Tag Archives: downtown

Biking on 2nd Ave downtown is up 37% as bike share and bike lanes expand

The number of people biking on 2nd Ave in downtown Seattle is up an average of 19 percent year-over-year since the July 2017 launch of private bike share services. And the trend appears to have accelerated as SDOT opened a … Continue reading

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Seattle Neighborhood Greenways: Save the Basic Bike Network

EDITOR’S NOTE: With Bike Everywhere Day a week away, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways has some ideas for how you can get engaged to help get the downtown Basic Bike Network back on track. If nothing else, scroll to the bottom to … Continue reading

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Don’t delay the downtown bike network

Downtown Seattle is facing a massive transportation challenge when buses are kicked out the transit tunnel in 2019. That is not long from now, and the City of Seattle and our region’s transportation agencies need to be taking action right … Continue reading

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Construction set to begin on vital downtown stretch of 7th Ave bike lane

Construction is set to begin next week to finally connect the well-used 7th Ave bike lane to the downtown core. When we last wrote about the planned 7th Ave southbound protected bike lane, we noted that it would end just … Continue reading

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New Pike/Pine bike lanes give a taste of their potential, but have been cut too short

For four glorious blocks between 2nd and 6th Avenues, Seattle’s new bike lane on Pike Street is a strong demonstration of how a connected network of bike lanes would dramatically increase the comfort and appeal of biking downtown. You can … Continue reading

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City will build a few blocks of very needed Pike/Pine bike lanes this weekend

SDOT crews will install five blocks of protected bike lanes on Pike and Pine Streets downtown this weekend, making a vital connection to the under-construction 2nd Ave bike lane in the heart of the downtown retail core. If the weather … Continue reading

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New downtown vision includes 4th Ave bike lanes, new transit pathway on 6th Ave

After months of talks, agency leaders have a near-term plan for downtown streets that both builds a two-way protected bike lane on 4th Ave and creates a transit pathway to keep buses moving once they are kicked out of the … Continue reading

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2nd Ave bike lane extension will open southbound in early October, northbound a couple weeks later – UPDATED

The 2nd Ave bike lane will reach Denny Way next month. Work on the street has been ongoing for quite a while as the city prepared it for bike lanes and other improvements for all modes, such as badly needed … Continue reading

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Protected bike lanes coming to Pike/Pine a big improvement, but fall just short

Pike and Pine Streets downtown are among the biggest missing bike connections downtown, and the city wants to take action to make them safer and more comfortable by the end of the year. Like with 2nd Ave in 2014, SDOT … Continue reading

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Spring Street bike lane is a big improvement, but it ends just short of First Hill

Downtown just got a new bike lane on Spring Street. It’s not the kind of bike route addition that’s going to start any biking revolutions, but it’s a major improvement over what was there before. And with just a few … Continue reading

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Seattle’s top bike commuting workplaces are all within 5 blocks of a protected bike lane or trail

New analysis from Commute Seattle found that the city’s large workplaces (100+ employees) with the highest bike commute rates all are within five blocks of a protected bike lane or trail and offer secure bike parking. Even more telling: The … Continue reading

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Test riding a Bluegogo stationless bike share bike in downtown Seattle

I took a ride on what could be one of Seattle’s next bike share bikes and made it up one of downtown’s steepest hills. It was a Bluegogo bike, one of at least two companies actively pursuing Seattle as one … Continue reading

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How One Center City can finally build the vital Pike/Pine bike connection

Pike/Pine is one of the most needed and promising connections in the entire Seattle bike network. And the multi-agency One Center City partnership is looking to make major near-term changes along the corridor between Pike Place Market and Broadway that … Continue reading

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Only 5% of new downtown Seattle commute trips are made by driving alone, but biking is flat

Downtown Seattle has added 45,000 jobs since 2010. During the same time, only 2,255 new drive-alone trips have been added to downtown streets, according to a new Commute Seattle survey. The other 95 percent of commute trips were absorbed by … Continue reading

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The One Center City plan includes some bold ideas, but fails to prioritize safety

The One Center City partnership released a set of “near-term strategies” for a major redesign of downtown streets Thursday that would increase bus capacity, could increase car capacity, and neither commits to building a connected network of safe bike lanes … Continue reading

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Convention Center expansion should help build major bike network crossroads

Much of the talk about public benefits from the planned Washington State Convention Center expansion has been focused on the very exciting idea of building a lid over more of I-5 connecting downtown to Capitol Hill and First Hill. The … Continue reading

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Yesler bridge work starts today + Will they build the right kind of bike lanes?

A $19.8 million project to rehab the historic Yesler Way bridge downtown starts today. Yesler Way will be under construction from 6th to 3rd Avenues downtown until fall 2017. You should also expect construction and detours on 4th and 5th … Continue reading

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We Can’t Wait, Part II: How Seattle’s bike plans got so lost, and how to get back on track

Yesterday in Part I, we reported on a protest at City Hall over the city’s delayed bike plans, especially downtown. In Part II, we look at how Seattle got so far off their bold safe streets path, and how the … Continue reading

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Turn your downtown bike lane frustration into fun at Cascade’s ‘Hidden Gem’ scavenger hunt

We’ve been writing a lot recently about Seattle’s delayed downtown bike lane plans in large part because it is the biggest employment center in the state and the single biggest missing piece in so many city-wide and regional bike routes. … Continue reading

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SDOT backpedals even further on already-slashed bike plan, cuts 9th Ave

It took only two weeks for Seattle’s Department of Transportation to cut the only significant center city bike lane from their already-scaled-back 2016 plans. The 9th Ave N bike lane would have connected the new Westlake Ave bikeway (due to … Continue reading

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