Olympic National Park Opts for Better Spruce Railroad Trail Alternative

Thanks to public comments from citizens and advocacy groups like the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Peninsula Trails Coalition, Olympic National Park has announced that an 8-foot asphalt trail with 3-foot gravel shoulders is the selected alternative for the Spruce Railroad Trail improvements.  This trail segment is part of the larger Olympic Discovery Trail.

This is a change from last fall when the park first identified its preferred alternative for trail improvements as a 6-foot paved surface.  Read our earlierblog post for more info.

Unhappy with the preferred alternative, the Bicycle Alliance and Peninsula Trails Coalition coordinated efforts to push for a safer multi-use trail design with 8-10 feet of paved surface.  A paved trail surface of 8-10 feet provides sufficient space for two bicyclists to pass each other and is consistent with the existing trail design.  It also meets the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirement to make this trail accessible and usable by people with disabilities. The park’s preferred alternative would not have met those requirements.

In an announcement released this week, Olympic National Park Acting Superintendent said:

This project illustrates the value of public and community collaboration, as important issues and concerns have been raised throughout the process and have helped shape the final decision.

We are pleased that park officials have listened to public comment and revised their final selection to reflect the safety concerns.  You can read the park’s announcement here.

A completed Olympic Discovery Trail will traverse approximately 130 miles of the Olympic Peninsula.  The trail begins at the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend and will end at the Pacific Ocean in the Quileute Nation village of La Push.  The segment utilizing the Spruce Railroad Trail through Olympic National Park will allow bicyclists to avoid a dangerous portion of Highway 101 along the shore of Lake Crescent.

Support Complete Streets for Spokane

All of us use streets, right?  We use streets to get to work, school, run errands, and to visit family and friends.  Sometimes we move around our community in cars, but we also use transit, walk and bike on our streets.  And sometimes we reach our destination using a combination of these modes.  So it stands to reason that we want streets that safely accommodate us whether we’re walking, biking, taking transit or driving a vehicle.

Many folks in Spokane have that expectation.  A steadily growing group of Complete Streets advocates in that community convinced Spokane City Council to pass a resolution in April 2010 to develop a Complete Streets ordinance.  Great news!  Sadly, over a year later, citizens are still waiting for City Council to enact the ordinance.

Complete Streets Spokane advocates are turning up the heat.  They are circulating an online petition urging City Council members to pass the Complete Streets ordinance.  They have also created a Complete Streets Spokane II group on Facebook.

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington was one of the first groups to raise the Complete Streets banner in our state and we encourage our Spokane members to sign the petition.

Seattle Road Safety Summit on October 24th, 2011

Monday, October 24th, the Mayor and City Council will be convening the first in a series of three road safety summits. The meeting will be held in the Bertha Knight Landes Room at City Hall (on the ground level when entering from 5th Ave--600 4th Ave Seattle, WA 98104). The Mayor's office released a 'save the date' announcement, although the time of the event has not yet been announced.

The Mayor recently wrote this in a blog post:
"A transportation system with no traffic fatalities or serious injuries, where all users share responsibility for their safety and that of others they encounter in their travels. Can we do it? As a community we must try," http://mayormcginn.seattle.gov/street-safety-summit-coming-in-october/

We encourage participation in this event and are hopeful that there are some substantial and postitive developments that emerge from the summit.

National Park Service Makes Bad Design Proposal for the Spruce Rail Road Trail- Olympic Discovery Trail: Make Comment by October 21

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington and the Peninsula Trails Coalition are announcing that the National Park Service (NPS) has released the Environmental Assessment and preferred alternative for the Spruce Railroad Trail (SRRT) segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) www.olympicdiscoverytrail.com.

The NPS will be accepting public comment on phase two of the project until October 21, 2011. Phase two is for the last four mile section of the ODT that will complete the shared use path through the Olympic National Park.

At issue is the fact that the NPS is proposing to use a 6 foot minimum width in the design criteria for the last four mile section. The NPS proposal contradicts the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board’s (Access Board) 2011 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for creation of shared use paths which cites the AASHTO bicycle facilities guide 8-10 ft MINIMUM as a MUST to ensure Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. If this proposal were implemented, the final section of the ODT would be considerably inferior to the 40 miles of AASHTO compliant shared use path that has already been built and would not be ADA compliant.

The Peninsula Trails Coalition and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington ask that you offer comment to the NPS on the width issue. Specifically, make it clear to the NPS that for a shared use path, the 8-10 foot minimum guidelines established in the AASHTO bicycle facilities guide is a minimum that must be adhered to and as experienced cyclists, we know, based upon our own personal experiences, that a 6 foot path is unsafe for all users.

For your review copies of the EA can be downloaded from the NPS at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/documentsList.cfm?projectID=29848

Comments should be made online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=43392

The Peninsula Trails Coalition, and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington thank you for your support. We hope that by sharing your personal experiences as cyclists on shared use paths we can demonstrate to the NPS the complete unanimity of the cycling community, and convince them to change their plans.

Strategic Plan Adopted: shift gears, refine focus, and embrace new goals

Bicycle Alliance Strategic Plan Approved

Creating the 2011-2016 strategic plan was a herculean effort that began at a meeting in the cafeteria at the House of Representatives in March of 2010 and culminates this Thursday, October 6th with a party to celebrate. Stop by between 5-8pm at 309A Third Avenue.

Last year when I attended the National Bike Summit and the Alliance for Biking and Walking board meeting, I learned that there was grant funding available to plan and implement a strategic plan. The Bicycle Alliance applied for and was awarded the grant which included support for staff reorganization, and development of a draft mission, vision, and values document early in the spring of 2011.

In April, 40 stakeholders from all across Washington including representatives from health organizations, elected officials, bike clubs, planners, board members and staff, came together for two days to help the Bicycle Alliance shift gears, refine its focus, and embrace new goals for the organization.

Thanks to the many people who contributed to this plan, and who will provide guidance as we begin implementation.

VISION:
By 2020, bicycling is an everyday, mainstream activity in communities across Washington. Bicycling is recognized, accommodated and funded as a legitimate and essential mode of transportation. Washington residents embrace a healthy and active lifestyle that includes safe and convenient active-transportation options. As a result, Washington communities enjoy lower health-care costs, a cleaner environment and more transportation choices. Washington is a national model for innovative bicycle-friendly transportation facilities and programs.

MISSION:
The Bicycle Alliance of Washington advocates for a bicycle-friendly state, educates people of all ages to increase transportation safety, develops more inclusive communities for cycling, builds a coalition of organizations, and seeks to make bicycling accessible to everyone.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:
• Bicycling is healthy, safe, affordable, and fun.
• Everyone should feel safe while riding a bike.
• Everyone has a right to transportation choices.
• More people bicycling more often make roadways safer for bicycle riders.
• Education, legislative changes, and improved infrastructure increase bicycle ridership rates.
• The bicycle provides a simple, elegant and inexpensive tool to achieve multiple goals.

GOALS:
G-1 The Bicycle Alliance of Washington shall develop and implement strategies that effectively increase bicycle ridership and helps Washington State achieve the highest bicycle ridership rate in the country.

G-2 The Bicycle Alliance of Washington shall develop and implement outreach and communications strategies that: emphasize bicycling as an everyday activity, successfully encourage more people to “go by bike,” and make bicycling appeal to a broader segment of the public, so that bicycle ridership more closely reflects the state’s demographic diversity by 2016.

G-3 The Bicycle Alliance of Washington shall continue to actively develop and pass strong, relevant legislation on behalf of bicycle riders and pursue increased funding to improve the environment for bicycling in Washington.

G-4 The Bicycle Alliance of Washington shall cultivate strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships with: State, county and municipal governments and organizations that advocate on behalf of bicycling, active transportation, health, the environment, diverse communities and business by 2016.

G-5 The Bicycle Alliance of Washington shall aggressively take action to increase the organization’s membership and unrestricted revenue each year.

The Bicycle Alliance board of directors voted to approve the Strategic Plan, objectives and tasks at its August board meeting. In the next steps, staff will develop action items for top priority objectives as part of the 2012 work plan, recognizing that every objective may not be addressed with an action plan until 2013 or 2014 based on resources. The plan document can be found here: http://www.bicyclealliance.org/aboutbaw/Strategic_Plan_10042011.pdf.

Celebrating Everyday Bicycling

Bike to Work Month is great! Bike to Work Day is great! These encouragement events increase bicycle ridership and illustrate the potential for every month to be bike to work month and every day to be bike to work day.

pedbikeimages.org/Laura Sandt

Bike to work month ended May 31st and here in Seattle summer is upon us. The seasonal uptick in bicycle ridership in Seattle is in full swing. While more bicycle riders on the road make the roads safer for bicycle riders, more bicycle riders sharing the same marginalized urban spaces require an extra measure of care and cooperation by and on behalf of bicycle riders.

Commuting by bicycle is a highly utilitarian form of bicycling, an everyday expression of mobility, autonomy, play and perhaps most importantly, inter-dependence. In the realm of utility cycling safety always trumps marginal improvements in speed—prudence beats haste every time when it comes to everyday bicycling. Hasty passing and maneuvering in the context of a busy bike lane or roadway is risky and reckless behavior. Anyone who rides a bicycle on the road knows that there is a special type of vulnerability that bicycle riders experience in traffic which points to the importance of minimizing risk for oneself and other bicycle riders. Bicycle commuting should be playful and cooperative, not competitive. A cooperative attitude encourages the safety of all road users. Shaving a few micro-seconds off of your commute does not rationalize or justify endangering or disrespecting other bicycle riders.

Hazards of urban bicycling that are created by bicycle riders include tailgating, dangerous passing and other commute-racer behaviors—DON’T be one of the hazards to other bicycle riders. To see the hazards generated by bicycle riders from a diversity of perspectives, I polled my co-workers about their least favorite bad behaviors by cyclists and I have listed them below. This is a partial list, including some of the worst offenses, but it is certainly not exhaustive:

• running red lights
• splitting lanes
• splitting two cyclists
• jockeying up to the front at a red light (passing those who are already queued up)
• riding the wrong way (against traffic)
• tailgating cars or other bikes
• sneaking through 4-way stops out of sequence
• passing pedestrians and other bicycles without warning (neither bell nor voice)
• ringing the bell excessively or aggressively at pedestrians and other bicycle riders
• riding with headphones or earbuds
• squirelly and unpredictable riding
• silent drafting (and slingshot passing)
• passing on the right (especially without warning)
• wearing too much lycra, especially racing uniforms (nurtures an exclusive rather than inclusive environment)
• switching from “vehicular mode” to “pedestrian mode” at will

Being considerate to fellow road users is not only good for others around you, whether they be travelling by bicycle, car or bus, but it is also good for you. The commute is not a race and fully embodying that reality will reduce your stress levels and improve your commute.

Everyday year-round bicycle commuting is not practical or feasible for everyone. Being hard-to-the-core as a bike commuter is commendable and if you are hardcore about your bike commuting, great, but don’t beat up on the fair weather riders too much. In regards to the benefits of bicycling for the greater good, it is most productive to take the seasonal gains in bicycle ridership from fair weather riders in stride and continue to encourage bicycle commuting and utility riding.

It is high time we forget the embittered attitude of the dreary and wet winter commute and celebrate the dry weather and corresponding increase in bicycle traffic; it is time to leave behind the exclusive and competitive attitude and embrace an inclusive and tolerant attitude towards your fellow bicycle commuters. Riding on the streets involves sharing space with other vehicles, both motorized and human powered. In the good humor and good spirit of springtime cheer, let us be patient with our fellow road-users and remember that Bike to Work Month is really just the opening of the floodgates for bicycle commuters in Seattle. So play nice, won’t you?

Ten lessons for a vibrant city

Even though I've been back in Seattle for a week, my head and heart are still in Copenhagen, Denmark where I attended a study tour underwritten by the Scan/Design Foundation, and lead by i-Sustain . The weeklong tour was a guided whirlwind of the best bicycling practices in a city known for its world-class bicycle facilities and biking culture.

10 Lessons learned from the seat of my 3-speed red rental bike:

1) Think out of the car and beyond the oil barrel to energy independence. Denmark began planning for bikes, buses, trains, and subways during the oil crisis in the mid 1970s.

2) Really, truly you can share the road, and do so safely. It's about planning for "soft traffic" which means giving bike riders and pedestrians separate facilities--sidewalks and cycle tracks that get a "green" traffic signal before motorists.

3) Think beyond money. Envision a vibrant, vital city which embraces biking as an inexpensive transportation option.

4) Arrive by bike, bus or train. When I asked a city employee how he got to the meeting, he replied, "by bus, we're not allowed to drive to meetings."

 5) Separated facilities have fostered a 37% bicycling rate. Cycle tracks are a separate facility running on all major roads in Copenhagen. They parallel sidewalks, and traffic lanes. They have fostered a main street atmosphere with reduced noise levels.

6) Blue lanes through intersections coupled with a green light ahead of motorists has reduced traffic conflicts and collisions. The lanes clearly show the bicyclist where to ride, and gives motorists a visual cue to watch for both people on bikes and on foot.

7) Biking skills are taught to every school child. Red Cross and other non-profits teach bicycle skills to immigrants. Copenhagen is planning for a 50% bike ridership by 2015.

8) No lycra--just people riding in jeans, skirts, shorts, suits, dresses.

 

9) Offer options: not everyone wants to ride on the cycle tracks. Denmark doesn't have steep hills but they do have open minds about providing options over and around obstacles.

10) Cycling should be as easy as walking. I'm still processing what I learned; the study tour was an eye-opening experience. I've changed my thinking and I'm committed to working with my study-tour colleagues to bring some of these best practices to Seattle and other Washington cities.

We’re Hungry for Good Urban Public Space

Seattle’s Alki waterfront…a welcome dose of sunshine…near 80 degree temperatures. These elements converged last Saturday and people came out in celebration. Lots of people. The West Seattle Blog wrote about it here.

Alki is a wonderful public place. It has a sandy beach, waterfront trail, restaurants and cafes, views of the Olympics and Seattle, and offers some of the best people watching. Alki has something for almost everyone and is well used public space.  And it's the kind of environment that encourages physical activity--walking, biking, skating, dancing, volleyball, swimming, and more.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had more public spaces as inviting as Alki? Some communities are trying to reclaim public space for greater use by people—even if it’s only temporary. Ciclovias temporarily close streets and reclaim them for use by people to gather, walk and bicycle. Some Washington communities are holding ciclovia events and you can read a blog post about it.

Some forward thinking folks view Ciclovias as a tool for urban planning. These events invite citizens into their own streets and gives them a different view of their city and the concept of public space. Ciclovias demonstrate the importance of incorporating physical activity opportunities into our public spaces and built environments. And, in comparison to major infrastructure projects, ciclovias are cheap. You can read a post from the Project for Public Spaces blog about this movement.

Coming to a City Near You: Car-free summer events

What happens when you take cars off the streets for awhile?  Folks come out to bike, walk, skate and socialize with each other!

Ciclovia (Spanish for bike path) refers to events that temporarily close streets to vehicle traffic, turning them into public space for people.  Bogota, Columbia, the city that pioneered the Ciclovia movement, has closed streets to cars every Sunday since 1976.  People of all ages and classes pour into the streets to do everything except drive.  Watch a video on Ciclovia in Bogota.

Ciclovia style events are appearing in US cities, including communities in Washington.  Seattle Summer Streets are car-free events scheduled in four different neighborhoods.  The city also closes a portion of Lake Washington Boulevard to vehicles most Sundays between May 1 and September 25 for Bicycle Sunday.

Spokane is bringing its SummerParkways to three neighborhoods, one of which will be an evening event.  Four miles of roadway will be closed and citizens are encouraged to come out for fun and physical activity.

Although Vancouver does not organize a car-free event, folks can head across the Columbia River and experience Portland’s Sunday Parkways.  Five parkway events are planned in different neighborhoods throughout the summer.

Folks in Tacoma can have a car-free experience every weekend. Five Mile Drive in Point Defiance Park is closed to vehicular traffic every Saturday and Sunday morning until 1PM.  Details are here.

Did I overlook a ciclovia event in your community?  Please share the details with us.

Community Bike Shops

What do you do with the bike that your 10-year-old has outgrown?  Or perhaps you've just upgraded to a fancier road bike and you'd like to find a good home for your trusty old steed.

Maybe you're a student on a tight budget and you'd like to do some simple repairs on your bike, but you live in a dorm and don't have the right tools.  Maybe you live in your own home and regularly host out-of-town guests and it might be nice to have an inexpensive bike in the garage to lend to them.

It's time to check out a community bike shop.

Community bike shops are nonprofit groups, often run by volunteers, that refurbish and recycle bikes at low-cost or free to the community.  They're appearing all across Washington State and there may be one or more in your town.

Bike Works, in Seattle, operates a full service bike shop.  They sell refurbished bikes, offer maintenance and repair services, and sell accessories and parts.  They also offer an earn-a-bike program for kids.

Live in Everett?  Check out Sharing Wheels. Besides refurbishing and reselling bikes at low-cost, Sharing Wheels has earn-a-bike opportunities for troubled teens and low-income adults.  They also have a co-op program where members have access to shop space and tools for do-it-yourself bike repair.

Pedals2People is a do-it-yourself community bike shop in Spokane. They provide low-cost access to shop space and tools and they offer a variety of bike repair and maintenance classes, including a Ladies Mechanics Class. Like the other community bike shops, P2P also sells used bikes.

These three programs are a sampling of community bike organizations in our state.  The Bike Collective Network has a listing of community bike shops in Washington State.  Do you know of a community bike shop that's not on the list?  Tell us about it.

Dexter Avenue: Waiting for a Monolith Moment

Here's Hoping that American Transportation Planners Move to the Next Level of Consciousness about Bicycling

Devotees of Stanley Kubrick know about the Monolith—that mysterious black obelisk that appears at critical points during “2001: A Space Odyssey” to nudge humankind to a higher level of consciousness.

I have a persistent fantasy: that someday the Monolith will appear in the midst of the conference hall at a national meeting of American transportation planners—or better yet, at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

But what would happen if transportation planners and politicians touched the Monolith? What basic truth would they discover through this epiphany? 

In my version of the fantasy, at least, once the cinematic music died down and the lights dimmed, they would be left with a sudden understanding that bicycling really can be an everyday means of transportation for a wide variety of the population, not just a fringe activity undertaken mostly by the young, the brave, the athletic, the (predominately) male and the environmentally inclined. And understanding that truth, they would design bicycle infrastructure accordingly.

For me, the latest reminder that we haven’t yet touched the Monolith comes in the form of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT’s) construction plans for Dexter Avenue.

Probably the most heavily-used bicycle-commuting corridor in the City, Dexter currently features narrow and dangerous bike lanes, sandwiched between fast-moving traffic and parked cars and often blocked by double-parked trucks. In short, it’s a dreadful excuse for a major cycling route, one that takes both dedication and a leap of faith to navigate daily.

To SDOT’s considerable credit, Dexter’s reconstruction will result in a significantly more bike-friendly transportation environment, including wide bike lanes that will be separated from motorized traffic by a painted buffer. (In my opinion, the end result would have been better if SDOT had stuck with its original plans to build physically-separated cycle tracks, but that’s water under the bridge.)

The problem is what will happen—or rather, what won’t happen—during construction. The three-phase project, which officially began March 7, won’t be completed until the end of September. During that time, sections of roadway under construction will be two lanes during commute periods, and (at least intermittently) one lane with alternating traffic during other times. The bike lanes will be eliminated in areas under construction, and temporary cycle facilities won't be built to replace them. In other words, cyclists will be forced to ride with heavy car traffic in the construction zone.

What’s worse, the existing pavement will be ground down, leaving a bumpy and rutted surface for cyclists to negotiate during construction. Add to this the fact that cyclists have to climb a hill going in either direction on Dexter, so the speed difference between cars and bicycles will be considerable.  It all amounts to conditions that would seem to rival the infamous Paris-Roubaix race, not exactly a magnet for your average cyclist with a healthy sense of self preservation.

So far SDOT has not suggested or signed alternative cycling routes for the Dexter corridor during construction, and in fact due to local topography and street conditions there aren’t any good ones. Instead, according to the "Seattle Likes Bikes!” blog, City transportation officials have “stated repeatedly that cyclists will make their own route decisions based upon their individual comfort and ability.” This during the height of commuting season on what is perhaps the state’s busiest bicycle-transportation route.

Underlying SDOT’s statement is the assumption that cyclists are a bunch of hardy road warriors who can fend for themselves. The irony is that as long as SDOT and other transportation agencies continue to make this assumption, it will remain true: a perfect self-fulfilling prophesy. 

On the other hand, if transportation planners want to increase cycling to a level where it actually makes a dent in our urban transportation problems, they have to stop thinking solely of the present cycling community as their “customer base” and focus more on those who don’t commute or run errands by bike, but just might be convinced to do so if the bicycle felt like a safe and convenient alternative to their car.  In simple terms, take the focus off the guy on the $2,000 touring bike and place it on the mom with the kid’s seat on the back of her old cross bike. That means not only building first-class (mostly separated) bike facilities, but also making sure that cycling isn’t effectively foreclosed as an option during construction projects. 

Given the present state of transportation attitudes and infrastructure in the U.S., it’s very hard to convince the average person to get on a bike. Once they do so, you don’t want to lose them. You need to do everything you can to keep them riding. That requires a consistent approach, one that makes the average person feel safe and comfortable no matter what.  Good cycling conditions can’t be a sometimes thing.

The cycling nations of the Netherlands and Denmark understand this. That’s why their cycling facilities tend to be complete, convenient and connected, without gaps; and are designed not only to be safe, but also to foster a feeling of safety on the part of the average person.

Temporary bike path in Copenhagen (Copenhagenize.com)

That’s also why those countries virtually always provide for cyclists during road construction.  Temporary cycling paths are built so that travel patterns aren’t disrupted. Sometimes engineers will even close part of a highway to cars and convert it to a cycle path during a road project, or may even build a temporary freeway crossing for cyclists, as shown in the videos and links on this post by European bike blogger David Hembrow.

So congratulations to SDOT on its efforts on the Dexter Corridor, and I look forward to the final results. But in the meantime, I’ll keep searching for the Monolith.

Demonstration bike loading policy in downtown Seattle to become permanent

Last February, King County Metro dropped its restriction on loading bikes on buses at transit stops in downtown Seattle's Ride Free Area as a demonstration policy.  Since an evaluation of this demonstration policy reveals that there have been no problems with safety, operation, or on-time performance, this policy becomes permanent next month.

A big thanks to Metro for making this a permanent policy.  The Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Cascade Bicycle Club have advocated for this policy change for many years, and it's rewarding to have this loading restriction eliminated.  The Bicycle Alliance helped with community outreach on this policy change.  We have also provided information on how to load/unload bikes on buses and have had a demo rack available to practice on in our BikePort facility.

Bicyclists Appreciate the ADA - Thanks to the Bushes!

Navigating a curb midblock in Pioneer Square.

I'm a bike advocate, temporarily disabled. I usually find myself talking to elected officials or policy makers about complete streets where everyone has access to our roads and sidewalks. But in a moment of weird coincidence, on the twentieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), I fell off my bike and fractured my pelvis. (See previous blog post for that story.)

My life was changed in a matter of seconds. I went from biking everywhere to using a walker and now crutches. The bus stop closest to my house remains out of reach, up two steep blocks. I went from car-free to being driven to work.

Now thanks to George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush (I never thought I'd thank them for anything), the ADA defines a physical impairment as something that limits a major life activity -- walking for instance.

While the ADA has significantly improved walking downtown and on neighborhood streets, a missing curb cut can literally stop a physically or visually impaired person as effectively as a wall. And while my physical impairment is relatively short term, Seattle's streets remain a maze of streets without curb cuts and crosswalks with fast turning traffic.

My work neighborhood in Pioneer Square (see photo) demonstrates how critically important the ADA is to the livability of our cities and how much work remains to be done to provide universal access for all users of the transportation system, including sidewalks and intersections.

As we cyclists advocate for sharing the roads, with full access, we can learn from the disabled advocates who wrote the ADA legislation 20 years ago.