitation

Our monthly meeting is this Tuesday,
6:30 to 8:00 pm
HomeStreet Bank
41st Ave SW & SW Alaska St.

Come if you can, to participate. plan. propose.  Agenda includes:

  • Delridge-Highland Park Greenway – report from SBAB & SDOT mtgs. Next?
  • Chelan 5-way intersection – report from SBAB & SDOT mtgs
  • Seattle Neighborhood Greenways 20/25 campaign and other news (Paul)
  • Advocacy Ride with Kelli Refer – report (Bob W, Al, Kathy, Paul, Don)
  • NPSF Grant appl – Juneau & Croft (Mike and Kathy)
  • West Marginal / Duwamish Trail – South Park tree root campaign (Al , Bill G)
  • Fauntleroy Boulevard Project – take position on underground wiring $ + delay?
  • your item here

Delridge-Highland Park Greenway follow up

We love the Delridge-Highland Park Greenway!  We pushed to include it in the Bicycle Master Plan update, and to give it high priority for funding, so it is great to see it happening.  Lots of good things about it will make it a safer, more pleasant route for people walking and on bikes doing everything from going to elementary school to commuting to work in SODO and downtown.  We do have concerns about safety, connectivity and effectiveness of two sections currently under construction. Brenda Mix, Mike Hendrix and David Geoffreon, members of West Seattle Bike Connections who live and commute year round along the route gave public comments at the January 6 meeting of the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board. CJ Holt from SDOT  gave a presentation on design and status, and SBAB member and WSBC member Don Brubeck presented our observations and concerns.

DSC02037SBAB followed up with a letter (here) to SDOT Director Scott Kubly with recommendations for improvements on this route, and to address construction safety on this and all such projects.  Thank you, SBAB!

Kelli Refer from Cascade Bicycle Club’s advocacy program came out and rode the route with several of us on January 18. Thank you, Kelli, for Cascade’s support.

We had a follow up meeting with SDOT staff and SBAB Chair Kristi Rennebohm Franz, to discuss the concerns and improvements that are still possible at this late stage of construction, and appreciate the time and effort taken by Dawn Schellenberg and CJ Holt to address the issues.  Takeaways:

Arterial stretch of 21st SW from angled 22nd SW to SW Dawson:  The traffic lanes will be narrowed. The sidewalk on west will be widened from 4 feet to at least 6 feet, but retaining steep slopes would make a wider path costly and grading at steep driveways would be difficult.  The east side shoulder will be paved. This 900 foot length on an arterial is sub-standard for an “all ages and abilities” route. It does not meet the Bike Master Plan intent for an off-street path along this portion of the route.  A mixed-use two way sidewalk path should be at least 10 feet wide to allow safe passing, especially when there is no planting strip between the sidewalk and traffic lanes. Mitigation to slow vehicle traffic will include speed humps, 20 mph speed limit signs and a painted fog line.  We suggested addition of flashing warning beacons triggered by bike riders with warning sign “bikes on roadway”, as are used at narrow tunnels and mountain roads. We requested monitoring of actual speeds over the next year and futher improvements if these measures do not result in 20mph vehicle speeds.

Route jog from 17th SW to 15th SW between SW Webster and SW Kenyon:  SDOT says traffic counts did not pass the threshold that warrants a signal or flashing beacon at crossings of 16th. We don’t believe the crossings are safe for children with just a marked crosswalk. We would not let our children use this route to get to Stanislo school or Highland Park school. We favor a one-block protected bike lane on 16th SW from Kenyon to Holden, closing off the sweeping free-right lane at Dumar, and a bike crossing at the traffic signal at Holden. SDOT will add speed humps on 16th at these intersections. That should make a difference!  We asked SDOT to monitor actual use by people on foot and on bikes on 15th and on 16th in roadway and on sidewalk, to see if the “jog” is actually used, and to look again at the crossing safety at Webster and Kenyon. Monitoring is planned.

This was the first time this greenway was reviewed by SBAB, which seems telling for a project of such significance to the under-served West Seattle neighborhoods of Pigeon Point, Puget Ridge, Highland Park and White Center.  The issues raised now are the issues we and others brought up in the 2013 public workshops.  We are hopeful from SDOT’s response now that the next Greenway for West Seattle — along 34th Ave SW from Roxbury to High Point and (improbably) on 30th Ave’s  “Snake Hill” to SW Brandon — will receive more timely and careful review, with revisions to design in response to community input and advance test rides and walks.

Bridge Break with Brad

DSC02065Thank you to Brad Loetel for being there where the trails meet under the bridge every dark, wet. and chilly Thursday morning, with hot coffee, breakfast treats, quick mechanical checks and conversation on the morning commute. Fixed two flats for people in the couple of minutes this rider stopped this week.

Support your local bike shop (maybe buy some better winter tires?)