The start of new bike racks today at Alki Elementary School. We helped parents, who met us at our Alki Summer Streets bike rodeo, scope out locations and connect with Brian Dougherty at SDOT. Principal Shannon Stanton and teacher Mr. Leeper really are supportive of kids walking and biking to school. A few parents, the Principal and a teacher or two. That’s what it takes! The kids are willing.
Yesterday, yet another hair salon was the victim of a collision with a vehicle, this time Salon 08 in West Seattle.
First question asked by media after the crash: “Was she wearing a helmet?”
Driver’s first statement: “I don’t know what happened. That salon just came out of nowhere!”
Talk radio chat: “Those salons should not be allowed on the road.”
Citizen comments: “Getting your hair done is too dangerous. I don’t know why people think they should do that.”
Advocacy groups: “We demand protected hair salons lanes”
Columbia City, August 2014, 6 people in hair salon and adjacent restaurant were injured, and the historic building suffered serious damage.
Compton, California, September 2013, building red-tagged
Hockley, England, May 2011 , severe damage
Beautiful evening for a ride, bonfire, hot drinks and Christmas ship caroling at Alki. with a few of us and others from Seattle Family Biking FB group. Thanks to Charity McCollum for getting us going!
We are part of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, and it has been a great year for the Greenways movement. Let’s celebrate!
Join our friends from around the City at for a party this Thursday. 5:00-8:00, 7:00 award ceremony
at Washington Hall, 153 14th Avenue just north of Yesler. If you ride your bike, we can do a group ride back to West Seattle.
In West Seattle, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways has supported our efforts to create the North Delridge Greenway on 26th (completed); the Delridge/Highland Park Greenway (construction in 2015); vigil walks for traffic collision victims; the 35th Avenue SW Corridor Safety Project; and alliances with other groups.
This event is free. That’s because volunteers are doing the work. If you can help with set up (starting at 3:30), running the event (from 5-8), or teardown (after 8:00), contact Gordon Padelford at SNG: info (at) sng (dot) org.
Driving 3.3 miles on 35th Ave SW from Fauntleroy to SW Roxbury takes 5 minutes at 40 mph, or 6.6 minutes at 30 mph, if you could make all the lights and no traffic slows you down. Assuming that was possible, how important is it to get there 100 seconds faster? It is worth risking lives?
graphic from SvR Design
Monthly meeting, Tuesday December 2
6:30 to 8:00 pm
Homestreet Bank, SW Alaska St at 41st Ave SW
Open meeting – you are invited and welcome to plan activities and meet others who are working to make it easy and safe to use a bike to get around West Seattle and beyond.
We need volunteers for:
All these are potential meeting topics, but even if you can’t make an evening meeting, you can offer to volunteer in something that interests you, by email to us directly at westseattlebikeconnections@gmail.com
A driver convicted and awaiting sentencing for a road rage against one of our local heroes. Jake Vanderplas, community leader and initiator with Stu Hennessey of the North Delridge greenways, is a model for calm, responsible riding. Hard to believe that he could have triggered the assault by the driver, who is now awaiting sentencing. Good to see that the courts are taking this kind of crime more seriously.
Meanwhile, same day, another person walking across a street at an intersection was killed by someone driving a car. On Delridge this time. Traffic in the other lane was stopped for the pedestrian. This street has a 35 mph speed limit. The survival rate at that speed is a small fraction of what it is if speeds are reduced to 25 mph.
We need drivers to slow down and pay attention! We all need to walk, ride, and drive with patience and care for each other.
Thank you to West Seattle Blog for the reporting and the community conversations.
Alon Bassok teaches in UW Civil Engineering’s Masters of Sustainable Transportation program. His class chose to look at commuting by bike from West Seattle to downtown through the Port area. Coincidentally, Alon lives in West Seattle and rides a bike, in addition to being extremely knowledgeable about freight mobility, so he could give them some guidance and lead them to resources. One project stands out for its analysis, graphics, and ideas. Brian Wood and Bon Provenzano joined us at a recent WSBC meeting to share and discuss their work. Brian came in from Whidbey Island, mostly by bike, and Bon joined via Skype from the north of England. Take a look!
CEE 563 A – Brian Wood and Bon Provenzano – Modal Conflicts – Partial – Final
Dress in your warmest, tweediest, and join us for a social ride, food and drink!
Meet at precisely 5:30 p.m. under the West Seattle Bridge where the trails meet, and ride to White Center.
Yes, but it may not be for everyone. Could be lot better. Here is a start at some maps of routes.
Easy grades and fairly quiet streets are possible if you go all the way to the International District and double back on 12th S. Thanks to Stu Hennessey for this West Seattle Spokespeople ride route.
A quicker but steeper connection to Mountain to Sound Greenway and Beacon Ave is via busway trail and Holgate, but it’s better westbound. Eastbound involves poor access to a stair carry and sidewalk to get up the Holgate viaduct over I-5.
Via Georgetown is possible a few ways: 1st Ave S Bridge from West Duwamish Trail, or 1st Ave S viaduct from Spokane St Bridge.
There is also the newly re-opened South Park Bridge, via the West Duwamish Trail and route through South Park, but not sure about bike friendly routes on east side. Anybody familiar?
And you can continue south from South Park on busy 14th Ave S, then along a really crappy little trail/mudpatch by the Machinists union to West Margi
nal Place to get to a little ped/bike bridge over the Duwamish at Cecil Moses Park and the East Wind Fish Weir site, and then south on the Green River Trail at S 112th St.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6475498
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6475820
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6475817
