Seattle Bike Blog

OK, OK, yes, it is ridiculous that Pike Place allows cars (especially non-delivery vehicles). But that is just one little street downtown, and it tends to take up most of the space in local conversations about pedestrianizing streets. Let try … Continue reading →

The Bicycle Film Festival will screen May 6 at the Egyptian Theater on Capitol Hill. And among the short films featured is “A short film about Seattle bike messengers, day laborers, and outsourcing gone wild.” Tickets are $30. From the … Continue reading →

The Washington State Senate and House are both mulling over how to incentivize more residents to ride electric bicycles, and the Senate’s version of the state budget would provide a $300 rebate for any state resident who buts an e-bike … Continue reading →

Since 1968, Seattle Parks has been hosting car-free days on Lake Washington Boulevard during the spring and summer. It’s one of the longest-running open streets events in the world, and the department partnered with SDOT in recent years to expand … Continue reading →

A complete rebuild of E Marginal Way has been in the works for a long time, and work is set to finally get under way this autumn. The street is both a major bike route and the trucking access point … Continue reading →

I expected to feel a little sad upon arriving back in the United States after a weeklong family vacation in Amsterdam. But that’s not what happened. I love Seattle, and I love biking here. Perhaps it’s because I’m older now … Continue reading →

Here’s something weird: We don’t really know where sidewalks do or do not exist in Washington State. We have some ideas, but no comprehensive dataset. Our bad data is even worse if you need to know which sidewalks and curb … Continue reading →

My kid loves to count the bikes with blue front tires here in Amsterdam. And they really are everywhere. At first I thought it was some kind of style trend, but then I noticed they were all the same brand: … Continue reading →

From WSDOT: CLOSURES 3/31-4/3 WB 520 off-ramp to Montlake Blvd will close from 8 p.m. on Friday to 5 a.m. on Monday. WB 520 off-ramp to Lake Washington Blvd will close from 6 p.m. on Friday to 5 a.m. on … Continue reading →

Greetings from the lower countries! We took our five-year-old on her first trip out of the country for a somewhat spontaneous family vacation to Amsterdam. We spotted a surprisingly cheap flight a couple months ago and bought the tickets on … Continue reading →

The Duwamish Trail will finally connect to the Spokane Street Bridge in May, SDOT told area stakeholders. Work will begin in early April and, weather permitting, should be be completed in just a couple weeks. The permanent trail connection will … Continue reading →

For those who have never paid attention to a Washington State legislative session before, we are about to enter the next distinct phase of the session: The budget. The early months of the session are mostly focused on general policy … Continue reading →

Seattle Bike Blog is not where people usually go to read about light rail station placement debates. But as a Seattle resident who cheers for both an affordable and thriving International District as well as the best transit service we … Continue reading →

Commute Seattle dramatically expanded its annual analysis of work trip survey data, finding a wealth of interesting data about how the city’s commute patterns have changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The biggest change by far is that … Continue reading →

Bob Svercl’s latest video is a bike ride around North Beacon Hill focused on some history highlights of the area. He even included a route map if you are inspired to ride to the featured areas yourself. This is the … Continue reading →

There’s a very interesting piece buried deep within a major roadway rebuild project on Rainier Avenue in Renton: 1,000 feet of trail on the east side of the street that will someday be part of the Lake Washington Loop connecting … Continue reading →

Councilmember Dan Strauss sent a letter (PDF) to Mayor Bruce Harrell asking him to shift SDOT’s Missing Link efforts to focus on designing and building a Burke-Gilman Trail connection on Market Street and Leary Way in Ballard. “I see a … Continue reading →

Trail connections to the under-construction Judkins Park light rail station will get lighting as the city and Sound Transit work to improve station access conditions before it opens in … uh … well, at some point. Judkins Park Station is … Continue reading →

We are well into the phase of the legislative session where it becomes really difficult to keep track of which bills are moving, which ones are stalled, which have been amended to be better, which have been amended to be … Continue reading →

Contrary to what you may have read on Twitter or saw written on yellow signs on trees on Pike Street near the market, Seattle’s decision to cut down cherry trees on the block between 1st and 2nd Avenues has nothing … Continue reading →

One year ago, the King County Board of Health voted 11–2 to repeal the county’s rare all-ages bicycle helmet law. One of the arguments in favor of repeal was that the law was not a top reason that most people … Continue reading →

SDOT is set to present their “top to bottom review” of the Vision Zero program to the City Council Transportation Committee March 7, and safe streets advocates are pushing for more specifics and hard deadlines to “light a fire under … Continue reading →

Washington State bills banning turns on red near many key locations statewide are officially dead after neither the Senate nor the House failed to move them forward before a session deadline. This is how many bills die every year, essentially … Continue reading →

R+E Cycles is turning 50 years old, and the storied bike shop and frame builders behind the Rodriguez and Erickson custom bikes will be celebrating by hosting the return of the free Bike and Pike expo for the first time … Continue reading →

On his first day on the job, SDOT Director Greg Spotts pledged a “top-to-bottom review” of the department’s Vision Zero program to figure out why traffic injuries and deaths are increasing, especially for people walking and rolling. He assigned employees … Continue reading →

SR-520 will be closed this weekend as crews install girders for the future walking and biking bridge that will cross the freeway heading toward the Arboretum, among other work. The cross-lake trail will be closed along with the rest of … Continue reading →

Crews building improved bike lanes on Pike and Pike Streets downtown will close existing stretches of bike lanes for months at a time. So while both bike lanes were already incomplete, biking there will get worse before it gets better. … Continue reading →

With all the discussion recently about how people crash a car or truck into a Seattle building about twice a week, a commenter reminded me of a Not Just Bikes video from a couple years ago about why this rarely … Continue reading →

Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that publication of my book Biking Uphill in the Rain: The Story of Seattle from behind the Handlebars has been pushed back to August due to delays in … Continue reading →

Seattle Public Utilities’ planned work zone bike path on Stone Way did not work out as they intended, the agency announced this week. While sidewalks remain open through the construction area between N 34th and 35th Streets, equipment has blocked … Continue reading →

Make eye contact, wear bright clothes and only cross the street at designated locations. These are common instructions dictated to people trying to navigate our cities on foot in order to avoid getting hit by a car. What advice then … Continue reading →

Policy bills must be voted out of a committee in either the Washington House or Senate by Friday in order to stay alive this legislative session. Washington Bikes is urging people to contact your legislators to ask them to advance … Continue reading →

Hey, everyone. Sort of an unusual post here, but I figured at least some of you might be interested. I have put significant time and energy into some updates to this old WordPress site focused on improving user privacy and … Continue reading →

 I am trying it again. I noticed the other day that Microsoft Flight Simulator has updated much of the imagery for Seattle. So that seems like a great reason to take to the skies again and make another video … Continue reading →

Cascade Bicycle Club’s annual Seattle Bike Swap is always a wonderful place to dig through some bike part bins, discover something rare or find an affordable used bike. Tickets are $8 if you buy online before noon Friday or $10 … Continue reading →

The Bikery, a non-profit community bike shop and teaching organization based between Judkins Park and the International District, is seeking two new board members. If you believe in their mission and can commit 2–6 hours per month, this could be … Continue reading →

This is one part of a series about jaywalking laws in Seattle and Washington. See also: From the beginning, Seattle ‘jaywalker’ stings were used to arrest poor people and Seattle’s first jaywalking law in 1917 was part of the city’s … Continue reading →

This is one part of a series about jaywalking laws in Seattle and Washington. See also: From the beginning, Seattle ‘jaywalker’ stings were used to arrest poor people and Support an end to ‘jaywalking’ laws in Washington. The day before … Continue reading →

Seattle voters overwhelmingly approved a taxing levy in 2015 with the stated goal of building 110 miles of new or upgraded protected bike lanes and neighborhood greenways across the city by the end of 2024. As of the start of … Continue reading →

After community feedback, SDOT will move to slow traffic speeds on 15th Ave S on Beacon Hill in the spring while the project moves through the design process. The department will install a series of speed cushions as well as … Continue reading →

Social housing is not a panacea for Seattle’s ongoing housing affordability crisis. But it is one more tool the city can use to help alleviate ever-climbing rental prices. We need every possible solution we can get our hands on if … Continue reading →

As we reported earlier this month when the Spokane Street Bridge to West Seattle reopened, SDOT removed the temporary bike lanes they constructed on 1st Ave S in response to the closure but kept the Duwamish Trail connection on W … Continue reading →

Seattle will receive a $25,654,000 grant from the USDOT’s Safe Streets for All program, Senator Maria Cantwell announced. Under the city’s $30 million proposal (PDF), the bulk of the funds would have focused on SoDo and Rainier Valley with spot … Continue reading →

Both the state Senate and House are holding hearings on what Washington Bikes is calling “#WrongOnRed,” an effort to ban turns on red near certain locations like schools, parks, hospitals, senior centers and other areas with lots of walking activity. … Continue reading →

It is officially the middle of declare your candidacy for City Council season, and I’m sure many more are on the way. Open seats tend to draw a lot more candidates than races with an incumbent, and Districts 1, 3, … Continue reading →

Jaahnavi Kandula—a 23-year-old student from Adoni in the Andhra Pradesh state in India who was studying at the South Lake Union campus of Northeastern University—was walking across Dexter at Thomas Street in a marked crosswalk when a police officer driving … Continue reading →

After extensive public outreach throughout 2022, the Seattle Transportation Plan is moving to the next phase as the team attempts to create a single map and plan that represents the city’s vision for the next decade or so of transportation … Continue reading →

 Seattle’s fantastic True Loves are playing a free all-ages show 6 p.m. Friday at The Royal Room in Columbia City to “celebrate our community of cyclists, activists, and other environmentally-conscious supporters and friends who work to curb the affects … Continue reading →

Turns on red would be banned within 1,000 feet of certain places, such as schools, parks, hospitals, senior centers and other public facilities if Senate Bill 5514 passes during the 2023 State Legislative session. The bill—sponsored by Senators John Lovick, … Continue reading →

Kshama Sawant, the City of Seattle’s most tenured elected official, will not run for reelection after a decade in office. Seattle Bike Blog has endorsed Sawant consistently since she pulled a remarkable upset to unseat Richard Conlin during the 2013 … Continue reading →