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Move All Seattle Sustainably calls for more to be done more quickly to move buses around the city… more quickly

The Move All Seattle Sustainably coalition, the raft of community groups that came together last fall to push Mayor Jenny Durkan’s administration to act more quickly on transforming the city’s transportation infrastructure, are calling for support Tuesday as a Seattle City Council committee hears updates on levy spending and RapidRide implementation.

“We think the City needs to be more ambitious about prioritizing public transit on our roads,” MASS writes. “Buses carrying scores of riders shouldn’t get stuck behind a sea of single-occupancy vehicles!”

The $930 million “levy to move Seattle” had a lot going for it in improving transit across the city and in District 3 but some of the realities of the plan have fallen short of hopes. One example is the coming set of protected bike lanes on E Union where city planners are considering a setup that would include forcing bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk at key intersections.

Part of Tuesday’s transportation committee meeting will also be dedicated to updates on RapidRide including the Madison “Bus Rapid Transit” RapidRide G line scheduled to be in place for service beginning in 2021.

Speeding the route for bus service on 23rd Ave, meanwhile, is being planned as a “Transit-Plus Multimodal Project” as it awaits a schedule for implementation — eventually — as a RapidRide route:

For the four Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor Projects (Rainier, Market, Fremont and 23rd Ave BRT), SDOT will make transit speed and reliability improvements with safety and access to transit improvements with Levy funds and any additional partner funding that can be secured. These improvements, which may include bus lanes, transit priority signals, upgrades to bus zones, and facilities to improve access to transit, will provide benefits within the Levy timeframe to the thousands of riders and travelers currently utilizing these corridors. Additionally, SDOT is making transit spot improvements throughout the city using Transit Corridors Levy funding and Seattle Transit Benefit District funding.

“The Market, Fremont, and 23rd Avenue corridors continue to be included in Metro’s long-range plan as RapidRide corridors,” city planners write in the update for the council, “and will be programmed for additional investment by Metro as part of future phases of their RapidRide Expansion Program. SDOT will develop Transit-Plus Multimodal investments to be forward compatible with future Metro investments.”

The full update on RapidRide is here (PDF).

As for the levy funded work, SDOT touts new sidewalks in Northeast Seattle and “Safe Routes to Schools” work near several school’s including the Central District’s Thurgood Marshall among its first quarter 2019 accomplishments. Of the $28.8 million spent in the quarter, SDOT says the $5.4 million Lander St overpass and $4.7 million in operations and maintenance spending were two of the biggest line items. Overall, it plans to spend $218 million in levy funds this year.

The full status report on Move Seattle levy implementation work is below:

 

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Eric
Eric
4 years ago

Bike lanes should go on the side streets where the cyclists would be safer and the lanes would be cheaper to build hopefully and not as disruptive to the flow of commerce and transit, and traffic.

These groups with their war on cars, certainly don’t win any support from more moderate voters so they might want to think about that if they call for more taxes to be voted on.

JB
JB
4 years ago
Reply to  Eric

War on cars – is that what you call it when people riding bikes prefer to not be run over on their way to work? Honestly, you and Rob Ford could start a melodrama club. By the way, what makes you think that bicycles don’t represent commerce and traffic too?

cd cyclist
cd cyclist
4 years ago
Reply to  Eric

Side streets are not necessarily safer -They are certainly slower – they have far more obstructed sight lines and far more uncontrolled intersections, so the operator of any vehicle is forced to be more alert, more cautious (though motor vehicle operators are often not…. the risk to them is after all, just a dent…) and to slow down considerably.

I commute to work – so indeed I represent both traffic and commerce. While it might be more convenient for *you* if I were to use side streets, it is neither more convenient or safer for me. Is there a good reason you consider me as an individual to be somehow much less important than you are – should my mode of transportation make me a second class citizen?

S Walker
S Walker
4 years ago

If bicyclists would FOLLOW TRAFFIC LAWS, WEAR SEEABLE CLOTHING, BUY TABS, HAVE INSURANCE AND GET TICKETED LIKE CARS things would be great. I’m so tired of listening to bicyclists complain about cars and then break 20 different traffic laws a day. You can’t watch for bicyclists if they drive wherever and whenever they want, running stop signs and lights CONSISTENTLY. But, every freaking single one says “not me, I follow the rules”.

JB
JB
4 years ago
Reply to  S Walker

I know, it’s such a burden when your fellow citizens complain about almost getting run over everywhere they go. The nerve of some people! Next they’ll be telling us that little details like the air we breathe and the planet we live on actually matter to anyone. Just give them tickets and tell them to shut up. I drive a car and everyone else should too! Then we won’t have anymore of these problems.

S Walker
S Walker
4 years ago
Reply to  JB

Classic. Did you even read what I wrote? Most of this could be avoided if they would follow traffic laws. How can you watch for someone when they are so unpredictable and drive whenever and wherever they want, disregarding red lights and stop signs.

d reeves
d reeves
4 years ago
Reply to  S Walker

S Walker,

What does your weird anti-cyclist screed have to do with this article, which is mostly about moving buses faster?

But since you brought it up….

Lawbreaking: Neither car drivers nor cyclists have any monopoly on law-breaking; the difference is that car drivers just don’t see it. On many of the streets SDOT studies in Seattle, 50-80% of car drivers are speeding and breaking the law. No one bats an eye. Or stand by the intersection of 12th/union/madison and see how many cars squeeze through after the light turns red every single time.

Funding:
City roads are largely funded for by property and sales taxes, which people on bikes pay just as much as cars.

Insurance:
People in cars need to have insurance because of the damage they create when they hit other people. Why, specifically, are you demanding that people on bikes have insurance? Should a 12-year old kid in south seattle have to buy insurance? Is it just your perception that they are getting a free ride, or is there some real need you’re worried about?

And ticketing… please – Seattle police doesn’t issue many tickets to anyone, whether they’re driving or bicycling.

JB
JB
4 years ago
Reply to  S Walker

Since you’re so concerned with people on bicycles following the law, is it fair to assume that you also support improved bicycle infrastructure? Since it has been shown definitely that cyclists breaking the law is generally a response to poor/inadequate infrastructure.

CD Cyclist
CD Cyclist
4 years ago
Reply to  S Walker

I’m so tired of listening to drivers who think it’s absolutely fine FOR THEM to speed, run stop signs, fail to yield, blab and text on their cell phones, smoke weed in their cars and generally have NO CLUE about what the traffic laws actually say, especially when it is regarding road users that are not motor vehicles, complain about cyclists and then break 20 different traffic laws every day…. The street runs both ways buddy. The biggest difference is that you are piloting a 2000 lb death bringing machine, whilst I might put a small dent in your side panel if you pull out in front of me.

Oh and BTW – believe me or not, on my bicycle I don’t run stop signs or red lights, I signal my turns, I *actually stop* for pedestrians and in almost all ways am a much better citizen than 99.9% of the motor vehicle drivers I see out there…. and it annoys the f@ck out of some of them…. I’ve been *screamed at* by drivers for actually daring to come to a full stop at a stop sign….Damned if you do damned if you don’t. I might speed on occasion, but as a speedometer is not a required piece of safety equipment on a bicycle and I’m usually too small to trip the sensors on speed signs on the street, I’m not actually sure.