Image from King County Parks

No number of exclamation marks could accurately express the excitement of this news. The Burke-Gilman Trail will reopen tomorrow at noon after being closed for nearly eight months.

Reconstruction of the vital link went significantly over-budget, and completion was delayed by nearly two months.

The closure was particularly hard for people who depend on the trail to get around because there were no viable detour options, and the state refused to properly accommodate the displaced bicycle riders on 522, the only continuous parallel roadway. Thousands of people on bikes used this stretch of trail every day before the closure. The only options during the closure were to take to the highway (not appealing to most) or to ride a hilly five-mile signed detour. Continue reading →

Images from Recycled Cycles

One day after Back Alley Bike Repair opens in Pioneer Square, Seattle will get another new bike shop. Recycled Cycles, the legendary used bike mecca in the U District, is opening a new, smaller shop next to their Fremont warehouse February 15.

The shop will be the second bike shop in the area, moving in just a few blocks from the high-performance-focused Speedy Reedy.

From Recycled Cycles: Continue reading →

Back Alley Bike Repair is on track to open its doors February 14, operating out of the shop’s space in Nord Alley in Pioneer Square.

We spoke with the shop’s owner Ben Rainbow in December about closing the Bicycle Alliance’s Bike Port and the attached JRA bike shop, where Rainbow was the manager. That shop closed at the end of the year.

Now, Rainbow has moved the shop to Nord Alley, where he is opening Back Alley Bike Repair. The shop will still focus on same-day tune-ups for commuters in addition to selling commuter gear and new and used bikes.

Rainbow wrote a post on the Bicycle Alliance blog describing how the shop came to be: Continue reading →

The SunBreak went to see Seattle’s own Willie Weir talk at REI Tuesday evening and was pleasantly entertained.

From The SunBreak:

Weir, who has cycled around every corner of God’s green earth, is a triple threat: a trained actor, skilled photographer, and talented writer who has now published two volumes of cycling memoirs. A slim man, not particularly tall, he had the crowd in stitches recounting, in his “Why I love the tastes of bicycling” section, his tale of gorging for five hours at a $5 all-you-can-eat buffet somewhere in Wisconsin, then hoisting his distended belly back into the saddle, and—a few hours later—inveigling his way into more free food at a big family-reunion picnic he came across in a park. Continue reading →

Remember when one of the biggest promises of the Alaskan Way Viaduct removal project was that it would reconnect downtown to the waterfront? Well, that’s not going to happen unless we speak up to make sure the walking and biking environment is not crushed by a massive, 100-foot-wide speedway.

Plans for the new surface boulevard to replace the viaduct and the current four-lane Alaskan Way could call for as many as 7 or 8 lanes of car and freight traffic (in addition to the four buried underground), requiring people to cross 100 feet of roadway to get between downtown and the new waterfront park. That’s twice as wide as the viaduct. Doesn’t sound very inviting to me.

On top of that, some of the lanes could be as wide as 12 feet. We know for a fact that wide lanes and excess road capacity encourage speeding. Plus, less road means more park!

You have a chance to speak up for a safe, inviting waterfront tonight. From Cascade Bicycle Club: Continue reading →

The Ballard Locks are closed to walking traffic until Thursday as the Army Corps of Engineers works to repair erosion, the Ballard News Tribune reports. That means two days of detours to either the Fremont Bridge or (if you really have to) the Ballard Bridge.

From the BNT:

The Ballard locks will be closed to all pedestrian traffic Feb. 7 and Feb. 8th to all pedestrian traffic as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is repairing a scour near the small lock wall. Vessel traffic will also be halted from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The 95-year old Hiram M. Chittenden Locks are showing signs of water wear and tear, and repair work is needed.

Water has caused erosion along a portion of the small lock wall creating a scour. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official say the lock is safe and there is no immediate danger of failure, but the repair is needed to maintain the safe waterway and stop further erosion. Continue reading →

Do you recognize this bike thief?

A Judkins Park resident posted photos and video to Central District News showing someone stealing the black Cannondale Bad Boy from outside their home Sunday, less than a block from the I-90 Trail. They are hoping someone recognizes him and calls the police.

From CDNews: Continue reading →

Seattle Public Schools will identify safe walking routes for walking school buses for every K-8 school in the district as part of a plan to prevent car drop-offs.

Providing safe ways for kids to bike and walk to school is one of the biggest and most popular effects of neighborhood greenway, and many of the neighborhood groups pushing the projects have identified routes that pass within a block or two of schools.

Navigating the insane school drop-off zones is among the most dangerous activities a child will face on an average day (whether they walk or are driven). Crossing guards, safe infrastructure, walking school buses, bike trains and safe route advice can go a long way in changing the way children arrive to class each day.

Plus, studies consistently show that kids who walk or bike to school arrive more ready to learn than kids who do not get a little exercise before classes begin, and the mission of getting more kids to walk and bike to school has galvanized parents across the city to get organized behind the call for safe streets.

But, of course, this news comes as the US House is working to demolish the federal Safe Routes to School program in favor of more oil and highway subsidies. Continue reading →

House GOP thinks this girl's desire to safely bike to school is bankrupting America

“This is chance to prove that the [bike] movement is real,” bike-friendly US House legislator from Oregon Earl Blumenauer told Bike Portland as GOP lawmakers push a much-maligned transportation bill through the US House (including Dave Reichert of Washington’s 8th District, covering much of King and Pierce Counties including most of the Eastside).

Changes currently under consideration in the House include elimination of bike/walk funding, Safe Routes to School (which Blumenauer has championed) and eliminating guaranteed transit funding. You would think the fact 100 percent of Americans use sidewalks would have been enough to have this bill laughed out of town. Instead, it passed committee votes and is headed to the floor. Because, you know, kids walking and biking to school are obviously the people bankrupting our nation. Continue reading →

In welcome news for many, many people who regularly bike on in the north end, the city will repave Ravenna Blvd this summer.

Ravenna is among the bumpiest arterial streets in the city, and it is a vital link in the bicycle network. But for the past several years, the deteriorated road conditions have made cycling a pain, and many of the bike lane markings have disappeared, creating confusion for people driving and biking alike.

The new road design plans are fairly similar to the way things are today, but many key issues will be addressed. Instead of having an extra-large bike lane — which some drivers mistake for a second general traffic lane — the bike lane will be protected by a three-foot painted buffer similar to Dexter Ave. The bike lanes will still be on the left side (next to the park median), but they will look a whole lot more like bike lanes. Continue reading →