Category: bike master plan

SDOT to host 35th Ave NE paving project open house October 21

Over the past several years, plans have been developed with the goal of creating a safe and pedestrian-friendly experience for neighbors wishing to walk to businesses and services on 35th Avenue NE from NE 55th Street to NE 85th Street.

Future of 35th Avenue NE Plan

Planning for the future of 35th Avenue NE public workshop circa 2014. Photo courtesy of Future of 35th Ave NE blog.

Between 2012 and 2015, the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, the Wedgwood Community Council, and neighbors from both communities worked together to develop a plan, including  design guidelines, for creating a vibrant 35th Avenue NE.

After 3 years of public meetings, field trips, data collection, Coffee Talks, surveying, being awarded a grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, selecting a consultant team, hosting public workshops, collecting more data, the Future of 35th Ave NE Plan was released in 2015. The plan contains a streetscape toolkit that includes recommendations for making 35th Avenue NE pedestrian-friendly.

Pedestrian safety improvements along arterial roads

While the RBCA board has focused most of our mobility-related advocacy efforts on improving safety along the NE 65th Street corridor most recently, all arterial roads in the neighborhood have been identified as needing changes to make them safer for all who use them.

In a 2016 survey about neighborhood mobility concerns, pedestrian safety was the primary concern.  The most common complaint regarding pedestrian safety, as well as motorist and biker safety,  was people speeding in their cars along both arterial and residential streets. The second most common complaint was about how difficult it is to cross arterial roads and, interestingly enough, it wasn’t only pedestrians and bikers who identified this as a big problem. Motorists thought it was a problem, too. Reducing the number of speeding cars on arterial roads, like 35th Avenue NE, is one of RBCA’s priorities in our 2017 mobility safety action plan.

Seattle Bike Master Plan

Bike Master Plan in Ravenna-Bryant

The Seattle Bike Master Plan (BMP) was adopted in 2014 and includes changes to 35th Avenue NE. The BMP provides a blueprint for increasing safety features for people who use bicycles to get around the city, including NE Seattle.

On 35th Avenue NE, sharrows (shown as yellow dotted lines in the map to the left) are planned from NE 45th Street to NE 65th Street. From NE 65th Street to NE 75th Street on 35th Avenue NE protected bike lanes (blue line) are included in the plan.

In addition to increasing safety for bikers, bike lanes can reduce the speed at which cars travel and, therefore, increase safety for all who use the road, including motorists.

SDOT paving project

In NE Seattle, 35th Avenue NE is one of streets scheduled for re-paving. According to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), paving is an opportunity to cost-effectively update street designs to promote safety, build features called for in citywide transportation plans (like the BMP), and coordinate with other projects. As part of the 35th Avenue NE paving project, SDOT is taking the opportunity to make planned changes all at once, instead of in a piecemeal manner.  The project includes re-paving most of the road, adding safety improvements, and improving reliability for transit users. Detailed information about the paving project is available online.

SDOT open house

On October 21, starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Messiah Lutheran Church, 7050 35th Ave NE, SDOT will host an open house for neighbors to learn more about the paving project.

SDOT’s conceptual view of changes to be made looking north from the corner of 35th Avenue NE and NE 55th Street.

The meeting will begin with an open house during which attendees will be able to review project boards and ask one-on-one questions.  From 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. those who would like to go on a walking tour will break up into groups and visit either NE 75th St & 35th Ave NE or NE 65th St & 35th Ave NE.

Community members are encouraged to learn more about plans that will guide changes to the 35th Avenue NE corridor within the not-so-distant future. As the population of our city continues to grow, the way people get around the neighborhood is going to change. Now is the time to become familiar with what is planned, think about how the implementation of those plans will change neighborhood mobility safety, and ensure that what is created is sustainable, supports a livable and vibrant community, and meets the needs of a diverse population.

Update: NE 65th Street Vision Zero Project

Between 2012 and April 2017, there were 232 collisions on NE 65th Street, according to information shared by SDOT during an April public meeting. All of the collisions that resulted in serious injuries or deaths involved people walking or biking.  Just last winter, an 80 year-old woman was killed walking across NE 65th Street in the crosswalk by Third Place.

In 2016, RBCA, in partnership with the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association and NE Seattle Greenways, launched the #Fix65th campaign to raise awareness of the safety problems along the NE 65th Street corridor and to call for road improvements. After conducting community outreach and gaining input from neighbors, this summer the Seattle Department of Transportation released final plans for changing the road design.

Below are plans for the area of NE 65th Street between NE Ravenna Blvd and Roosevelt Way NE as well as the section between 12th Ave NE and 20th Avenue NE.

In the Ravenna neighborhood, these are the primary changes. The only change on NE 65th Street east of 20th Avenue NE is the removal of peek parking restrictions.

More information about the project is available on SDOT’s NE 65th Street Vision Zero webpage.

Share your concerns about NE 65th Street during February 28 forum

Last Saturday afternoon, this was the scene at NE 65th Street and 20th Avenue NE. An 80 year-old woman who was crossing the street was struck by a pick-up truck. She was taken to the hospital with serious head injuries.

ped NE 65th

Community members who follow Ravenna-Bryant Community Association and visit #Fix65th on Twitter, know that collisions on NE 65th Street are not uncommon. Last year, RBCA, the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association (RNA), and NE Seattle Greenways joined forces to form the #Fix65th Coalition to advocate for changes to the street to make it safer for all – pedestrians, bikers, and motorists.

Our voices have been heard! The Seattle Department of Transportation is launching a collaborative process to review street conditions along NE 65th Street. The process will be kicked off with a public forum on February 28 to talk with community members, share traffic and collision data, and collect feedback and input on how NE 65th Street is used and could be improved. RBCA encourages all of our neighbors who have concerns about the safety of NE 65th Street to participate in the forum and become involved in the process!

65th invite SDOT

Remembering victims of traffic violence in Seattle, Ravenna-Bryant

World Day of Remembrance is a UN-affiliated world-wide event to commemorate victims of traffic violence. In Seattle, there are two opportunities to participate.

day-of-remembrance-2016Memorial Gathering at City Hall

Thursday, November 17 at noon

City Hall lobby, 5th & Cherry

Councilmember Sally Bagshaw will host the event as 240 silhouettes are distributed representing people who died on Seattle streets in traffic over the past 10 years and highlight the need for safe streets.

Ravenna-Bryant/Roosevelt

Sunday, November 20, 10 a.m.

Meet at Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE

We will gather and distribute silhouettes representing people who died in traffic-related incidents in our neighborhood over the past ten years. The silhouettes will be put up around the community.

Neighborhood associations partner to advocate for safer NE 65th Street

Over the last three years, 68 people were sent to the hospital and one person died after crashes on NE 65th Street between Ravenna Blvd and 35th Ave NE. Crashes injured pedestrians, bikers, and, most of all, motorists. It is with these numbers and with community members consistent and ongoing reports of near misses on NE 65th Street that the RBCA board and the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association board sent a letter to Mayor Murray, Councilmember Johnson, and Councilmember O’Brien requesting that the Seattle Department of Transportation fix the unsafe street.

fix65th map

Here is the letter:

Dear Mayor Murray and Councilmembers Johnson and O’Brien,

We work with and represent a community of more than 25,000 neighbors who reside near and along a stretch of NE 65th Street that is patently unsafe. NE 65th is not simply a neighborhood thoroughfare; it is vital to our two business districts, the city’s highest-use community center, multiple schools, a senior living facility, frequent bus transit and people who live, work, and play in NE Seattle. It is a critical path to and from Interstate-5, and the route into Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle’s largest park. Unfortunately, it also includes one of the top ten most dangerous stretches of road in Seattle. Over the past three years alone between Ravenna Blvd and 35th Ave NE, 68 people have been sent to the hospital by collisions and one local father, Andy Hulslander, was killed as he biked home from work.

Poor street design has contributed directly to the tragically high rate of injuries along NE 65th Street. Sections of the road appear to be four lanes across; others, two. Missing left-turn lanes for vehicles cause “passing on the right” scenarios that endanger bicyclists, pedestrians and other drivers. Off-set street corners on much of 65th make it extremely difficult to cross, and vehicles most often fail to yield to people who are walking.

Seattle’s VisionZero efforts are laudable, but NE 65th Street fails that test. Safe Routes to School is making improvements for the safety of our children, but does not address NE 65th Street which runs right through our elementary, middle, and high school attendance areas. Roosevelt and Ravenna each have hundreds of new homes currently under development along 65th – people who will walk, take transit, ride bicycles, and drive along this stretch. The Roosevelt Light Rail station will open in 5 short years, multiplying street and sidewalk users in Roosevelt. Seattle 2035 identifies a 10-minute walk shed around the station with NE 65th bisecting it. Our Bicycle Master Plan implementation does not include any infrastructure improvements in northeast Seattle for the next five years. Recent Ravenna neighborhood surveys show more people would use alternative modes in the business district if they felt more safe doing so, and that speeds on 65th make it nearly impossible to cross safely.

This is entirely unacceptable and dangerous to the neighborhood residents and frequent users of NE 65th, and should be unacceptable to our public officials as well. We are not willing to stand idly by while neighbors continue to be hurt. The need for safe routes to and through our neighborhoods for all users has never been greater.

We are confident that the City of Seattle will be a thoughtful and deliberate partner in moving forward with a street redesign to significantly improve safety for all users.

The Roosevelt Neighborhood Association (RNA) and Ravenna Bryant Community Association (RBCA) formally request that Seattle Department of Transportation immediately fund and begin a study, and a comprehensive public process, to make safety improvements to NE 65th between 35th Avenue NE and NE Ravenna Blvd.

Specific concerns we want to see addressed along this corridor include:

  • Excessive speeding
  • Insufficient number of safe crossings
  • Long waits for walk signals
  • Driving lane orientation
  • Dangerous intersections
  • Unsafe sidewalks
  • Unsafe bicycle infrastructure
  • Insufficient parking

Thank you for the opportunity to voice our concerns about Northeast 65th Street. We look forward to accelerating these efforts and working in partnership with you as we implement a safer solution to this dangerous thoroughfare.

Respectfully,

Ravenna-Bryant Community Association

Roosevelt Neighborhood Association

Have Your Say: Open House on Proposed Ravenna Protected Bike Lanes

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is proposing a number of investments and additions to current bicycle infrastructure in the Ravenna/Green Lake neighborhoods, including new bike lanes and upgrades from buffered to protected bicycle lanes, and new bicycle signage.

On Tuesday, SDOT will be in the neighborhood hosting an open house with a formal presentation:

Project Open House
April 7, 2015
6 to 7:30 PM
Presentation at 6:30 PM
Ravenna Eckstein Community Center
6535 Ravenna Ave NE

The proposed project would require moving or even removing parking along some parts on Ravenna Boulevard and 12th. It will also install a new protected bicycle lane on 15th adjacent to Cowen Park and links into the broader Bicycle Master Plan. Funding comes from the 2006 Bridging the Gap levy.

And here’s a map of the project area:

Bike Map - Proposed Ravenna Upgrades
Project Area

Can’t make it to the open house but want SDOT to hear your input? Adan Carrillo is the project’s Community Outreach Specialist at Adan.Carrillo@seattle.gov or (206) 684-8105.

Footnote: the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association will meet that evening at 7pm at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center for its monthly board meeting. Feel free to drop in and join us after the SDOT presentation.

RBCA Board’s Letter to Mayor, Council on NE 65th

The Ravenna-Bryant Community Association (RBCA) Board has been fielding questions and collecting feedback from our neighbors regarding the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Bicycle Master Plan and specifically the proposed bike track along NE 65th Street.

An independent group, under the name “NE 65th Street Committee” has formed and has circulated letters and information about the proposal as well. RBCA has no affiliation with this committee nor are we responsible for communications sent by the group.

In response to SDOT’s feedback deadline of July 26th, the RBCA Board will submit a letter expressing general concern over the bicycle track proposal and the planning process. The letter also requests that SDOT and the city council delay a decision on the track until more studies have been conducted, including more/better opportunities to collect public input. You can see the full text of the letter here.