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Community group, SDOT in 2019 push to make Pike/Pine a safer route for bikes

(Image: CHS)

A missing east-west connection in Seattle’s bike infrastructure could open next year. Or it might not happen until 2021. Either way, bike lanes along the Pike/Pine corridor, connecting Broadway to 2nd Ave are coming.

Bike advocates are hoping that linking these two existing corridors will help increase bike usage overall. By linking the two north-south routes, it creates a network for bikers to ride safely around town.

“The real problem is we don’t have connected infrastructure,” said Brie Gyncild, who is working on the project with Central Seattle Greenways. “We expect to see more use of the Broadway bike lanes after the connection.”

 

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The end goal is to have a pair of protected lanes, completely separate from car traffic, similar to the existing separated bikeway on Broadway added during the First Hill Streetcar project in part to help keep riders away from the dangerous tracks.

A major difference, however, is the new lanes will be one way, with one lane on Pike and another on Pine, Gyncild said. The push behind this is safety for bikers. It’s generally bad to have some bikers wheezing their way uphill, inches away from others who are whizzing their way downhill.

Gyncild said her group has been advocating for safe connections in the bike network that make sense. She says they’ve also been working with the businesses along the streets, largely to ensure that the new lanes don’t have too much of a negative impact on their loading needs.

SDOT Project map – Center City Bike Network Options

Just when the lanes will open is not as clear, but next year seems to be what SDOT wants. However, Goran Sparrman, SDOT interim director, has said he’d like to see the lanes open next year. SDOT spokeswoman Mafara Hobson confirmed that the department is working to see the lanes open in 2019.

There are not yet any guarantees, however, and the city’s website still states the segment from 8th Avenue to Broadway is set for design and construction in 2021.

Either timeline looks to be complicated by a pair of other, larger projects.

The Convention Center expansion is hoped to start construction this year. It’s the convention center, by the way, which is funding these bike lanes. The development ponied up $10 million as part of the public benefits package to receive the necessary approvals for the expansion.

In addition to the Convention Center, there’s the “Pike-Pine Renaissance” project. That project is happening in conjunction with the waterfront project (which is happening in conjunction with the viaduct coming down) and will reshape the streets through downtown, from 1st Avenue all the way up to Minor and Melrose on Capitol Hill.

At the very least, Gyncild hopes the city will be able to install some interim lanes. She said her group understands it might be a waste of money to install the lanes just before convention center construction or the renaissance project make changes to the streetscape, even if those changes are just during construction.

But interim lanes, done cheaply, can help begin the process. Besides providing the infrastructure link, they would also allow planners and citizens a chance to see the lanes in action. That could allow there to be changes to the design before more permanent infrastructure is put in place.

Gyncild also said she’s not worried that interim lanes will just stay interim, largely because of the construction. If the lanes are constantly being tweaked to accommodate construction, they won’t simply fall off people’s consciousness, and a final, permanent set of lanes could be installed after the major work is done.

For more details on the planned bike lanes, visit seattle.gov’s Pike/Pine mobility improvements page.

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14 Comments
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Adam
Adam
5 years ago

Seattle desperately needs better transportation infrastructure, yet seems totally preoccupied with blowing millions on streetcars and bike lanes that hardly anyone uses.

D reeves
D reeves
5 years ago
Reply to  Adam

That’s simply untrue about bike lanes, which are very low cost relative to the usage they get.

Stand next to the westlake bike lane during commuting hours, and it might change your mind.

And 1/3 of the bikeshare system did a million rides in the last 11 months.

Streetcars are a different story :/

SteveD
SteveD
5 years ago
Reply to  D reeves
d reeves
d reeves
5 years ago
Reply to  D reeves

What did you think of the article you linked to? That cost included repaving the entire street, rebuilding all the sidewalks, and adding new street lighting.

“Direct costs to install Seventh Avenue’s 6-foot-wide asphalt path, including bike-shaped icons and signals over 4½ blocks, consumed less than one-tenth of the $3.8 million spent, city records show.”

matt
matt
5 years ago
Reply to  Adam

I agree, we should make sure all lanes are properly utilized: ban street parking.

RWK
RWK
5 years ago
Reply to  Adam

The dedicated bike lanes on Broadway (and Roosevelt Way in the U-district) continue to attract almost no cyclists. What a waste!

Eli
Eli
5 years ago
Reply to  RWK

Gee, I can’t imagine why a bike lane that goes to nowhere wouldn’t attract riders… or another bike lane that only goes in a single direction.

What is your point, beyond that incomplete infrastructure isn’t used?

Adam
Adam
5 years ago
Reply to  RWK

No one uses the bike lanes? Solution: build more bike lanes.

Or rather, if your argument is that the city is competent at building bike lanes, then the solution is to allow them to build more bike lanes.

Either way, both seem like losing propositions.

d reeves
d reeves
5 years ago
Reply to  RWK

Adam, it’s simply not true that no one uses bike lanes. There have been well over a million bikeshare trips, and the westlake/fremont corridor gets 5-6000 trips/day. That’s because it allows people to complete a trip they need to make, safely.

It’s not one lane on one street that matters; it’s whether the system allows someone to safely complete a trip they actually want to make.

There are bike lanes that get low usage. Broadway is one of them, mostly because it actually doesn’t connect to anything useful. It was built and prioritized as streetcar mitigation.

rageofage
rageofage
5 years ago

Agreed. More room for more buses. This city continues to pander to a minority of commuters.

Gordon
5 years ago
Reply to  rageofage

1st) 20% of the commute on Pine every morning is people on bikes. And that is with a dangerous lane that ends at Boren. What’s more, the city expects the number of people biking downtown once the network is built out.

2nd) Bike and bus lanes work well together. Where they were implemented on Pike/Pine downtown bus travel time improved.

Greg
Greg
5 years ago
Reply to  Gordon

Throwing out a number like 20% of commuters on Pine are bicyclist is simply unfounded and unsupported by any research.
Projecting bike usage continues to be absolute fiction.

I say put the money into buses which are actually used regularly by a much larger population.

mixtefeelings
mixtefeelings
5 years ago
Reply to  Gordon

This reply is to Greg.

Greg, at the last census (or maybe American Community Survey, which is run by the Census), about 10 percent of CH residents (in my precinct, anyway, which is right off Pine) reported biking as their primary commute mode. Given the concentration of jobs downtown and that Pine is the most direct route, it is totally within reason that 20 percent of traffic on Pine is people on bikes.

nettles
nettles
5 years ago

As someone who’s been hit by a car TWICE where bike lanes end (literally the blocks where they end), I’m super happy for the improvements. Connectivity is key. Bike lanes are only a fraction of infrastructure improvement costs mainly used by car/buses (look up how much that SODO bridge is costing) that tends to make all of us non-steel-covered folks safer.

Still need more bus lanes tho for sure – that should be happening first, but good to pair bike with bus improvements.