Month: October 2018

Scary Stories at the Longhouse

At the Duwamish Longhouse on Saturday, people were crossing West Marginal Way SW to go to the Halloween party hosted by the Duwamish Tribe.  Nick was acting as a crossing guard. Pretty scary. The traffic, not Nick.

People are crossing 5 lanes with a 40 mph posted speed limit on a major truck route, to get to the Longhouse from Herring House Park’s parking and the Duwamish Trail. There is just a rough dirt path on the west side of the road. We are working with the Duwamish Tribe and Duwamish Valley Safe Streets to apply to SDOT’s Neighborhood Street Fund for a sidewalk and signalized crosswalk to keep people safe and make it ADA accessible.

“The Duwamish Longhouse is the cultural center for indigenous People in the Coast-Salish region – a home to our spiritual practices and lifeways, as well as ceremonies and community gatherings. We invite you in with open and raised arms. Come and learn about our culture and living history.”

The Duwamish Tribe has been offering hospitality to all comers, ever since the days of their Chief Seattle and long before. We are asking the city that the American colonizers named after the Duwamish chief to reciprocate. To honor the ongoing life and contribution of the Duwamish people, upon whose lands and waters we live.

_DSC6338The Duwamish Tribe welcomes everyone. Even space aliens.

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Herring House Park on left. Duwamish Longhouse beyond, across West Marginal Way SW.

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Please join us in voting for this project when the time comes!

 

Alaskan Way now and during Viaduct demo

Alaskan Way lanes have changed to a “long-term temporary configuration”.

Jasmine Beverly at Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program says,

We posted a bike-specific map on our website for showing route options coming to and from the Elliott Bay Trail. These routes will not change during the SR 99 closure. There are more bike options northbound than southbound, as there is now a local-access lane northbound under the viaduct that people can ride heading north. The main southbound options between Yesler Way and South King Street are the sidewalk on the edge of the water, or riding in the general traffic lanes.

The new Alaskan Way alignment that we instituted earlier this month is a long-term temporary configuration that allows Alaskan Way to remain open while we remove the viaduct nearby. There will not be any bike lane as part of this temporary configuration. After we remove the viaduct, the City of Seattle will rebuild the waterfront with a new Alaskan Way that includes a protected bike lane.

Ride in the Rain!

Join our Peninsula Pedal Pushers team for the WA Bikes “Ride in the Rain Challenge”!

Our team did great last year at motivating each other to keep riding into fall and winter. Just sign up and ride at least 10 days in November, logging your trips at LoveToRide.net. New riders encouraged!

If this team fills up, we can recruit another team captain and start another team.

We didn’t pay the fat fee to be listed as an “organization”, so just look for team name Peninsula Pedal Pushers.

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Language lesson…

Pat Thompson, inspirational director of the YES Foundation of White Center, talks about what it means for children and parents who speak a language other than English at home, and what God’s first language is. 

What’s that got to do with bikes???

“The Major Taylor Bike Club helps us to be fluent in the language of Love. Somehow, and I’m not exactly sure how, pedaling miles and miles and miles together, especially when many of those miles are uphill, translates into commitment and trust. Conversations about hydration and flat tires turn to sharing about struggles at school, relationship issues at home and dreams about the future.”

Thank you Whitney for volunteering to be a ride leader for Highline Major Taylor BC!  Tamara and Theresa, too!

 

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WSBC November 6 meeting

Our monthly meeting is coming up. You are invited!
Tuesday, November 6, 6:30 to 8:00 pm.
Neighborhood House
6400 Sylvan Way SW
in High Point. North side entry.

Come join us to discuss and plan

  • Ride in the Rain Challenge
  • Neighborhood Street Fund applications for Duwamish Longhouse; Sylvan Way; Brandon St.
  • Next steps for Delridge corridor and RapidRide H
  • Updates on SDOT projects
  • Race and social justice – our group and our communities
  • [your item here]

a new critical MASS

There’s a new transportation coalition in town, and we are in it:
Move All Seattle Sustainably, or MASS.
 
An open letter to Mayor and Council on citywide priorities includes our 2018 top priority:
 
“Delridge Way multimodal corridor project. RapidRide H should be an example of how we can improve transit, walking, and biking holistically. Ask – leadership: Ensure the project makes it comfortable and convenient to walk and bike along the Delridge corridor in addition to increasing the transit level of service.”
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Vote for Clean Air: Vote YES on I-1631

All Seattle Neighborhood Greenways coalition groups, including West Seattle Bike Connections, and WA Bikes voted to endorse Initiative 1631!The next step is the one that really counts: Your vote on your ballot.

As Gordon at SNG says,
“It’s a natural fit as clean air and a stable climate for our families and future generations is one reason many of us, are dedicated to this work of transforming our streets and transportation system. What’s more, this initiative does more than just put a price on pollution, it will likely invest in clean transportation projects that we care about here in Seattle. ”

the campaign is leaning heavily on a strategy of turning out the vote here in Seattle. That means we are ideally situated to talk to our neighbors about why this ballot measure is important. I encourage all of us to have those conversations over the next few weeks, because person to person conversations have been proven to be the most effective way to win more votes.

Can you spend a few hours canvassing? There is canvassing happening in neighborhoods around the city every day,

Spokane Street Bridge Bike Counts

2018 bike count is +2.9% above 2017 for year-to-date, despite a wet winter/spring, closure of the bridge for over a week for emergency repairs in June, and then the forest fire smoke air quality alerts.   If you look at the data in detail, a few things jump out:

  • Weekday trips far exceed weekend trips. These mostly are working bike riders.
  • Weather and light/darkness during commute hours are by far the biggest factors.
  • Alaskan Way Viaduct closures cause a spike. See May 2016.
  • Spokane Street Bridge emergency closures cause a dip. See June 2018.
  • We don’t yet have the key safe routes to downtown to really grow the numbers yet.  Fauntleroy, Avalon, Delridge, and East Marginal Way should be the game changers.

SDOT data. Our graph.

Delridge Greenway connections progress

SDOT is proceeding now with suggestions we made during the Delridge Transit + Multimodal Corridor planning.  There’s a good Neighborhood Greenway on 26th Ave SW from Andover to SW Juneau, parallel to Delridge and just two blocks west. It’s at basically the same grade as Delridge Way, with less traffic, and connects to the Spokane Street Bridge and Alki Trail.  There is also the Delridge-Highland Park Greenway up on Pigeon Point, along Puget Ridge to Highland Park and White Center via 21st Ave SW – SW Myrtle – 1 7th Ave. That one needs some improvements, and was not connected to the 26th Ave Greenway.

Now it is connected!  SDOT has installed speed humps on Juneau between 26th Ave and SW Croft Place, and along Croft, which angles up the hill for a less steep way to go from 21st Ave down to Delridge Way.

A crew was out yesterday installing bike detectors on Juneau to trigger the stop light at Delridge.  One of them asked me as I stopped at the light if I ride this way often. And he gave a nice unsolicited explanation of the bike detectors, here for you, too.     short video

SDOT agreed to a bunch of our suggestions to improve the Delridge-Highland Park Greenway to make it a viable compromise route in lieu of northbound protected bike lanes on the south half of Delridge Way.  It’s good to see work proceeding even before the final plans for the RapidRide H line are set.  Good bike and walking c0nnections are vital for people to safely get to and from the farther-apart RapidRide bus stops. It is time for safe routes to ride, walk and roll in Delridge.

New speed humps on SW Juneau St from Croft Place to Delridge Way SW.
New speed humps on SW Croft Place.
New speed humps on SW Juneau St from 26th Ave SW to SW Croft Place.
SDOT crew working on greenway improvements on SW Juneau St at Delridge Way SW
Bike detector to trigger the stop light on SW Juneau St at Delridge Way SW.

SPD says “Pay Attention!!”

Seattle Police say “The most important overall advice for any kind of pedestrian and traffic safety is PAY ATTENTION!!”

As bike riders, we know how important it is for safety to focus on our surroundings. As drivers, feeling safe, we know distractions can be so tempting.

From Jennifer Danner, SW Precinct:
“With children back is school, it is crucial to be reminded about general traffic and pedestrian safety as well!
“Pedestrians must be very mindful of how they are utilizing the street, sidewalks and crosswalks. Children should be reminded to be extra cautious when walking to and from school. Motorists and cyclists must pay attention to traffic conditions and all pedestrians. The most important overall advice for any kind of pedestrian and traffic safety is PAY ATTENTION!!
“Drivers, please be aware that with school back in session, children will be walking to and from schools and transit stops. As autumn approaches there will be less daylight; please pay extra attention, as children may be out early in the morning/late in the evening and may be more difficult to see.”