Month: July 2015

35th Ave SW Safety Corridor – Except for People on Bikes

35th Ave SW Safety Corridor meeting tonight – good to be there with West Seattle Bike Connections members Theresa Beaulieu, Kathy Dunn, Bill Gobie, Keith Newham, Don Brubeck.

We support the safety improvements planned for 35th, but only if it satisfies Seattle’s “complete streets” policy and ordinance, requiring accomodation for all modes of transportation. We’ve been pushing for this project since 2012, working with Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Highpoint neighbors, SDOT, and most recently lobbying with Cascade Bicycle Club to support the project.

35th Ave SW is identified in the Seattle Bicycle Master Plan as a city-wide network route for protected bike lanes on 35th, with parallel greenway routes on 34th SW and on 35th/36th SW.  The 35th Ave SW Safety Corridor Project now says there will be a “study” of parallel greenways in 2016, a year after actually doing the work on 35th from SW Roxbury to SW Willow. No comittment to actually implementing the greenway. No comittment to even “study” the 36th/37th greenway that could get you north of Graham to WS Junction and points north and west.  Not good enough!  The work on 35th should not proceed without the parallel greenways!

We expect real action, not studies, not lip service.

So far, how many miles of the citywide (“highest priority for investment”)  network included in the bicycle master plan have been designed or built in West Seattle?

a. 10 miles

b. 1 mile

c. 0.1 mile

d. 100 yards

e. none.

If you answered “e. none”, you are correct!

 

35th Ave SW Safety – Public Meetings 7/15 & 7/16

Please join your neighbors at SDOT public meetings this week to support safety improvements on one of Seattle’s most dangerous and crash-prone streets – “I-35”.

  • 294 collisions, 128 injuries and 2 fatalities in the last three years
  • 5 fatalities in the last ten years

 

Wednesday, July 15, 2015
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Neighborhood House – Room 207
6400 Sylvan Way SW

Thursday, July 16, 2015
6:00 PM to 7:45 PM
Southwest Branch Seattle Public Library
9010 35th Avenue SW

We want to see SDOT and SPD succeed in reducing speeds, making it safer for pedestrians and bike riders cross at intersections and for drivers to make left turns. We ask for parallel greenway routes on 34th, and 35th/36th to link homes to neighborhood destinations and commute routes, and a signal at 35th & Graham, to end deaths and injuries.

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Driving from Roxbury to Fauntleroy on 35th at 35 mph saves less than 60 seconds over driving it a 30 mph.  Driving at 30 saves lives.

SDOT will brief the community about plans developed after input from meetings earlier in the year. Your support is needed!  If you cannot attend a meeting, please consider sending a message of support to City Council, Mayor Murray, and Jim Curtin at 206-684-8874 or via e-mail at jim.curtin@seattle.gov

West Seattle Little STP – We Made It!

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~25 people and 1 dog finished the ride from SW Seattle St to SW Portland St, with an unexpected welcome from a mother and daughter who live at the corner and treated us to ice cold otter pops!

We had a one year old who promptly fell asleep on dad’s bike; a 4 year old who rode the flats and downhills on his own, and had mom strap his bike on hers while he rode in a seat on dad’s bike; a 6 year old who rode the whole thing; a family with three kids, all accomplished riders, who rode from Queen Anne to ride with us; and capable young, middle-aged and older adults, some on their first organized ride, and some veterans of many “big STP’s”.  Pretty much all ages and abilities on this one.DSC09496

Most of us rode back to SummerFest and Green Life at the Junction, where Stu and Eric from DIY Bikes and Morgan Scherer from FamilyBike Seattle welcomed us to the festival.

Bridge bike counts up!

June2015 bridge countBike count on Spokane St Bridge in June was up 13% over June 2014, and up 12.4% for the year to date over same period last year.
It is also obvious from daily data that a lot of people skipped work on Fridays! Or took 1st Ave Bridge home, or car or bus. Click link at top right of our home page to see.

SDOT data, our graph.