The result of those spring café-style conversations on Seattle’s increasingly modest plans for new bike projects?

The Seattle Times reports “tweaks” after “backlash from cyclists” but says “construction will remain limited.”

Following outrage from cyclists, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will make some small changes to its near-term plan for building bike lanes and slow streets known as greenways. But those hoping to see a dramatic increase in construction of safe biking infrastructure are likely to be disappointed. In the latest version of its six-year bike work plan released Thursday, city officials added back several bike lanes and greenways they previously cut. But nearly all of the projects being resurrected are identified for early planning work, indicating their construction is still unfunded and could be years away.

The full report from the Times is here.

SDOT’s take on those “tweaks” is here:

New this year, we launched an online survey and hosted four café-style conversations in the north, central southeast, and southwest Seattle to gather input and confirm the plan meets people’s needs and values. We heard from over 350 people at our public meetings and through the survey and over 550 via emails. People shared the importance of safety, protecting the environment, and transparency in decision-making. They’d like increased maintenance of facilities and increased wayfinding. They also highlighted expanding engagement to include the voices of all people impacted, communities of color, and people who might be new to biking. Now that the implementation plan is complete, we’ll incorporate these values and continue to engage community members in the planning, design, and construction of projects. We also worked to clean our protected bike lane network during Bike Everywhere Month in May.

“This Implementation Plan reflects the communities desire and our commitment to fight climate change, support a multimodal transportation system that encourages the reduction of single occupancy vehicles, and supports Seattle’s Vision Zero commitment to eliminate fatal and serious traffic collisions by 2030,” SDOT’s post on the Bicycle Master Plan Implementation Plan reads. The full report is below.

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.

 

C is for Crank says the implementation plan gives a little — and taketh away more.

In response to community feedback urging the city to restore some of the cuts SDOT proposed to bike lanes in Southeast Seattle, the new plan will reportedly include a new mile-long bike lane along Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. between the Mount Baker light rail station and I-90, as well as “pre-planning” for a protected bike lane (PBL) along MLK to Southeast Seattle; a bike lane along Beacon Ave. from the Jose Rizal Bridge in the International District to 39th Ave. S. about five and a half miles away, and some sort of new connection between downtown and Georgetown (where heavy freight traffic along Airport Way has made putting a bike lane there a political and logistical challenge).

SDOT also appears to be scaling back plans for a protected bike lane on 4th Ave, the site reports.

UPDATE: Sunday, bicyclists and advocates will join in a citywide Ride for Safe Streets. Groups are meeting up to join the ride from points across Seattle — including on Capitol Hill:

We're planning a group ride and group walk for folks in the Central District.

Cyclists meet at Cal Anderson near the fountain at 12:30 pm Sunday. @dseater will lead that ride.

Walkers meet at Tougo Coffee at Broadway & Yesler at 12:30 pm Sunday. @absentm1nd will lead the walk. https://t.co/WFvq7sOBrf

— Central Seattle Greenways (@CSGreenways) June 13, 2019

Despite all the Bike Master Plan shifting, the plan for temporary protected bike lanes in Pike/Pine that will lead the way for permanent routes remains on track for 2019. CHS reported on the Pike/Pine planning and progress earlier this month. The report also included an update on the E Union protected bike lane plan coming together for what is hoped to be early 2020 implementation.

The full Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) 2019 to 2024 Implementation Plan is below.