Thank you to 
City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and SDOT!
The West Seattle Junction is gaining a new amenity for our community. A “bike corral” for on-street bike parking will be coming soon to California Avenue SW at SW Alaska St in the heart of the West Seattle Junction. More customers will have convenient parking without congesting the sidewalks or taking away any car parking or loading zones.
Bikes are good for local business districts. When we travel by bike, we shop and dine locally, instead of at malls and big boxes. That is why Junction merchants and West Seattle Bike Connections have been working for this one for the past 18 months.
As Chair of the Transportation Committee, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen helped navigate the many layers of SDOT to avoid another year of delay. According to Rasmussen’s staff member Anthony Auriemma, SDOT shared the following with the Councilmember:
”We will be issuing a work order to install the bike corral at the location agreed upon by the WS Junction Association and WS Bike Connections on the SE corner on California Ave SW at SW Alaska St.
- This location is currently no parking anytime, so there is no impact to on-street parking.
- The corral would prevent right turns on red at this all-way walk so it is a safety improvement. [right on red is already illegal here]
- This location is in the heart of the business district.
“The adjacent property is currently under construction and the developer had requested that we delay installation until after the building was completed. We initially agreed, however, in light of the demand for on-street parking and bicycle parking we are moving forward with the installation. We will be working to develop a policy for temp removals due to construction. I don’t know the specific date of the installation, but my understanding is that the work order is underway.”
This project has the support of the West Seattle Junction Association, the Junction Neighborhood Association (JuNO), West Seattle Bike Connections and West Seattle Transportation Coalition. Of at least 25 bike corrals installed by SDOT since 2012, this will be the first in West Seattle.
Thanks, WSBC, especially Jeff, for spearheading this effort and overcoming institutional inertia. A bike corral in this highly visible location will make the statement that West Seattle is not just a “car culture” (as some outsider blog commenters complain), but a community that provides its members sustainable transportation options.