Month: October 2019

Stand with the Duwamish Tribe

Especially today, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.

To turn our words into action, we are actively supporting the Duwamish Tribe’s  for a signalized, ADA accessibile crossing of West Marginal Way SW at the Duwamish Longhouse. Please call or email City Council members this week asking:

Please add funding to the 2020 budget for the Duwamish Tribe’s Safety & Accessibility Project to create a safe and ADA-accessible crossing of West Marginal Way SW from the Longhouse to the Duwamish Trail and the Duwamish River parks and parking.

Lisa.Herbold@seattle.gov, Lorena.Gonzalez@seattle.gov, Mike.OBrien@seattle.gov, Teresa.Mosqueda@seattle.gov,
bruce.harrell@seattle.gov, sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov, kshama.sawant@seattle.gov, debora.juarez@seattle.gov, abel.pacheco@seattle.gov

You can also show your support by attending the City Council budget hearing on October 22 at 5:30 pm at Seattle City Hall, and standing with the Duwamish Tribe to make this request.

Time to vote!

2019 Ballots are coming. Your vote will count.

WSBC endorses NO on I-976

I-976 is the Eyman-sponsored initiative to reduce vehicle license fees. It would gut funding for transit and road projects.

City Council District 1

WSBC does not endorse individual candidates. We encourage everyone to look at the records and positions of candidates, paying attention to who is endorsing and funding their campaigns.

For City Council District 1 (West Seattle and South Park), here are some endorsements relevant to bike, pedestrian safety and other transportation issues:

Low Bridge Counts High

Bike Counts on the Spokane Street Bridge: +5.8% more bike trips this year through September, compared to same time in 2018.  2018 ended at 8.6% above 2017.

Seattle Bike Blog has a post today about the awesome increases at the Fremont Bridge. Counts from West Seattle confirm the trend.

Ridership would surely be even higher if we were not contending this year with

  • the Avalon Way paving project;
  • riding through the middle of a large homeless encampment on an isolated stretch of trail (now cleared);
  • the messy and confusing Alaskan Way viaduct demo work;
  • lack of progress on bike master plan implementation.

On the plus side this year:

  • good weather in January (offset by ice and snow in February) and a summer without smoke;
  • traffic congestion, including crowded buses slowed by Viaduct demo impacts;
  • increasing popularity of e-bikes.
  • What  else?

First Annual West Seattle Cranksgiving

cranksgiving

We think it’s time for West Seattle to celebrate it’s own Cranksgiving this year. Meet at the West Seattle Food Bank (3419 SW Morgan St) on November 16th at 10am with all your cargo hauling accessories on your bike and few dollars in your wallet and we will have a grand time riding all over West Seattle gathering food to donate to the food bank. (lists provided day of event)

If you have your own team of ~4 that’s great, if not we will make teams up from the singles and pairs that register. Teams will strategize and then ride off to collect as much food from as many different designated stores as they choose. Prizes will be awarded for the highest points scored on our very subjective scale and perhaps in recognition of other notable achievements of the day. After party will happen at a location TBD.

Fill out the form below to register so we have an idea how many to plan for. [Form removed. This event is in the past.]

26th SW Greenway? or Speedway?

Is it the 26th Ave SW Neighborhood Greenway?
Or the Delridge Alternate Speedway?
This is a two-way residential street. It was West Seattle’s first neighborhood greenway, intended to be low speed with low volumes, safe for walking and biking, with features to discourage cars from using it instead of the parallel arterial. Not working!
This photo, on a typical morning this week, shows car drivers trying to pass a solid backup of other drivers, endangering oncoming bike riders and everyone else. The residents of the area are fed up, whether walking, riding or driving in their neighborhood.
 
We’ve been asking SDOT for a traffic diverter at 26th SW & SW Genesee to discourage the northbound cut-through traffic to Andover. So far, unsuccessfully.
 
If you agree, please send SDOT and our elected officials this message:
Cut-through traffic is out of control on 26th Avenue SW.  It’s not safe to walk across the street, bike, or back a car out of a driveway. This street is no longer working as a low speed, low volume Neighborhood Greenway.  Instead, it is has become a speedway for drivers avoiding Delridge Way traffic.  We need a traffic diverter at 26th SW & SW Genesee to keep northbound car drivers from cutting through on 26th SW to SW Andover. 
Please include this diverter as part of the RapidRide H Multimodal Corridor project’s 26th Ave SW Greenway improvements.
DelridgeTransit@seattle.gov
Lisa.Herbold@seattle.gov
Lorena.González@seattle.gov
Mike.OBrien@seattle.gov
Jenny.Durkan@seattle.gov
Sam.Zimbabwe@seattle.gov
Monica.DeWald@seattle.gov
Screen Shot 2019-10-04 at 9.41.59 AM
A diverter preventing northbound vehicle traffic, except emergency vehicles, on the 58th Ave NW Greenway at 15th Ave NW.