Seattle Bike Blog

UPDATE: Here’s the video of the city’s presentation: Beacon Hill has one street that cuts across the grid to be the most direct route and is less steep than other streets nearby: Beacon Ave S. Even with hardly any bike … Continue reading →

SDOT is hosting an online “drop-in session” from 5 to 6 p.m. today (Tuesday) to share early design details about planned MLK Way S bike lanes between Judkins Park and Rainier Ave S. There will also be an online survey. … Continue reading →

We are independent news organizations, editors, reporters, photojournalists, and freelancers working in Seattle, and we are coming together to oppose the Seattle Police Department’s subpoena seeking unpublished photographs and video taken by journalists at the Seattle Times, KIRO 7, KING … Continue reading →

If you have been having trouble finding a bright red shared JUMP bike around town, relief may be on the way. Lime is planning to quadruple the number of shared e-bikes on Seattle streets from 500 to 2,000 by the … Continue reading →

Cascade Bicycle Club is partnering with King County Parks and the cities of Kent, Renton and Tukwila to host a series of weekend scavenger hunts during August. They are free to join and family-friendly. You can bike, roll or walk … Continue reading →

Ecology block installation today on Lake Washington Blvd pic.twitter.com/nfLtTbvnQZ — Dongho Chang (@dongho_chang) August 5, 2020 SDOT has finally installed the concrete “ecology blocks” the department had initially planned as part of their efforts to deter driving on the people-focused … Continue reading →

Some great news from Seattle Public Utilities: The Ship Canal Trail will not be detoured to Nickerson Street for the next couple years as was originally planned. As we reported previously, concerned neighbors including Queen Anne Greenways drew attention to … Continue reading →

In July 2010 at the midst of the Great Recession and with very little money in the bank, I quit my job to become an independent bike journalist. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea … Continue reading →

When the Seattle Department of Transportation announced their plan to turn a section of Lake Washington Blvd in south Seattle into a car-light “Keep Moving Street,” a July 21 department blog post noted that they would use heavy cement “eco … Continue reading →

Transit is getting cut. But Seattle voters will have the chance in November to make the cuts less awful by approving the Seattle Transportation Benefit District’s (“STBD”) sales tax measure. As we reported previously, state legislators and the court-pending voter … Continue reading →

The term “food bank” has long been a misnomer because these organizations provide community members with so much more than food. Food donations are always great, of course, but so are the other necessities like diapers, menstrual products, soap, toothbrushes … Continue reading →

NE 171st St at 143 Pl NE will be closed for KCSO investigation for a car vs cyclist fatality. pic.twitter.com/fd75wOThf6 — Woodinville Fire (@WoodinvilleFire) July 27, 2020 Someone driving turned left in front of a person biking in Woodinville Monday … Continue reading →

We have known for a while that the coronavirus doesn’t spread as easily outside as inside, yet so many Seattle businesses are obviously based inside storefronts. What if businesses could move more of their operations outside? Cities all over the … Continue reading →

SDOT will close the northbound bike lane of the University Bridge Monday to Wednesday to install a higher-traction surface treatment across the bascule section of the bridge. The southbound bike lane will then be closed August 10 to 12. As … Continue reading →

The Peace Peloton rides Saturday from The Station coffee shop near Beacon Hill light rail station to Maple Wood Playfield in South Beacon Hill. Meet at The Station from 10 to noon, then ride all over Beacon Hill and Rainier … Continue reading →

Beginning July 20th, @SeattleSPU plans to re-route the Ship Canal Trail…ONTO NICKERSON. UNTIL 2023. I think we're going to need to see details of this detour. You know kids use the trail, right? pic.twitter.com/OhLVsGf1Pg — Queen Anne Greenways (@QAGreenways) June … Continue reading →

Lake Washington Boulevard is going car-free(ish) again starting Friday and continuing until at least Labor Day. SDOT and Seattle Parks tested the concept of what they call a “Keep Moving Street” on the stories lakefront street for five days in … Continue reading →

UPDATE 7/24: The work is now scheduled for 7/27-29 northbound and 8/10-12 southbound. UPDATE: This work has been postponed. From SDOT: “Unfortunately, this work has been postponed. When we opened the buckets of primer yesterday, we discovered that it had … Continue reading →

The Green River Trail is closed on the south side of the Duwamish River between Tuwila International Boulevard and E Marginal Way S until November 30. The City of Tukwila is working to daylight Riverton Creek, “which has been flowing … Continue reading →

Appellants fighting the city’s decades-long plan to finally complete the Ballard Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail have successfully found another legal maneuver to further delay the needed safety project until 2022, the Seattle Times reports. A King County Court … Continue reading →

Maxwell Burton and Michael Lang had started organizing the 2020 Disaster Relief Trials, a cargo-hauling bike competition, when the COVID-19 outbreak hit. As soon as schools closed down in the spring, Lang and Burton realized their mission had just changed. … Continue reading →

Mayor Jenny Durkan has failed in her basic duty to protest the people of Seattle from a police force under her control. She has lost the confidence of the people, and continues to demonstrate that she is not the leader … Continue reading →

Seattle is only one block away from completing a connected bike route through downtown from the International District to Fremont and the Burke-Gilman Trail. This project has been the result of so much work by so many people (too many … Continue reading →

Mmmmm. Island Soul. People don’t usually come to Seattle Bike Blog for restaurant reviews, but Island Soul is just so good. The Peace Peloton rides Saturday from Amy’s Merkato Ethiopian & Eritrean Restaurant in Hillman City and Deli to Island … Continue reading →

Cities across the country, including Seattle, Bellevue, Bothell, Edmonds and others around the region, have been experimenting with repurposing street space to provide more room for socially-distanced movement and outdoor commercial activity. They have provided expanded space for walking and … Continue reading →

Following the exciting passage of JumpStart Seattle revenue package, which levies a tax on high-end salaries at large companies to fund an array of COVID-19 recovery and affordability programs, the details of the city’s plan for Proposition 1 to renew … Continue reading →

With the fate of the West Seattle Bridge still unknown, SDOT is fast-tracking projects to improve other connections to and around the bridge. That includes the long-planned E Marginal Way remake, which has been a priority for both the Port … Continue reading →

Safe streets archaeologists in West Seattle made an astounding discovery this month, unearthing a long-forgotten sidewalk and path connecting the Duwamish Trail to some greenbelt trails off Highland Park Way SW. While waiting for city plans to help ease the … Continue reading →

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways has created a “Re-Imagining Traffic Enforcement Task Force” to research best practices and organize with community to develop ways to enforce traffic safety without or with fewer police and to rethink which traffic laws are keeping people … Continue reading →

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, people have been working to find ways to use their bikes to help meet community needs. Mike Lang and Maxwell Burton have been organizing people with bikes to help transport food from food … Continue reading →

Lake Washington Blvd has been the most-requested street for the city’s car-free and car-light street projects, which started as a response to the COVID-19 outbreak and the need to create more space for people to safely distance while getting some … Continue reading →

The third Peace Peloton ride meets 10 a.m. Saturday at Central Cafe and Juice Bar in the Central District. At noon, the ride will travel ten miles before ending at Fat’s Chicken and Waffles. If you plan to attend, fill … Continue reading →

Mayor Jenny Durkan and SDOT have paused $58.3 million worth of projects as the department attempts to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on the municipal budget. The cuts represent about 8% of the department’s adopted budget with … Continue reading →

EDITOR’S NOTE: Yes Segura was already researching the role of policing in traffic enforcement before I started working on this story. So I worked with him over the past week to put this piece together. As the city opens the … Continue reading →

Lime has relaunched e-assist bike share in Seattle, about six weeks after pulling their newly-acquired red JUMP bikes from the streets following a major investment deal with Uber. There are far fewer bikes hitting the streets than were available before. … Continue reading →

As massive protests against racist and brutal policing pass the half-month mark, the City Council has passed some significant limits on police weaponry and use of chokeholds. The Council is also developing major changes to the city budget through new … Continue reading →

EDITOR’S NOTE: Seattle Bike Blog supports the demands led by the King County Equity Now Coalition, including dropping charges against protesters, defunding Seattle Police, and investing in Black-led community organizations and community safety. The Seattle Bike Brigade has been serving … Continue reading →

The second Peace Peloton ride starts 10 a.m. Saturday at Tougo Coffee on Yesler Way near Broadway. Organized by Doc Wilson, the first Peace Peloton drew more than 300 people for a ride from Alki to the CD. Wilson hopes … Continue reading →

Dress in black, grab your bike and join the Ride for Justice noon Thursday at 23rd Ave S and the I-90 Trail. The ride will end at Cal Anderson Park. Details from event organizers Estelita’s Library, a non-profit “justice focused … Continue reading →

EDITOR’S NOTE: Seattle Bike Blog supports the Defund Seattle Police effort initially led by a large group of community organizations and leaders, including No New Youth Jail, Decriminalize Seattle, Block the Bunker, Seattle Peoples Party, COVID-19 Mutual Aid, Trans Women … Continue reading →

The Peace Peloton will ride 20 miles around the city from Alki Beach to the Northwest African American Museum in the Central District Saturday to “bring awareness to and bring about positive change for black, brown, marginalized, and disenfranchised populations … Continue reading →

EDITOR’S NOTE: Seattle Bike Blog supports the Defund Seattle Police effort being led by a large group of community organizations and leaders, including No New Youth Jail, Decriminalize Seattle, Block the Bunker, Seattle Peoples Party, COVID-19 Mutual Aid, Trans Women … Continue reading →

Right now, Seattle’s Police Department and Mayor Jenny Durkan are trying to get out of a Federal consent decree in place since 2012 following a pattern of police violence. The current Seattle Police contract is not in compliance with the … Continue reading →

As we already saw in our previous post, the covid-19 pandemic has totally scrambled the typical ridership data collected by Seattle’s 24/7 bike counters. On the Fremont Bridge, for example, total ridership is down about 20% compared to the 2013-19 … Continue reading →

The lower Spokane Street Bridge to West Seattle, a vital lifeline for the neighborhood since the upper West Seattle Bridge closed, will itself close for evening-to-overnight work Friday, Saturday and maybe Sunday. That means anyone biking will need to detour … Continue reading →

It’s a surprisingly simple idea. Find people who need bikes, find people who have bikes they don’t need, and then introduce them to each other. That’s basically how Bike Match Seattle works, a project started by Maggie Harger as a … Continue reading →

The number of bike trips across the Fremont Bridge in February was 47% higher than the February average from 2013-19, continuing a trend of strong year-over-year bike trip growth in recent years. But then March happened, and employers shut down … Continue reading →

The Ship Canal Water Quality project, the $500+ million effort by Seattle Public Utilities and the King County Wastewater Treatment Division to prevent sewage from spilling into Puget Sound during heavy rains, will close the section of the Burke-Gilman Trail … Continue reading →

Designs for the 15th Ave NE paving project are compete, and they include bike lanes from (almost) Lake City Way to NE 55th Street, most of which are protected bike lanes. There’s a lot to like about the project, which … Continue reading →

I already wrote about the MLK Jr Way S bike lane concepts, but SDOT gave a few more details about the project during the May Bicycle Advisory Board meeting (PDF) that are worth sharing. First, some background. SDOT is conducting … Continue reading →