Newsletter April 2007

Comment on Seattle's Bicycle Master Plan

How is the city of Seattle going to make cycling better on my routes?

Will a “sharrow” really improve my life?

I asked myself these questions when digging into the new Seattle Bicycle Master Plan, released this week by the Department of Transportation. From two miles of new trails to a 452-mile total network of designated streets, bike lanes and trails, the plan’s 158 pages is enough to make you bonk. However, details are offered up in bite-size PDFs.

The draft master plan for enhancing cycling in Seattle was made available from the city on Wednesday, April 4. A final plan will take shape by year's end, and then will guide cycling transportation actions for the next decade.

If you’re concerned about the future of cycling in your neighborhood or in the city, I urge you to voice your opinion about the city’s plan. Comments will be taken until May 4, so put this on your agenda soon.

Before making your comments, you might want to take a look at the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board’s Five Guiding Principles to a Bikeable Seattle. The volunteer board has been working with the city for years, and their perspective might inspire you to consider how this plan will improve transportation for all residents, whether cyclists, pedestrians, or even those still using fossil fuels.

The dailies’ reports on the plan:

Seattle Times: Nickels Has $240 Million Plan for Better Biking in the City

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Mayor Wants to Develop Citywide Bicycle Network

Save the Planet - Ride Your Bike

Do you ride your bike to dentist appointments? Cycle to the farmer’s market? Put your pooch in your pannier and head to the dog wash? Every time you put “one less car” on the streets by taking your bike, you’re helping to keep our local environment healthier, and striking a tiny blow against global warming.

I want to hear about the creative ways you’re using your bike!

Send me your descriptions of how you integrate cycling in your everyday life. I may use your comment in a new article I’m creating for a Seattle-based online publication.

Hey, I’ll even make it worth your while! The most creative use of a bike (decided in a totally subjective way by me) will win a new Incredibell! The next time you do errands you can announce yourself in style with the friendliest bell on the trail.

Send your comments now to bill@bikingpugetsound.com. The contest will end April 30, but I’ll always be interested in hearing from you about your adventures in biking around Puget Sound.

New Aurora Bridges Link Interurban Trail Segments in Shoreline

Wednesday, April 4 must have been one of the first open days for the new bike and pedestrian bridges in Shoreline, because when I rode them, I encountered an enthusiastic mother and daughter.

“We have a bridge!” they proclaimed. Next, a man in a wheelchair told me “I just sat up there and looked down at the traffic.”

Peopel were all smiles on the jet black asphalt approaches and smooth concrete bridge deck that make up Shoreline’s newest cycling and pedestrian links.

Two new bridges now connect segments of the growing Interurban Trail in Shoreline, just north of the Seattle city limits. The construction project that created these two beautiful and functional structures is part of a larger effort that will extend the trail even further north.

The first bridge goes across Westminster Way at 155th Ave. N., and the second, a block north, goes over Aurora Avenue next to the Sears store and the Central Market. Each has a switchback to get you up on the bridge on one side, so it’s slow going, but it’s 100 percent better than navigating the lights across Aurora and then taking sidewalks and city streets to get onto the trail again.

The connecting bridges come on the heels of a new segment of the trail that was opened last fall in Seattle, starting at N. 110th St. and Fremont Ave. N., and continuing to N. 128th St. Slowly, the northern version of the Interurban Trail, which runs in a power-line right-of-way, is becoming useful.

Biking Puget Sound uses this route when heading from Green Lake to Edmonds. If you’re going that direction, you’ll find 3.4 miles of trail in two segments, with a short stint on a residential street connecting them.

• The trail starting at 110th runs for 1 mile to 128th.

• The route continues on Linden Ave. for 0.9 mile.

• The trail begins again at 145th, and previously ended in 0.5 mile at 155th. Now at 155th you encounter the new bridges.

• From the south bridge, the trail continues 1.4 miles, first crossing over Westminster, then dropping down to street level, then climbing over Aurora and turning north again.

• The trail currently ends at 175th, but grading is visible on the east side of Aurora for most of the next 10 blocks, indicating that the trail will soon continue to 185th. From there, it's a short stint to another completed section of the trail that starts at 192nd and continues north to 205th at Aurora Village.

Although the bridges are unofficially open, the Shoreline folks tell me that they won't have the ribbon-cutting until sometime this summer. In the meantime, riders could find the bridges closed intermittently.

For more information on the project, go to http://www.shorelineaurora.com/.