Tag: trail

Biking to Bridge the Gap

Emily asked us how to ride her bike safely from West Seattle to work at the VA Hospital. Erin asked how to ride to UW Medical Center.  Travis is willing to commute on his new e-bike all the way to Green Lake. We are fielding many inquiries. Bike sales are taking off.  With alternate route traffic delays looming, Georgetown and South Park residents are fearful of gridlock, air pollution, and for the safety of their children walking to school. We know that using bikes instead of cars will help free up capacity on the remaining bridges. But we need a few improvements make it safe and efficient for these folks and many more people to bike instead of drive.

West Seattle Bike Connections with Duwamish Valley Safe Streets, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and Cascade Bicycle Club sent a detailed proposal to the City yesterday, summarized here.

OUR GOAL

Mobility for West Seattle, SODO and the Duwamish Valley.

Keep people and goods moving safely across much lower-capacity bridges over the Duwamish while the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge is closed. Mitigate impacts on our communities. Honor Seattle’s commitments to equitable transportation, our environment, social justice, and economic vitality.

STRATEGIES

Encourage or incentivize as many people as possible to use bikes or transit, or both, instead of driving private vehicles. Accomplish this before the end of COVID-19 restrictions.

    1. Improve conditions to make it safe, efficient and comfortable for people to ride bikes and transit.
    2. Concentrate on safety and wayfinding for biking and bike/transit connections:
      • On key West Seattle bike routes to the Spokane Street bridge, and from the bridge on East Marginal Way S to Pioneer Square, Downtown, SODO Trail, and SODO light rail station.
      • On bike routes to the 1st Ave S bridge and South Park Bridge, and bike routes within South Park and Georgetown that are impacted by alternate route traffic and may also be needed for biking from West Seattle whenever the Spokane Street Bridge is closed.
      • On routes to and bike parking at the King County Water Taxi dock at Seacrest.
    1. Protect Neighborhood Greenway streets near alternate routes from cut-through traffic, to keep them safe for residents and for walking and biking by people of all ages and abilities.
    2. Ensure availability of bikeshare bikes. Provide bikeshare discounts and bike/e-bike financing to people with low incomes.
    3. Use up to 1% of the bridge repair cost for mitigation measures for bike and pedestrian safety and efficiency.
    4. Use advocacy groups like West Seattle Bike Connections, Duwamish Valley Safe Streets, Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways to:
      • Identify opportunities to improve safety and wayfinding.
      • Provide route advice, route maps, bike buddy matching, bike trains and educational rides.
      • Connect people to good advice and local bike shops for selecting and maintaining bikes, including e-bikes.
    • Screenshot 2019-01-05 21.58.42

RECOMMENDED WORK FOR STREET SAFETY

PRESERVE these already planned and funded projects on schedule: 
EXPEDITE these key Bicycle Master Plan high priority routes:
    • Sylvan Way SW / SW Orchard and east to Highland Park
    • Highland Park Way SW off street multi-use path
    • 1st Ave S Bridge to 1st Ave S safe route north from bridge
    • SW Roxbury  bike lanes without reducing traffic lanes
QUICKLY IMPLEMENT spot improvements for wayfinding and safe routes:
    • On Spokane Street Bridge routes at the Chelan 5-way intersection; on Fauntleroy Way and Admiral Way; on the “Nucor Trail” connection from Delridge to the Alki Trail; at Terminal 18 trail crossings on Harbor Island; on East Marginal Way; and on the connections to the SODO light rail station and SODO Trail.
    • On 1st Avenue South Bridge and South Park Bridge routes at the Duwamish Trail “missing link from the Alki Trail; on Highland Park Way at West Marginal Way; at rough rail crossings on the Duwamish Trail and in Georgetown; and on routes in Georgetown through SODO.

Seattle Parks Bike Policy Update

A packed house greeted the Seattle Board of Parks Commissioners for the 10/1/13 public hearing on a draft update of the Bike Policies for Seattle Parks.  Present policy limits most bike use to paved roads and paths designed for shared use (at least 60 inches wide). The draft update would allow for some mountain bike trails, including single-track.

Public comments to the Commissioners can go to rachel.acosta@seattle.gov by email through November 12.

With a few exceptions focused on pedestrian safety on trails, Parks Commissioners were receptive.  The proposal would allow soft surface bike trails built to current standards, expanding recreational bike use in parks. This update was triggered by the proposals for the Beacon Bike Park in the Cheasty greenbelt. There are no specific trail proposals right now being reviewed. No changes are proposed at Lincoln or Schmitz Parks.

The existing policy was written in 1995. It views bikes only as recreation. Its concerns were for erosion on steep slopes, degradation of wetlands and streams, and disturbance of wildlife and people walking in the parks, Valid then. Now there are established standards for mountain bike trail building. Now there is demand for both recreational and transportation use of bikes.  Volunteer trail builders and users now have a track record of “giving the greenbelts some love”, by removing invasives and actually improving conditions for native flora and fauna.

My testimony for West Seattle Bike Connections was in support of proposed policy changes, but suggesting they go farther to embrace connectivity with Greenways and other routes. Bikes as transportation as well as recreation. We will submit written comments, so if you have suggestions, bring ‘em on.

In West Seattle, there are easy possibilities, like using the path along the west side of Riverview Playfield as a Greenway destination and connection. Same at Hiawatha Park. There are also more ambitious and valuable possibilities to provide safe alternatives to our high-speed, poor-sightline, steep curving arterials up through the Duwamish greenbelt, to connect to the Duwamish Trail, South Park and Georgetown. See WSBC member Craig Rankin’s mapped routes here: http://goo.gl/maps/vkDa5 including the yellow line from Highland Park Way up to South Seattle Community College.

People testified about the frustration of burning fossil fuel and spending hours driving to bike trails on the east side for an hour or so of riding with kids. Other noted the high value of this kind of recreational use for exercise, fighting childhood obesity, and positive activity for kids and adults, especially teens and pre-teen boys, “who need something stupid to do”, one dad said.

The hearing on the update was preceded by a presentation on Greenways. Bob Edmiston, a Parks Commissioner and Greenways advocate, with Sam Woods from SDOT and David Graves from Seatttle Parks. They showed the Streetfilms video on Portland greenways and reported on Seattle’s progress and plans. Commissioners debated whether or not greenway routes should be shown through parks in the Bike Master Plan Update, or left un-mapped until neighborhood outreach can occur later on. But no one spoke against using parks as routes as well as destinations. Nevertheless, it is not in current policies, so not likely to be implemented or even considered by Parks staff.

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways was well represented, including Exec Director Cathy Tuttle and members from several neighborhood greenway groups.  Jodi Connelly, our West Seattle rep on the Seattle Bike Advisory Board member, spoke, as did Brock Howell from Cascade Bicycle Club. Testimony urged parks to develop more partnerships with SDOT, with routes into parks, bike parking, and good safe places in parks for teaching kids to ride bikes.

Commissioner Brice Maryman, a landscape architect from South Seattle was an outspoken supporter of bike use in parks, including getting lines on the BMP Update map now, so they will be considered high priority for funding later.

David Greaves from Parks noted that Greenways are presently a partnership between SDOT and SPU, for green stormwater treatments. He mentioned that the green stormwater treatment is still at the experimental stage, and that the treatments for the Delridge Greenways won’t go in until 2015.

Don Brubeck