Almost nobody uses the parking on Roosevelt between 75th and 85th.

I went on a ride up Roosevelt to check out the parking situation, and was actually surprised to find a mere 7 cars parked in the 10-block stretch of on-street parking SDOT has proposed for removal in order to install a bike lane. Seven. That is 0.7 cars per block. My count was at 10:21 p.m. on a Wednesday, a time when, presumably, nearby neighborhoods would be in for the night and neighborhood parking would be full.

This seems odd, seeing as citizens were throwing a stink at the open house earlier this week about how their neighborhoods will get packed with all the parking overflow. Judging by my ride last night, I think those concerned can sleep easy. It won’t be much of a problem.

Now, I am willing to go back and count them again if there is a time of day when people think it will be more missed than at night (unlikely). Maybe on a weekend or something. But from what I can tell, the parking removal on this project is a non-issue, and SDOT should move forward, confident that they are not causing any immense neighborhood parking issues (I’m sure they already know that).

Meanwhile, I never realized how quickly you can ride from the top of Maple Leaf to the U District on a bike. With proper bike infrastructure, this route will be a very fast and safe bike route that may make commuting south even more practical for anyone living up near Maple Leaf. If you have never ridden from the top of the hill down to the U District at night, it’s a lot of fun. You can basically go 50 blocks without ever moving your feet. How many miles per gallon is that? Oh right … it’s a divide by zero error…