Archive for the ‘Seattle Bicycle Master Plan Update’ Category

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How to be an awesome bike-commuting mama

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Trevor Block

Photo Credit: Trevor Block

My little girl Audrey is my  sunshine and she is my stoker. From her bicycle throne behind my saddle, she loves to slap my bum and cry “Go FASTER, Mama!”. My husband finds this hilarious.

I had been looking forward to commuting with Audrey since way before she was born. We were going to ride all over town, singing songs and waving to one and all. We were going to soak up the sun and laugh off the rain.

I was going to be an awesome bike-commuting mama.

I have toured thousands of miles by bicycle, exploring several countries and states. I have raced alongside the fierce ladies of Team Group Health. And I can confidently hold my own in downtown traffic alongside cars and trucks and buses…in high heels.

Yet despite all my experience, all my years of commuting, all my street savvy, I was not prepared for the challenges of biking with kids.

So what’s an awesome bike commuting mama to do? Here’s what I’ve learned:

- Re-consider your route. Find a route that is safer (to accommodate the precious cargo) and flatter (to accommodate the extra weight), even if it’s longer. My kid routes are sometimes a couple miles longer but way more enjoyable.

- Prepare. Pack the night before. You KNOW what it’s like getting out the door with kids.

- Allow extra time. Even with good preparation, it will take you longer to get out the door. The extra weight will slow you down a bit. And you will need to stop along the way to snack, potty, warm up and/or melt down.

- Layers. In the winter, dress kids in an extra layer than you wear (remember that they aren’t exercising). In the summer, apply sunscreen. I’ve also learned that sleeves and pants that are just a tad too long will adequately cover tender baby skin when they are seated.

- Keep it fun. Point out cool stuff along the way (kids love construction sites, nesting ducks, random soccer practice). Include a new park in your route and stop for a play break. Sing songs or play I spy along the way.

- Keep em busy. Audrey especially loved having a small toy to hold along the way. I tethered it to her seat in case she dropped it or nodded off. All the same, don’t bring great grandmother’s china doll.

 

Want to learn more? Cascade Bicycle Club offers additional resources, including our new Family Biking Program. And local blog TotCycle  offers information and organizes Kidical Mass rides around town.
Have a biking with babes tip of your own? Do tell!

Posted in Advocacy, Around town, Bike Month, Commute Challenge, Family biking, Kids on bikes, Seattle Bicycle Master Plan Update, Women ride bikes | 8 Comments »

Will a complete streets redevelopment of 23rd Ave improve safety for people on bikes?

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 by

How do you envision a safe and accessible 23rd Avenue?

Improvement is coming for those who bike between the South End and University District, it is just a question of where these improvements will be made — on 23rd Ave. or a parallel route?

Starting in 2014, the Seattle Department of Transportation will begin a repaving, transit efficiency and complete streets re-evaluation of 23rd Ave. from East John St. to Rainier Ave. South, as reported earlier on the Seattle Bike Blog. As public outreach for the project continues, SDOT already has plans to electrify transit, install transit signal priority and improve the pedestrian environment on what is currently a four-lane arterial. However, as the city is still considering whether bicycle improvements will be made along 23rd Ave. as a component of this complete streets project. The upcoming March 2 Open House is a great opportunity to provide input about the issues and needs surrounding bicycle access along and across this corridor.

What could a “complete streets” redevelopment of 23rd Ave. mean for bicycles?

23rd Ave. represents a critical connection between the south end and the University District. Significant destinations impacted by the project corridor include the revitalizing commercial corner at 23rd and E Union, Garfield High School, the I-90 trail and the future light rail station at I-90.

The Seattle Bicycle Master Plan Update’s preliminary draft bicycle network recommended protected bike lanes as the desired bicycle facility along the 23rd Ave. corridor, while also identifying the Central District thoroughfare as a “multi-modal corridor,” given the heavy demands for all modes operating in the limited right of way. For instance, Bus 48, running from Mt. Baker to the University District via 23rd Ave. and continuing north to Loyal Heights, is one of the busiest routes in King County. About 6,900 people ride daily on just the southern section.

The city is currently undergoing a Transit Reliability Study to help determine if 23rd Ave can support a three-lane cross-section while maintaining transit reliability and efficiency. While transit is a high priority for 23rd Ave, the majority of the corridor experiences motor vehicle volumes well below the threshold needed to support a three-lane cross-section, which would ultimately make it safer for people to travel by all modes along and across the corridor.

While complete streets are designed to enable safe, attractive and comfortable travel for all users, space constraints throughout the corridor may limit which modes the redesign of 23rd Ave. can prioritize. The City is exploring options to improve pedestrian safety and access through the project; however, the City is preliminarily proposing favoring an alternative, parallel route to support bicycling given the constrained roadway width and concerns about conflicts between bicycle traffic and transit on the corridor. Whether 23rd Ave. can accommodate a bicycle facility that will be safe and comfortable for people of all ages and abilities will be determined by the results of the study as well as input from the community.

How do you envision a safe and accessible 23rd Ave? The city is interested in hearing from you!

Join SDOT at an open house on Saturday, March 2, to learn more about the project from the design team. If you are unable to attend the open house, you can still comment on the project by contacting the Project Manager, Lorelei Williams at (206) 684-5178 or by email.

Open House Details

When: Saturday, March 2
Where: Garfield Community Center, 2323 East Cherry St, Seattle, WA 98122
What Time: 2 to 4 p.m.

We hope to see you there!

Posted in Advocacy, Complete streets, Meetings & turnout, Seattle Bicycle Master Plan Update, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Transportation Action Agenda Progress Report highlights the vision of bicycling

Friday, February 15th, 2013 by

On Wednesday, Feb. 13, Mayor Mike McGinn and the Seattle Department of Transportation released the Transportation Action Agenda Progress Report, highlighting accomplishments from the past year and new initiatives for 2013.

Progress: Linden Avenue cycle track

“We’re working hard to build a great transportation network that meets the needs of a growing, thriving city,” said McGinn in a statement. “We’re filling potholes, planning new rail lines, and providing safer facilities for everyone using our roads.”

Progress has been made in what SDOT considers “the basics” – maintenance projects like filling potholes, (re)paving roads and replacing street name signs – as well as making roads more accessible for everyone.

Last year SDOT began construction on the Linden Avenue and 65th Street cycle tracks, installed 15 new lane-miles of bike lanes and/or sharrows, improved 47 pedestrian crossings, built 12 new blocks of sidewalk, and more.

The action agenda report promises more improvements to come in 2013, including speeding up key transit projects, improving neighborhood-to-neighborhood connections and better pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

“Bicycling is a great way to get around our city and should be an option for everyone,” the report states, mentioning that construction on the Broadway cycle track will begin soon and neighborhood greenways are being developed in Ballard, Beacon Hill, and Delridge.

The report also mentions that SDOT is planning more cycle tracks and neighborhood greenways across Seattle.  As a part of the Bicycle Master Plan update, SDOT will recommend cycle tracks on a network of city streets, including streets in downtown.

“It’s exciting to see the action agenda highlighting the vision of bicycling being an option for everyone, from an eight-year-old to his 80-year-old grandmother, to safely get around Seattle,” said Craig Benjamin, Cascade’s Policy and Government Affairs Manager. “We look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council to fund the network of protected bike lanes and neighborhood greenways that would make this vision a reality.”

McGinn is also working to speed up the time frame for two key transit planning projects identified in the Transit Master Plan. The first is an analysis of potential Ship Canal crossings for rail, bicycle and pedestrian use from Ballard to neighborhoods south of the Canal. The second project is planning for the Eastlake high capacity transit corridor connecting downtown to the University District.

This is good news for bicyclists as high capacity transit enables people on bikes to extend their trips by making them multimodal. More importantly, in planning these corridors, the city will also have the opportunity to plan for world-class bikeways to complement the transit lines in these corridors. When designed correctly, high-capacity transit and bicycling are complementary pieces of our overall transportation network and should work hand in hand to provide people with the freedom to safely and conveniently get around Seattle.

For more information, the full Progress Report and Action Agenda are available online.

Posted in Advocacy, News, SDOT, Seattle Bicycle Master Plan Update | No Comments »

Atlantic Cities: How to Build a Better Bike Lane (and Get More People Out on Bikes)

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013 by

“We’re getting away from the assumption, ‘That’s car space and can’t be used for anything else,” Martha Roskowski of Bikes Belong says. “It’s space for people – in cars, on bikes, on transit, and on foot. It’s public space.”

I just finished reading Sarah Goodyear’s latest piece over on Atlantic Cities: How to Build a Better Bike Lane (and Get More People Out on Bikes). Goodyear digs into Bikes Belong’s Green Lane Project that is working with cities that “already get it to build more protected bike lanes, learn best practices from around the world, and quantify their progress.”

The cities? Austin, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, Chicago, Memphis, and Washington, D.C. And New York in some capacity. Nope, not Seattle. (But you can read more about how we think Seattle stacks up in our Seattle Report Card.)

Even though Seattle isn’t a part of The Green Lane Project, we can still be watching and learning from the cities that are. After all, as Roskowski states, “We’re getting away from the assumption, ‘That’s car space and can’t be used for anything else,” she says. “It’s space for people – in cars, on bikes, on transit, and on foot. It’s public space.” If those other cities are racing to the top, and we’re on the sidelines, we’re going to lose more than just the competition for best bike lanes. We’re going to lose business, happiness, people and jobs.

Many of us already feel this way and are hungering for a public space that reflects this sentiment. Do you?

 

 

Posted in Complete streets, News, Seattle Bicycle Master Plan Update | 1 Comment »

I might be relocating to Virginia, but I’m leaving a bike in Seattle

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 by

I don’t think I have ever been so happy/sad/excited/depressed in my life. I am giving up a great job, a passionate community, and the company of so many wonderful friends and colleagues to help begin and grow something new. I’m off to be the Director of the Bike Walk RVA initiative in Richmond, Virginia for an organization not unlike Cascade Bicycle Club – but one that is in the infancy of its advocacy movement.

My last day at Cascade will be Friday, Feb. 15.

The best photo taken of me by anybody, ever. Credit: Mariana Kajlich, Seattle Magazine

In all the excitement, I can’t help but feel like I am leaving things somewhat unresolved here in Seattle. The Bicycle Master Plan has not been adopted and there is still much work to do before we have a world-class plan for bicycling. Shoot, there’s not even enough funding for implementation of the plan we have now. There are a bunch of projects coming up this season (like this) that will need your support in order to get built correctly. And there are pro-bike candidates we need to elect.

The good news is: Seattle in great hands. The reality is: we need more hands.

Between grassroots groups sprouting like weeds all over the city, both new and established bicycle advocacy organizations, capable city staff and visionary elected officials, Seattle is certainly on its way to becoming one of the best cities for bicycling in the country. Yes, there’s lots of momentum. But if we’re ever going to be the city we know we should be, Seattle still needs more people banging on doors of electeds, louder voices demanding more funding at budget hearings, and more butts on bikes.

The Richmond area – on the other hand – is more of a blank canvas. There are a few great recreational trails but there are even fewer bike lanes. I saw a couple sharrows when I was there. There are no neighborhood greenways or cycle tracks. If all goes well, that could change in the coming years (and then some), but it’s going to be a lot of hard work. Richmond doesn’t yet have a training program for bicycle advocates, or a neighborhood greenways movement – but it does have a lot of untapped potential that will take time to realize.

My point is, take advantage of what you have here, Seattle. If you haven’t gotten involved yet, what are you waiting for?! Now is the perfect opportunity to sign up for ways to get involved.

Seattle will always be my home. My friends and family are all here and I can’t wait to visit often and see how the bikeway network has grown, both downtown and in our neighborhoods. I’ll leave a bike at my folks’ house to use while I am in town, at least until bike share is up and running in 2014.

But will someone email me once the 39th Ave NE greenway is finally finished? I mean, we had the ribbon cutting ceremony in October, and it’s still not done! What gives?!

Okay, I digress. I want to thank all of my friends and coworkers at Cascade, all my colleagues on the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board, and all my partners in the community for one hell of a ride. Nearly everything I learned about effective advocacy, I learned here. Now I get to go apply it to Richmond.

Watch out, Seattle – RVA is going to give you a run for your money!

Posted in Advocacy, Elections, Meetings & turnout, Seattle Bicycle Master Plan Update | 5 Comments »

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