Bellevue commuter
If you bicycle or walk around Bellevue, you only have about two weeks to have your voice heard in the Walk & Roll 2007 Pedestrian-Bike Plan.
An online survey is available at the city of Bellevue website through April 10. I filled it out recently and it only takes a few minutes.
It's basically a multiple choice survey — “always,” “sometimes,” “never” — to determine what bicycle facilities you use or would use if available. It also has space for respondents to fill in their major concerns or specific needs for bicycing in the city; this can be more time-consuming but it's necessary to put the officials on notice.
The Walk & Roll 2007 plan is an update of the 1999 Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Plan. The city has grown a lot since then, and traffic congestion becomes a growing problem as office high-rises and retail malls fill up.
Currently, the city of Bellevue has about 25 miles of designated bike lanes on city streets. This really isn't enough to safely get the job done. Interestingly, that's about the same mileage as designated bike lanes in Seattle.
There are plenty of ways to get around Bellevue by bicycle, though, and the city has rated the routes on the Bellevue Bike Map that is available online, as well as at kiosks at several points along city bike trails. There's also a Downtown Bellevue Bike Rack map.
To see how well the city is following its 1999 bike plan update, here's a link to a copy of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Plan. (all the documents are .pdf files)
The project manager is Franz Loewenherz, at 425-452-4077.
Seattle bike plan
Bellevue is beginning work on its bike plan update just as Seattle is wrapping up its Bicycle Master Plan, the final draft of which will be available soon. (Here's a draft from November 2006.)
The 10-year-plan calls for designating some 200 miles of roads for bike lanes (that's up from 25 miles) in anticipation of growing interest in bicycling for commuting and recreation. The plan comes with funding as part of a $360 million property tax hike passed last year.
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