Update: Seattle council endorses Bicycle Master Plan, Nov. 5, 2007
The Seattle city council is set to vote on the 10-year Bicycle Master Plan at Monday's meeting, starting at 2 p.m. at City Hall.
People can comment on the master plan at the start of the council meeting, so this would be a perfect time to show up and directly tell council members what you think of it.
The document calls for adding 135 miles of bicycle lanes or bike routes to the city's 67-mile network over the next three years. Also, the “last mile” of the Burke-Gilman bike trail to Ballard would be completed.
10-year plan
Within 10 years, the mileage of bike lanes, signed local street connection and routes criss-crossing the city would increase to 454 miles.
It would put 95% of Seattle's population within a quarter mile of bike facilities. The improvements would cost about $240 million, “relatively modest in comparison to other transportation facilities,” according to the master plan.
Some of the improvements at the end of 10 years, according to the plan:
Bicycle facilities on 62% (295 miles) of Seattle's arterial streets;
A 230-mile system of signed bicycle routes, connecting all parts of Seattle
Fifty percent more (19 additional miles) of new multi-use trails.
Watered down
Bicycle advocates who are keeping close tabs on the city have charged the master plan was diluted before it's even approved. Late this summer, Mayor Nickels — at the behest of some Fremont merchants — ordered “sharrows” on Stone Way to replace a bike lane. Members of the .83 and Cascade bicycle clubs say this change is dangerous and rode en masse to protest.
The need for the master plan is obvious.
The Seattle Times reported 70 cyclists showed up on Saturday for a memorial ride for Bryce Lewis, a 19-year-old cyclist who was right-hooked by a garbage truck on Eastlake Avenue on Sept. 7.
Although he was in a bicycle lane, it's the type where motorists cut off cyclists while making a right turn. The Times reports:
…since Lewis' death, “the Department of Transportation has not made any changes at the intersection where the accident occurred, but Casey Hanewall, the department's chief of staff, said the plan includes a block-by-block analysis of Eastlake Avenue and how to improve it.”
See the Cascade Bicycle Club advocacy website for more info.
Seattle Bicycle Master Plan (see Executive Summary for details)
2 p.m. Monday
City Council Chambers/ 2nd floor of City Hall
600 4th Avenue
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