Author: admin

Freight Advisory Board news – 9/17/13

What? Isn’t this a bike blog? Why freight? Because…

1. We live on a peninsula. To get to Seattle we need to go across bridges and on routes that are also, and primarily, major truck routes though the Duwamish manufacturing and industrial center and the Port of Seattle seaport and rail yards.

2. We need jobs. These manufacturing areas and the port are the drivers of our economy. Lots of us are riding to jobs directly connected to the port, freight transfer, world trade and manufacturing that depends on freight. We all need to consume goods brought by ship, rail and truck. The deep water seaport on Elliott Bay remains the primary reason that Seattle exists as a city.

3. We have hills. Bikes and trucks both need relatively gentle grades. The street that angle across the hills or run on the flats. We have to share those grades and co-exist.

At today’s meeting:

  1. Video shown from the Bike & Truck Safety Fair, and thanks to all who participated!  Could become annual. Photos and video will be shared soon.
  2. Freight Advisory Board comments on the Waterfront EIS. Trucking companies have the same concerns as bike riders: will we be able to get through it smoothly without delay after the tunnel and waterfront are done?
  3. WSDOT freight plan. Barbara Ivanov from WSDOT presented the state’s freight plan for highways, marine and rail. Focus on bottlenecks. All slow speed bottlenecks on WA freeways are in central Puget Sound (surprise!) esp I-5 though Seattle and I-405 in Renton. For non-freeway highways, northbound 99 south of 1st Ave bridge is a poster child bottleneck, with posted speed limit of 40 and actual average speed of 22.  Basically, that speed make bikes competitive for freight hauling.  Well, at least it shows that if we can more people out of cars that are slowing down trucks and onto bikes traveling safely beside trucks, we can help improve freight mobility and our economy. Why are our highways and bridges in such bad shape?  Legislators pass funding for new projects but not for preservation of existing highways and bridges, and the gas tax is declining, and WA does not have an income tax or use general funds for state highways.  (Local streets are funded by property tax, NOT by gas tax).
  4. SDOT ITS initiative:  information technology to manage traffic flow and make it more efficient. SDOT has completed a study but not funded implementation of ways to use LOTS of expensive information technology to get real time feedback on traffic conditions to signals, readerboard signs,  online traffic flow maps and more from social media, etc.  Sounds fine for signals and road signs. Sound really scary for all the cool ways people could use their smart phones in their vehicles instead of actually paying attention to the road around them. This needs some attention and severe editing.  Another option to spending 10’s of millions on IT: Spend hundreds of thousands on bike routes and just ride. It does not take any more IT than the weather report.
  5. SDOT/Port of Seattle Industrial Areas Action Project:  Tony Mazella reported on this project for the Duwamish and the Ballard (Interbay) Manufacturing and Industrial Centers (MICs). It will identify improvement projects within and between these areas and from them to highways, intermodal yards, shipping terminals. Draft in spring 2014. Stakeholder outreach now. These routes coincide with bike routes in many cases.
  6. SDOT Freight Master Plan:  Work beginning soon. Same team as for Bike Master Plan, which is encouraging for integration of the two. Sara Zora presented.  As with the BMP, the street network definition is a key element. For City policy, the Freight, Bike, Transit and Pedestrian Master Plans are Modal Plans. They, along with  Operations Plan and SubArea Plan, flow from the Transportation Strategic Plan.The Transportation Strategic Plan and the Climate Action Plan flow from the Comprehensive Plan.
  7. SDOT Capital Projects:  Art Brochet reported on their current list of large projects, and offered to give the FAB briefings on projects of interest at 30% design stage for design input and near bid stage for construction detours and other mitigation during construction.  Lots of these involve arterials and bridges of interest for bike transportation, too.

SODO Arena EIS – this affects bike connections from West Seattle

Arena Draft EIS came out to no fanfare in August. The proponents’ preferred SODO scheme vacates public streets, and impacts our bike routes from West Seattle to downtown and Beacon Hill, to say nothing of freight traffic and shipping, bus routes and car traffic.  Comments due by September 30.

At first glance, it is predictably and sadly lacking in evaluation of the traffic impact for pedestrians, bikes, cars, trucks, buses, and trains. They  have no b-ball team right now, so this will be easy for the proponents to slip by the citizens of Seattle unless we read it critically and comment or appeal it. If you are interested in a group response, please comment here or send a message. Land use and environmental attorneys wanted!  We need serious analysis and mitigation proposals.

http://buildingconnections.seattle.gov/2013/08/15/seattle-arena-draft-environmental-impact-statement-available/

First public hearing is already past.

Second and final one:  September 19 at 6:00 p.m. Fidalgo Room Seattle Center

Saturday 9/14 – Bikes & Horses

Fiestas Patrias,  South Park

We’ll be there on behalf of Cascade Bicycle Club to do helmet fitting and give helmets to kids who don’t have one, and for bike information. Parade at 11 a.m. We’ll be at the fiesta after the parade, at Sea-Mar Plaza, 9634 Des Moines Memorial Parkway, 1:00 to ~5:00.
IMG_4681
Come volunteer with us, or ride with the Mayor from Seattle Center to the Parade and horse show, then come visit the fiesta. If you want to volunteer, comment or send a message.

 

This Friday 6:30-8:30 am: Bike & Truck Safety Fair

Share the road safely! Join the Port of Seattle and  partners for an opportunity to learn about truck blind spots and the challenges bicyclists and truck drivers face each day as they share Seattle’s busy roads.

Come for bagels, fruit and coffee. Stay to ride along in a semi on a short course to see what truck drivers can and can’t see. 15 minutes at the Bike & Truck Safety Fair may give you a new perspective, and an opportunity to meet SDOT, WSDOT and Port of Seattle representatives.

When: Friday, September 6, 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Where: Terminal 25, 3225 East Marginal Way, south entry, just north of Spokane Street, where the truck drivers park

Bike_Truck-Fair_Flyer_final_2-1We are partners of this Port of Seattle sponsored event. if you would like to volunteer an hour, we could use one or two more.

 

9/3 WSBC monthly meeting

First Tuesday of the month is our West Seattle Bike Connections meeting. At West Seattle’s newest bike shop this month: West Seattle Cyclery  4508 California Ave SW,  near the Alaska Junction, conveniently located across from the Beer Junction.

6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

Anyone is welcome to attend…we are all-inclusive!

Agenda includes  planning and recruiting for

  • Bikes & Trucks Safety Fair this coming Friday 9/6
  • Fiestas Patrias festival in South Park 9/14 – helmet fitting and giveaways
  • Parking Day space at the Alaska Junction 9/20
  • Commercial area bike parking project
  • East Marginal improvements
  • Bike Biz
  • South Park bike route improvements
  • SDOT spot improvement projects
  • Terminal 18/Fishing Pier planters on bike route
  • lots more – we need you!

East Marginal Way – interim improvements

The West Seattle Blog reported this week on interim improvements for East Marginal Way S from S Spokane St to S Atlantic Street (at the Coast Guard’s Pier 46).

In addition to the improvements listed by SDOT, we have asked for
– removal of fire hydrants that are right in the middle of the path. These violate SDOT, SPU and ADA standards.
– widening of the path/sidewalk to make it safe and usable for high volume 2-way bike and low volume pedestrian traffic, with safe room for passing.
– improvements to sightlines at some of the terminal driveways where fencing, signs or other obstruction interfere with views.

It will be a tough sell to get the bike commuters currently using the northbound bike lane to switch to the sidewalk on the west side unless it is really improved to be a safe, smooth bike path with room to pass safely.

trees in "tree pits" and hydrant obstructions
trees in “tree pits” and hydrant obstructions

trees in "tree pits" and hydrant obstructions
trees in “tree pits” and hydrant obstructions
trees in "tree pits" and hydrant obstructions
trees in “tree pits” and hydrant obstructions
sign could be raised up to avoid obscuring sight triangle at drive.
sign could be raised up to avoid obscuring sight triangle at drive.

8/17 Delridge Day – Helmets & Helmet Fitting

North Delridge Neighborhood Council, along with the City of Seattle’s Department of Parks and Recreation, will be hosting the 7th Annual Delridge Day Festival on Saturday, August 17th at the Delridge Community Center and Park.
West Seattle Bike Connections has volunteered to staff Cascade Bicycle Club’s bike helmet fitting, sales and give-away for this event.

We could use more volunteers, and can provide training. If you have 2-3 hours and would like to do this, please reply here or email us at westeattlebikeconnections@gmail.com .

Bicycle Loop Detectors

WSBC heard that some people don’t know that the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) added bicycle loop detector markings at many intersections. These markings indicate where cyclists should stop in order to trigger a green light at a signalized intersection.

The marks can be seen as one pulls up to a red light, so as long as there are no motor vehicles in front of you. The marker will generally be located behind the white stop line and generally slightly to the right, positioned over the vehicle sensor that’s embedded in the pavement. There are two forms we see most regularly; the older “T” marking or the newer small “bicyclist” marking, seen here.

loopdetectorPortland

Simply make sure your front tire, at least, is centered over this white marker and you should be added to the signal rotation.

loopdetectorbike

Some intersections don’t have this marker, or they may be faded away. If you think a specific intersection should have a marker but doesn’t you can contact walkandbike@seattle.gov and let them know.

Some intersection signal phases are triggered by camera, not a pavement marker, and these are trickier to identify. If you are not picked up when using a loop detector marker, the light skips you on a regular basis, takes an inordinate amount of time to change, or you need more information, you can contact SDOT at the email address above. Reporting signalized intersections that don’t pick up waiting cyclists should be fixed quickly to help prevent impatient red-light running and general cyclist frustration.

Another Collision – Let’s Stop This

Once again, flashing red lights on East Marginal Way. Medic 1, Rescue 1, Ladder 7 and a bike rider on a backboard. This time, bike-on-bike collision. Second one within weeks. Thank you Scott Johnston for this report on Bikewise.org

This was not an “accident”. This was negligence. The one who caused it walked away. The one who was riding correctly in his lane got a trip to Harborview. I hope the injured rider [edited] receives full restitution from the rider who caused the injury, and that the one who caused it is charged with negligent driving and penalized under the new Vulnerable Users law if the injured rider’s injuries are substantial.[end edit]

We need to get to work safely. We need to get home safely. Commuting to work is not a damn race. No one cares how many riders you pass or if you get downtown 2 minutes faster. If you want to race, sign up for a race and stop pretending. Riding to work or home relaxed and alert has all kinds of benefits.

How about trying some of this?

• Stay alert.
Be aware of what is in front and beside and behind you. Watch your line. Keep your hands near your brakes.

• Ride in a predictable manner.

• Share the road.

• Leave space between you and others, so you can see what is ahead.

• Don’t pass unless you can see well ahead that the way is clear.

• Call out your passes before you pass, or ring a bell. When it is crowded or you can’t see ahead, SLOW DOWN and communicate.

DB