Friday: Celebrate the newly-complete waterfront bikeway with a group ride

The newly-opened bike lanes on Alaskan Way not only make that stretch of the road safer, they also represent the final piece in a fully-connected waterfront bikeway. As we noted in our previous post, this is the first time in city history that there has been a fully connected bike route along the downtown waterfront, the product of generations of advocacy.

SDOT is celebrating the new lanes 11 a.m. Friday at Pier 66. Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways are hosting an all-ages group ride to the celebration that starts 10 a.m. in Pioneer Square's Occidental Park. More details from the event listing:

Join Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways on a short, fun ride to celebrate the full completion of the Alaskan Way Protected Bicycle Lane.

Hasn't it already opened?" you may ask. Yes, but when the multi-billion dollar waterfront promenade opened earlier this year, the bike path ended abruptly into heavy traffic. It is now a complete connection all the way to the Elliot Bay Trail and neighborhoods north, and we have a complete route from Ballard to Alki without having to mix with cars.

For more background, see Seattle has a complete bike route along its downtown waterfront for the first time in city history (Seattle Bike Blog)

We will meet at Occidental Square. Be there, ready to go at the time listed above. We will start with a required safety briefing, and roll out when that's done. All riders must attend the safety briefing to participate. Feel free to show up even if you have not pre-registered. Those who have not registered will need to fill out a waiver before the ride.

The route is short and flat and will be almostentirely along protected bike paths separated from vehicle traffic, but will include a couple of blocks along Yesler Way without bike lanes. We will ride as a group and take the full lane, going at the pace of the slowest riders. Kids and new riders are welcome to check out this amazing new bike path along the Seattle waterfront!

It's been a years-long road to completing this important route! Cascade Bicycle Club, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, and the wider bicycling community have advocated for a continuous protected bicycle lane on the west side of Alaskan Way. Let's show City decision makers that people on bikes make a difference, with a big community bike ride to the opening celebration that the city is hosting.

The Opening Celebration runs from 11 to 11:30am. Speeches, ribbon cutting, and mingling will ensue. There will be bike parking at the celebration. This is a one way ride. We will not return to the start as a group.