It looks like a local newspaper, right along with some area governments, is raising its conciousness level regarding the bicycle-riding public.
Two Seattle Times section fronts in the past week feature bicycling: “Autumn cycling in the Methow Valley” in Northwest Weekend by outdoors writer Michael McQuaide and “Wheeler Dealers” by Paula Bock in the Pacific Northwest Sunday magazine.
McQuaide writes about the miles of scenic, little trafficked roads available rural north central Washington, on the dry side of the Cascades. I remember cycling through there with the Cascade Bicycle Club's Ride Around Washington (RAW) a few years ago and learning that some areas get as little rainfall as Arizona.
On the flip side, Bock reports on cyclists surviving in heavily trafficked Seattle, and the fledgling efforts being made by the city to serve its bicycle-riding population.
Cyclists in Seattle, she writes, have Portland Envy. Portland — 200 miles to the south via the annual STP bike ride — has 156 miles of bike lanes, 68 miles of off-street paths and 30 miles of bike boulevards. Some streets boast sharrows (above), which remind motorists that cyclists are equals on the road. Compare that to Seattle's 25 miles of bike lanes and 37 miles of paths.
Since the mid-1990s, 1% of Oregon's transportation funding goes to hike or bike facilities, and all new roads must be bike friendly.
Seattle is trying to catch up, Bock reports. The city is working on a $300,000 Bike Master Plan (public meetings are already underway) and a 9-year, $365 million transportation proposal on the November ballot includes $38 million for the bike program.
Check out Seattle Bike Master Plan's website for the scope of the project and upcoming meetings (sometime in early December and a final meeting in 2007) and a summary of comments from the open house (.pdf).
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