Mastodon Transit Authority

Tom Fucoloro<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2025/09/19/council-votes-to-keep-ignoring-seattles-housing-crisis/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Council votes to keep ignoring Seattle’s housing crisis</a><a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/land-use-map.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>The City Council majority looked at this map from Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposal and decided that it needed even more yellow, especially in the wealthier and whiter areas.Well, we knew this was probably going to happen back in November 2023 when Seattle elected a slate of more conservative candidates for City Council. Even though as candidates most said (video <a href="https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/09/09/video-city-council-forum-1-on-housing-and-the-seattle-comp-plan/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">1</a> and <a href="https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/09/10/sunday-video-city-council-forum-2-on-housing-and-the-seattle-comp-plan/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">2</a>) they supported the comprehensive plan options that would have allowed a lot of new housing, they showed their true colors this week by removing even more areas from <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2025/09/11/mayor-harrells-growth-plan-for-seattle-is-inadequate-but-council-has-a-chance-to-make-it-better/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">the mayor’s already scaled-back growth plan</a>. The result is that the mayor and council have decided to continue enforcing the exact same causes of our current housing crisis. Most growth will still be centered in large apartment buildings with lots of expensive car parking along our busiest roadways and in areas with high risks of displacement to communities of color all so that wealthier and often whiter areas can be spared the horror of having some more neighbors. Only Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck stood up for allowing more homes in more places and for making it more affordable to build them. She was the lone vote to add eight neighborhood centers to plan, most of which the mayor cut before sending his proposal to Council. She was also the lone vote for removing parking minimums from new housing, which would have dramatically reduced the cost of new housing and supported the city’s stated goals of promoting more walking, biking and transit over car use. And she was on the losing side of a depressing number of votes that reduced housing. Her effort to make it legal again to <s>open corner stores and other businesses in residential areas </s> allow bars and expanded hours for residential businesses also failed (UPDATE: I initially said a measure to allow corner stores failed, but it passed at part of the consent agenda. The amendment that failed would have expanded the allowed types and hours of those businesses).Councilmembers Bob Kettle, Maritza Rivera and Rob Saka formed a consistent voting block against pretty much all measures that would allow more housing and in favor of measures that would remove areas from the growth plan or add costs and red tape to discourage the building of new housing (if you don’t want to <a href="https://seattle.legistar.com/DepartmentDetail.aspx?ID=53400&GUID=4ADD3281-A442-4D37-B0C0-25AD4CD51051" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">watch the videos</a> yourself, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ericacbarnett.bsky.social/post/3lz5bdjaa2s24" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Erica C. Barnett</a> and <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/theurbanist.org/post/3lz5epc3d7c2t" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">the Urbanist</a> did their best to cover the votes in real time on Bluesky). Councilmembers Dan Strauss, Debora Juarez and Joy Hollingsworth tried to play it wishy-washy, but by not uniting they gave the consistent block of three NIMBYs the default win on a lot of votes. Sorry, folks, this was the moment to stand up and fight to solve our city’s housing crisis, so you get no points for abstaining or remaining on the fence.Speaking of abstaining, Council President Sara Nelson made the baffling decision to abstain from a huge number of votes, and she even signed off at one point so that she would miss a particularly controversial vote to add more red tape and restrictions to housing projects under the guise of protecting trees (nobody noticed until they called the roll call vote and she didn’t respond). It passed by one vote. <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ericacbarnett.bsky.social/post/3lz4uhssukc2r" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">She said she was abstaining so much because she did not feel “well informed” on the issues</a>. Some might argue that learning about these issues is literally her job, but the voters can decide in November to relieve her of this heavy burden since she is incapable of carrying it. Her departure did lead to this wonderful post:<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nelson-reverse-spiderman.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>Sara Nelson flees from the job she is campaigning to keep. <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/matthutchins.bsky.social/post/3lz5n7qi7qc2r" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Via Bluesky</a>. Perhaps this was part of the carefully calculated political strategy <a href="https://www.thestranger.com/news/2025/09/15/80242882/sara-nelson-wants-voters-to-know-that-shes-anti-trump?view_id=article&oid=80242882&collection=news&basename=sara-nelson-wants-voters-to-know-that-shes-anti-trump" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Nelson’s team of brilliant consultants cooked up for her</a>. Voters can’t blame her for the housing crisis if she leaves the room during the votes! But at least Nelson was in attendance for some of the meeting. Appointed District 2 Councilmember Mark Solomon, Vice-Chair of the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan, was absent and missed all the votes and discussions. Given how many of these measures were decided by a single vote, this was easily the most important day in Councilmember Solomon’s appointed time. I asked his office about why he was absent, and his Chief of Staff Sarah Mayes replied that he was in Vancouver, Washington, for a previously scheduled Crime Prevention and Community Engagement Conference and that the rest of the Council was aware of this conflict. “CM Solomon was attending in his capacity as President of the Washington State Crime Prevention Association (which organizes and leads the conference),” Mayes wrote in an email:<blockquote>“In early August, we alerted Chair Joy Hollingsworth to the scheduling conflict as soon as we were aware of it. In addition to being excusing him from the meeting, Chair Hollingsworth worked closely with Solomon and his staff to make sure that the “Chair’s Package” of amendments reflected District 2 priorities. We’re grateful for the Chair’s cooperation, and for the hard work of Council colleagues throughout the week. Councilmember Solomon is back in the office today, and he’ll be joining his colleagues for the final committee votes on the Comp Plan.”</blockquote>There is still more comprehensive plan voting to go, but Thursday was the big test for whether our City Council was going to make an effort to get our housing crisis under control. They instead mostly chose to do what they could to make it even worse. The only silver lining is that they will be <a href="https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2023/06/how-will-missing-middle-zoning-impact-seattle-housing/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">forced by state law</a> to allow more types of housing in all residential areas because it is clear they would also have rejected those changes if they could. UPDATE: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/buildhomes.bsky.social/post/3lz7ux56dfk26" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Aidan T on Bluesky pushed back</a> on this, saying that the Council went beyond what was mandated by the state on missing middle housing. I thought that perhaps the resounding vote results from the social housing initiative or the primary election would have shaken some of the sitting councilmembers awake. The public has made it clear consistently that housing affordability is a top concern and that we expect action from city leaders, yet most councilmembers chose to defy them. I don’t see how anyone other than Councilmember Rinck will be able to shake this week’s acts of Council cowardice. Everyone else is complicit and on the record now against making housing more affordable and plentiful in our city. Councilmember Nelson seems likely to lose in November (<a href="https://dionnefoster.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">support Dionne Foster for City Council</a>!) and Councilmember Solomon is not running to keep the District 2 seat he was appointed to. Debora Juarez was also appointed, but her District 5 seat is not up for a vote until next year. Everyone else is up for a vote in 2027. I don’t know how they make this up to the city, but they better have some good ideas. Otherwise the ongoing housing crisis, a top issue among Seattle voters, will fall squarely on them. Maybe they’ve all decided they don’t want to run again?In the meantime, we will not stop fighting for a Seattle that is welcoming and has a place for everyone. #SEAbikes #Seattle

Tom Fucoloro<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/12/20/feedback-calls-for-walk-bike-separation-in-leary-market-plan-but-people-still-prefer-shilshole-for-missing-link/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Feedback calls for walk/bike separation in Leary/Market plan, but people still prefer Shilshole for Missing Link</a>People still prefer the city’s fully-designed Burke-Gilman Trail plan on Shilshole, though that project remains held up in a web of legal challenges. So if the city decides they must move forward with a route along Leary Way and Market Street instead, they want to see much more separation between people walking and biking than what has been shown in early designs. SDOT released the <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LearyWay_30_Percent_OutreachSummary_Nov2024.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">outreach summary report (PDF)</a> for Councilmember Dan Strauss’s <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/07/10/in-last-minute-effort-strauss-successfully-adds-20m-for-burke-gilman-trail-via-leary-market-to-the-transportation-levy-proposal-the-current-design-needs-to-get-better/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Burke-Gilman Trail Missing Link alternative on Leary Way and Market Street</a> this week, and the responses are fairly straightforward and uncomplicated.<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/market-feedback.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>It seems tough to misread this chart. Folks do not like the idea of simply widening the sidewalk on Market Street and calling it a trail. No other point in the entire feedback report got more support than this. People riding bikes don’t want to try to bike through a crowded sidewalk in a business district, and people walking, rolling or hanging out on sidewalks don’t want people biking there either. I can’t imagine business owners love the idea of their front doors letting out directly into the path of a designated bike trail, either. This is just not how it’s supposed to be done. The feedback report specifically points to Seattle Bike Blog at the reason for this result, noting, “Seattle Bike Blog published <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/15/let-sdot-know-the-market-leary-burke-gilman-route-needs-to-separate-walking-and-biking-near-storefronts/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">an article</a> encouraging readers to share their feedback with SDOT about the project. This included a note to share specifically that SDOT should separate the path for people walking and people biking in front of businesses. This may have led to a higher number of comments for this particular theme.” First off, good work, everyone. But second, we were not the only ones making this point. A group of folks at the Ballard Landmark retirement and assisted living building as well as Carter Subaru and real estate developers Teutsch Partners have been fighting the Leary concept, and they also list a lack of separation between pedestrian and bicycling spaces as a problem. “There is no divider between the Missing Link and the sidewalk,” notes the <a href="https://www.nolinkonleary.org/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">NoLinkOnLeary website</a>. “This makes the path more dangerous as pedestrians won’t know where to expect to meet bicyclists and scooters.” So it’s not just the Seattle Bike Blog readers who see the problem here, which is why that bar is so much longer than the rest of the chart. It’s a point of cross-community agreement.<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/leary-feedback.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>One Leary, the results were a little muddier. Support for the project outpaced opposition 2 to 1, but the amount of opposition is notable. This is most likely from the NoLinkOnLeary campaign. Separating pedestrian and bicycling spaces is still the top point of agreement, though there is big support for safer intersections and crosswalks. The report notes that there was a lot of support for adding missing crosswalks at Vernon and Ione, which were points Seattle Bike Blog had suggested.<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/17th-feedback.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>Again, separating modes was the top suggestion for the short section on 17th between Shilshole and Leary, though preserving trees made a good showing here. <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/general-feedback.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>Finally, the general feedback question showed a huge response for “prefers another route.” The reports explanation notes that most of these folks preferred the Shilshole route because it is more direct and has fewer conflict points such as driveways and busy commercial sidewalks. Cascade Bicycle Club has been consistent that while they support safety improvements and a bike route on Leary and Market, they do so in addition to their continued support for the trail plan on Shilshole. However, it wasn’t just bike riders pushing for Shilshole. The NoLinkOnLeary group has also been pushing for Shilshole as their preferred option. Someone at the Ballard Landmark even posted a poem about putting the trail on Shilshole in the window as well as signs pointing people to the <a href="https://www.nolinkonleary.org/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">NoLinkOnLeary.org</a> website. <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_4835-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><blockquote>SHILSHOLE, OH SHILSHOLE, YOU’RE MY BIKE TRAIL OF CHOICE. I’M A ROLLING OLDIE, WHO LIVES NEARBY, HOPING YOU’LL HEAR MY VOICE. I WANT TO ROLL BUMPLESS BY THE CANAL, WITH BOATS AND THE SEAGULLS’ SQUAWKS, AND NOT DIVERT TO LEARY, ON MY STROLL TO THE CHITTENHAM LOCKS.-COLLEEN COGHLAN</blockquote>Now, as much as I love a good trail advocacy poem (and I do, a lot), I don’t agree with everything on the NoLinkOnLeary site. There are ways to design a bike route that safely avoids conflicts with accessible loading zones, and SDOT’s team so far has clearly not been able to convince folks at the Ballard Landmark that they have the right solution. But I hope the folks are open to solutions other than just not building a bike route at all. There are a lot of potential benefits in this plan for Landmark residents, such as dramatically shorter and safer crosswalks. Bike riders seem ready to fight for a much improved design, and it would be great if folks can unite behind a shared vision. Folks should ask themselves, “If the city insists on building this trail on Leary, what are our demands?” Any missing crosswalks in the area? Any missing curb cuts? Do residents feel cut off from certain area destinations? Come up with a list. Bike advocacy groups are always going to be wary of language that implies total opposition to the idea of a bike route on a major street like Leary. But when I read the NoLinkOnLeary site, I see more points of agreement than differences. You can see the points of synergy in these charts. That’s a winning coalition.Dead-end ideasEvery time the Missing Link comes up, there are a couple ideas people suggest that have already been ruled out and are not coming back. So I figured I’d address them here just in case you come across them somewhere.A Ballard High LineLike New York City’s amazing elevated park the High Line, why not build an elevated bike path on Shilshole that flies over the business driveways?Well, as much as that does sound fun, it would be wildly expensive. If we are going to invest that kind of money in a piece of biking and walking infrastructure, then we should be spending it to cross actual barriers like freeways, ravines or waterways, not political barriers like a group of businesses that keep suing. Plus, these are maritime businesses that may need to move tall things in and out, so the path would need to be very tall. But also, what if someone wants to exit to visit Ballard destinations rather than just flying over the area? Are we going to have long and winding off-ramps along the way? Plus, anyone traveling to any point between trail access points would still be forced to navigate all the existing Missing Link challenges and hazards. I appreciate the dream behind the idea, but it doesn’t make sense here. I’m sorry. I’d love to talk about some other areas where this kind of thinking might work better, though. Ballard AveBallard Ave is currently the best bike route option for many people, but mostly because Shilshole and Leary are so terrible. Ballard Ave was included in the city’s list of options for the Missing Link route during the environmental review process, and people were extremely emphatic that they hated the idea. During public feedback, it registered only 1% support as the route preference (Shilshole received 81%). The Ballard Market folks in particular got mobilized very quickly and made it clear they were against it. I can assure you people would come out strongly against it all over again if it ever shows up on a list of options again, which I highly doubt will happen (it was listed in the study because the city had to show they considered all the options, and it was ruled out as quickly as possible). But even without the clear opposition from businesses and the market, Ballard Ave is a terrible place for the Missing Link. It’s got cobblestones for one, which is not accessible. It is also very active at various times of day and completely closed for travel every Sunday. Then after all those disadvantages, it would also require a redesign of Market Street with all the same issues the Leary design is facing there. So I agree that Ballard Ave is the best bike route today and that people will continue biking there even after the Missing Link is complete because that’s where many destinations are. But it is not the best place for a trail.#SEAbikes #Seattle

nullagentTammy Morales, the lone holdout voted in line with the voters to just enact I-137. Meanwhile Cathy Moore and Dan Strauss were not present for the vote!Notably Cathy Moore has abstained from many I-137 delay votes.It's giving "friend who says they're totally going to jump off the bridge with you ... but doesn't" energy. ✨ Meanwhile council president Sara Nelson was remote and handed MC-ship over to Joy Hollingsworth.<a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/TammyMorales" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TammyMorales</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/CathyMoore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CathyMoore</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/SaraNelson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SaraNelson</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/JoyHollingsworth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#JoyHollingsworth</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/DanStrauss" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DanStrauss</a>

Oscar Baechler1/ I wrote my <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/seattle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#seattle</a> councilmember <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/danstrauss" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#danstrauss</a> of <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ballard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ballard</a> about the <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SODA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SODA</a> legislation. Mastodon's take on this will probably be to the Left of mine, so discussing it out loud here might invite some dogpiling on me. Yes, affordable housing, mental health services, addiction services, and other things that won't happen are the best solution. But this all got a lot closer to my life the last 2 weeks after I got an accidental needle stick. Here's what I wrote.

Tom Fucoloro<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/15/let-sdot-know-the-market-leary-burke-gilman-route-needs-to-separate-walking-and-biking-near-storefronts/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Let SDOT know the Market/Leary Burke-Gilman route needs to separate walking and biking near storefronts</a><a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/market-perspective-sbb-version.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>Top two images from SDOT’s early designs. Bottom is Seattle Bike Blog’s loose concept.It is a great idea to redesign Leary Way NW and NW Market Street so they are safer for everyone while also connecting the Burke-Gilman Trail through Ballard, but SDOT’s current design needs significant work in order to achieve those goals. SDOT has not released any new details about Councilmember Dan Strauss’ <a href="https://seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/bike-program/ballard-bike-route-study?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Market/Leary plan</a> since <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/07/10/in-last-minute-effort-strauss-successfully-adds-20m-for-burke-gilman-trail-via-leary-market-to-the-transportation-levy-proposal-the-current-design-needs-to-get-better/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">we last reported on it</a>, but they now have <a href="https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=RR7meOtrCUCPmTWdi1T0Gx_TulzIrTtHuUQqnM2DnJ5UMTBZRkRBRVJSRFFZWUJDTklQV1lISkYwVi4u&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">a simple online form</a> for collecting public feedback. So go fill it out!Question 1 regarding the Market Street segment is the most important. SDOT’s most recent 30% design includes several significant “mixing zones” where the trail and the sidewalk would merge together. <a href="https://streetsillustrated.seattle.gov/design-standards/bicycle/bike-intersection-design/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SDOT’s own design guidelines</a> for intersections say, “A mixing zone is not appropriate for two-way protected bike lanes.” The current design would create situations where people trying to bike in both directions along the route would mix with shoppers, people heading to the bus, people waiting for the walk signal to cross the street, and anyone else hanging out this this busy business district. This would be frustrating for people on bikes and it would be uncomfortable for people on the sidewalk. People should be able to hang out on the sidewalk without worrying about bikes coming through, and people biking should be able to rely on being able to travel along this route without needing to crawl through a crowd of people. It is in everybody’s best interest for walking and biking spaces to be separated in a busy business district, and the design team should be following best practices for two-way bike lanes through a business district. The Market segment also needs more traffic calming and safer crosswalks, goals that combine well with the goal of separating biking and walking spaces. <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/02/27/draft-of-sdots-vision-zero-review-suggests-internal-reorganizing-and-more-funding-but-it-feels-small-compared-to-our-traffic-violence-emergency/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SDOT’s Vision Zero research</a> found that 80% of pedestrian deaths in Seattle occur on streets with multiple lanes in the same direction, so reducing the number of lanes on Market in this highly-walked business district is a worthy project entirely on its own merits while also creating the space needed to keep biking and walking separate.If this project is designed well, the bike and scooter volumes could be very high, so it needs to be designed accordingly. Imagine a nice day with a constant stream of people biking and scootering out to Golden Gardens while another stream of people walk and bike through here to a bustling Sunday Farmer’s Market. That should be the design team’s use case. Question 2 is about the Leary Way section, which is much closer to greatness than Market. Again, they should be designing it to two-way protected bike lane standards without mixing zones, but on Leary the space is already allocated for them to do so. This section needs tweaks, not a total redo. Be sure to voice enthusiastic support for the crosswalk and intersection improvements along this stretch, and request that every intersection leg have a crosswalk (Vernon is missing one crosswalk and NW Ione Pl does not have any marked crosswalks). Question 3 is about the short section on 17th Ave NW to connect to the trail on Shilshole. Again, keep walking and biking spaces separate and designed to proper standards. The strange intersection of 17th and Leary is also missing some crosswalks seemingly in order to preserve a right turn slip lane. But I suspect the debate on this stretch will have more to do with the trees and parking. The current design would actually add parking while cutting down trees (though one of the three trees is angled over the sidewalk toward the buildings, so its days are likely numbered anyway). I personally think trees are more important than the car parking, but I suppose that’s more of a question for the local community to hash out. Question 4 is an open-ended space for general feedback. My overarching thought is that the design team should not get hung up on whether they are designing a multi-use trail (AKA “shared-use path”) or a two-way protected bike lane. They should instead use the designs that are most appropriate for the context of a busy business district. If mixing zones are not acceptable for a two-way protected bike lane, they don’t suddenly become acceptable because you call it a shared-use path instead. Another general note is that while I am not against tearing down trees when the benefits are clearly worth it (creating a safe biking and walking route through Ballard is definitely worth it), the team should attempt to build around existing trees whenever possible even if that means utilizing more roadway space. You could also note here that you still support the city’s <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2018/11/01/missing-link-design-nearly-complete-construction-to-begin-this-winter-unless-the-court-intervenes/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">fully-designed trail on Shilshole</a> that remains held up in <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/07/20/cascade-appellants-issue-dueling-press-statements-as-missing-link-continues-to-be-tied-in-legal-knots/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">endless court battles</a>. I look forward to enthusiastically supporting a high-quality Leary/Market design for connecting the Burke-Gilman Trail through Ballard. Share <ul><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/15/let-sdot-know-the-market-leary-burke-gilman-route-needs-to-separate-walking-and-biking-near-storefronts/?share=mastodon" target="_blank">Mastodon</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/15/let-sdot-know-the-market-leary-burke-gilman-route-needs-to-separate-walking-and-biking-near-storefronts/?share=twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/15/let-sdot-know-the-market-leary-burke-gilman-route-needs-to-separate-walking-and-biking-near-storefronts/?share=facebook" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/15/let-sdot-know-the-market-leary-burke-gilman-route-needs-to-separate-walking-and-biking-near-storefronts/?share=reddit" target="_blank">Reddit</a></li><li>Email</li><li></li></ul> #SEAbikes #Seattle

Tom Fucoloro<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/07/seattle-city-council-time-to-wake-up-an-open-letter-to-our-first-year-councilmembers/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Seattle City Council, time to wake up: An open letter to our first-year councilmembers</a><a href="https://publicola.com/2024/08/06/wild-day-at-city-hall-as-council-blocks-social-housing-from-ballot-shuts-down-meeting-retreats-to-their-offices-to-approve-new-jail-contract/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Yesterday</a> needs to be this City Council’s worst day if 8 out of 9 of them want a chance at another term. They pulled one of the most chickenshit moves I’ve ever witnessed from my years covering city politics when they decided to hold an expensive special election for the voters’ initiative 137 rather than put it on November’s high-turnout general election ballot. They did this for the sole purpose of weakening its chances because they know the more Seattleites who vote on the initiative, the more likely it will be to pass.The Seattle City Council (minus Tammy Morales) is admitting that their opinion on the initiative is unpopular among the people they are elected to represent, and they are pulling a chickenshit procedural trick in order to circumvent the people’s will. Not only are they wrong to do this, they should stop and think for a moment about the implications for their political prospects in this city.<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C-WSKGco9F_/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/p/C-WSKGco9F_/</a>It didn’t help that they <a href="https://publicola.com/2024/08/06/wild-day-at-city-hall-as-council-blocks-social-housing-from-ballot-shuts-down-meeting-retreats-to-their-offices-to-approve-new-jail-contract/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">then retreated to their offices</a> to remotely approve a contract for more jail cells to imprison low-level offenders because the outcry of public opposition in the council chambers was too loud. It also didn’t help that they somehow didn’t anticipate last week how unpopular it would be to roll back the minimum wage law. Not sure how many more signs folks will need before realizing they are making deeply unpopular decisions. Here’s what I think is going to happen. Councilmember Woo will be toast in November, losing her second City Council election in the span of a year. It won’t be close. One down. At the same time, the voters of Washington House District 43 (entirely within the bounds of Seattle) will elect Shaun Scott despite a majority of the City Council endorsing Republican Andrea Suarez (who pretends she’s a Democrat because <a href="https://twitter.com/hannahkrieg/status/1788253605969141966" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">she thinks her voters aren’t paying attention</a>). Suarez may not even make it into the general election depending on how late primary ballots turn out, that’s how out of touch this City Council is with the people they represent (Full disclosure: My family recently hosted a fundraiser house party for Scott’s campaign because he’s great). Seattle will then hold a special election, and we will pass I-137. But even worse for this Council, they decided through their action yesterday to turn the I-137 vote into a referendum of the city’s support for investing in affordable housing (spoiler, we want more) as well as a symbolic referendum on this City Council. Not a smart move, y’all.Is it too late for them to save themselves? For Tanya Woo, yeah it’s too late. I also doubt Sara Nelson can reform her image, either, since she’s the leader of it all and she’s up for election next year (she’s welcome to try). But most of the others are still in the first years of their first terms. They get to use the “I was new and didn’t know better” card one time, and this is a great time to deploy it because that card expires soon. They are clearly getting advice from the wrong people right now, but there is no law that says they must continue following them into the abyss. They were elected by the people, and the office belongs solely to them and their constituents. It doesn’t matter how much corporate PAC money was spent to get them into office, they don’t owe those funders anything.Kick your cynical bad faith advisors to the curb and go out into your community in search of real problems to solve to make our city a better place. Untie from the sinking ship that is Council President Nelson and be your own leader. Seattle is still a big small town, and elections are still usually won based on community support. If councilmembers don’t turn things around fast, they may not even make it to 2027. Coucilmember Tammy Morales <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C-WSKGco9F_/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">suggested during yesterday’s meeting</a> that by not prioritizing their consideration of I-137, they likely ran afoul of the City’s Charter and could face recall elections. I personally do not like recall elections and hope it doesn’t come to that, but that’s the path this Council is walking (running?) down. Once you start taking actions to defy the will of the people, recall is the people’s recourse. I love Seattle, and I believe in our city’s potential to be the city the rest of the nation looks to when trying to solve big problems. That’s why I love writing Seattle Bike Blog. This is my love letter to our city. We don’t always rise to our potential, but folks here never give up. Then every once in a while, we do something extraordinary. We are due for something extraordinary.None of what I said above will happen on its own, but I believe the people of our city will put in the organizing and volunteer work to make it happen. Seattleites are desperate to make housing more affordable, and we are beyond sick of being told by elected leaders year after year that for some reason we can’t do it. That’s the energy behind I-137. If you all won’t do it, then we will. We’re not going to continue sitting on our hands pretending like there’s nothing more we can do while more and more people get priced out of our city’s cheapest apartments and forced to sleep in the fucking rain. As our elected leaders, you can join us in an extraordinary victory as we create social housing that people can afford, or you can fight us. But if you fight us, you will lose. You made a big mistake yesterday, now you gotta figure out how to make it right. Which side of Seattle history do you want to be on? Share <ul><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/07/seattle-city-council-time-to-wake-up-an-open-letter-to-our-first-year-councilmembers/?share=mastodon" target="_blank">Mastodon</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/07/seattle-city-council-time-to-wake-up-an-open-letter-to-our-first-year-councilmembers/?share=twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/07/seattle-city-council-time-to-wake-up-an-open-letter-to-our-first-year-councilmembers/?share=facebook" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/08/07/seattle-city-council-time-to-wake-up-an-open-letter-to-our-first-year-councilmembers/?share=reddit" target="_blank">Reddit</a></li><li>Email</li><li></li></ul> #SEAbikes #Seattle

Tom Fucoloro<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/07/10/in-last-minute-effort-strauss-successfully-adds-20m-for-burke-gilman-trail-via-leary-market-to-the-transportation-levy-proposal-the-current-design-needs-to-get-better/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">In last-minute effort, Strauss successfully adds $20M for Burke-Gilman Trail via Leary/Market to the transportation levy proposal + The current design needs to get better</a>I was all set to write up a story about the uncertain future of the Ballard Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail when, in a last-minute Hail Mary minutes before official adoption, Councilmember Dan Strauss reintroduced his previously-failed amendment to fund his trail connection plan via Leary Way and Market Street and found the votes to get it passed. Councilmembers Cathy Moore and Rob Saka switched their stances from a week ago to join Joy Hollingsworth, Tammy Morales, Tanya Woo and Strauss in voting yes. The funds were shifted out of the significantly-increased paving budget line.<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Amendment-A.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Burke-Gilman amendment (PDF)</a> was the only change made Tuesday to the <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Att-A-Transportation-Levy-Spending-Breakdown-v3.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">$1.55 billion transportation levy proposal (PDF)</a>, and it brought the total spending line for bicycle safety to $133.5 million. It may also have signaled a city policy change to shift focus from the fully-designed Shilshole trail route, which remains held up in court, to the Leary/Market route. The Leary/Market design has received lukewarm support from bicycle advocates, though Cascade Bicycle Club did put out an advocacy action alert in June supporting the Strauss amendment among others.Josh Brower, attorney for the appellant group that has successfully trapped the trail in an endless series of court battles, sent out a press release celebrating the news.“After 20 years of successfully protecting working-class Ballard, we are on the way to  a real solution to the Missing Link, together with a strong group of common-sense supporters who are truly dedicated to real transit equity and safety,” said Brower in the press release.While bike orgs have not been overly supportive of the Leary/Market idea, they also have not been fighting it. Cascade Bicycle Club’s stance has so far been that they support bike safety on Leary and Market, but not at the expense of the preferred and designed Shilshole trail route. <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/11/27/sdot-releases-early-design-for-leary-market-bikeway-seeks-feedback/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Seattle Bike Blog praised parts of the very early design</a>, especially the traffic calming elements on Leary Way, but the <a href="https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/bike-program/ballard-bike-route-study" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">recently-released 30% designs</a> show that many major issues have not been addressed. The biggest concern is that the trail route constantly mixes with busy commercial sidewalks in downtown Ballard rather than keeping people biking and walking separated. This design would make the pedestrian experience worse and would lead to constant conflicts between people biking and walking. Protected bike lane design best practices exist for a reason, but the current design largely ignores them. Yes, they keep calling it a “multi-use trail,” but to actual users on the ground that distinction is purely academic. In busy commercial areas, you gotta keep the modes separated, including at intersections, and the biking route needs to be continuous.<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/5_22ndMarketLeary-a_158147.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>The 30% design shows the trail disappearing entirely before it reaches Market Street, routing people on bikes to share the busy sidewalk with people shopping, hanging out and waiting for the walk signal so they can cross the street. Everyone will hate this if they build it.If done well, this trail could see large numbers of people on bikes daily, but those numbers will balloon dramatically on those peak Golden Gardens days. The project needs to be designed to handle high volumes of people on bikes without negatively impacting the sidewalk environment, otherwise it will fail. People should be able to hang out on the sidewalk on Market Street without worrying someone might come through on a bike, and people biking should be able to ride this route without having to constantly deal with people wandering into the path. <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMG_3777-1.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>Biking on the Market Street not-a-trail looking east near 28th Ave NW.CM Strauss’s argument is that they are just extending a design that already exists just west of 24th Ave NW on a stretch that for legal reasons the city is not allowed to call a trail (it is not even included on the <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/bike-map/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">official Seattle bike map</a>). He’s right that it seems to work well enough now. It is also far less busy than the downtown core of Ballard, and the mixing zones near the intersections are all smaller and less complicated than what is planned near Leary and Market. Still, the best sections of the not-a-trail <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@47.668564,-122.3929159,3a,75y,96.17h,95.2t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIjbvWRdiMHuOM6rqMSipvg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DIjbvWRdiMHuOM6rqMSipvg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D96.17391815492272%26pitch%3D-5.202660090354399%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e3?coh=205410&entry=ttu" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">are separated from the sidewalk</a>, and it all fits because the roadway has a traffic-calming design with one through lane in each direction rather than two. The good news is that, as these existing segments demonstrate, there is enough space on Market Street to create high-quality, safe and comfortable biking and walking spaces simply by repurposing one of the four traffic lanes. Since we know <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/02/27/draft-of-sdots-vision-zero-review-suggests-internal-reorganizing-and-more-funding-but-it-feels-small-compared-to-our-traffic-violence-emergency/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Seattle streets with multiple lanes in the same direction are more deadly</a>, reducing the number of lanes in this extremely walkable part of the neighborhood is a good idea on its own merits. SDOT can create a street with separate and comfortable sidewalk and biking spaces while also improving the safety for everyone using or crossing Market Street. A safer and higher-quality design could go a long way to convincing safe streets advocates to get on board, and it might also allow the city to keep the existing trees (I’m not entirely against cutting down trees if it is truly necessary to make a street better and safer, but SDOT should try not to if possible). Below is a quick and dirty sketch of what I mean.<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/market-perspective-sbb-version.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>Top two images from SDOT’s early designs. Bottom is Seattle Bike Blog’s concept. Imagine there’s a curb between the bike path and sidewalk. This path should also remain separated at the intersections.As we noted in our previous deep dive into the early design, traffic volumes on Market Street drop dramatically west of 15th Ave NW. This street only carries 10,300 vehicles per day, which is about a third of what it carries east of 15th. In urban traffic volume terms, 10,000 is nothing. However, it is very important to keep the buses on time and reliable. The current design has bus lanes in each direction that disappear at many intersections. Using in-lane bus stops may be as good or better for bus reliability than bus lanes that transform into car-clogged turn lanes, though I am not a traffic engineer and I know this area is really weird and complicated. Still, I trust in SDOT’s traffic engineering team to come up with a solution that keeps busses moving reliably using the space of three traffic lanes. I look forward to enthusiastically supporting a high-quality biking and walking connection on Market and Leary. But it’s going to require a significant rework of the 30% design to get there. Will SDOT go back and nail the design? Will it open without anyone <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2017/06/26/despite-compromise-and-ongoing-community-design-work-group-appeals-the-ballard-missing-link/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">once again going back on their word</a> by suing it into oblivion? If it gets built and works well, I’ll happily take the L on the fight for a trail on Shilshole. Well, at least until Seattle some day gets the opportunity to tear out the rails and build the trail on the rail bed. Share <ul><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/07/10/in-last-minute-effort-strauss-successfully-adds-20m-for-burke-gilman-trail-via-leary-market-to-the-transportation-levy-proposal-the-current-design-needs-to-get-better/?share=mastodon" target="_blank">Mastodon</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/07/10/in-last-minute-effort-strauss-successfully-adds-20m-for-burke-gilman-trail-via-leary-market-to-the-transportation-levy-proposal-the-current-design-needs-to-get-better/?share=twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/07/10/in-last-minute-effort-strauss-successfully-adds-20m-for-burke-gilman-trail-via-leary-market-to-the-transportation-levy-proposal-the-current-design-needs-to-get-better/?share=facebook" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/07/10/in-last-minute-effort-strauss-successfully-adds-20m-for-burke-gilman-trail-via-leary-market-to-the-transportation-levy-proposal-the-current-design-needs-to-get-better/?share=reddit" target="_blank">Reddit</a></li><li>Email</li><li></li></ul> #SEAbikes #Seattle

Tom FucoloroWhat does Seattle’s new City Council mean for safe streets?<a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/01/08/what-does-seattles-new-city-council-mean-for-safe-streets/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/01/08/what-does-seattles-new-city-council-mean-for-safe-streets/</a>#SEAbikes #Seattle

Tom FucoloroSDOT begins study of CM Strauss’s Leary Way concept for the Missing Link + Legal update on ShilsholeAt the urging of Councilmember Dan Strauss and with Mayor Bruce Harrell’s support, SDOT is beginning early design work on a potential alternative for the Burke-Gilman Trail Missing Link in Ballard. Though the city has a design fully completed and ready for construction along Shilshole Ave NW, the construction permits are held up in court as opponents continue their […]<a href="https://wp.me/pYeSb-27tl" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://wp.me/pYeSb-27tl</a><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/ballard/" target="_blank">#ballard</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/bruce-harrell/" target="_blank">#bruce-harrell</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/burke-gilman-trail/" target="_blank">#burke-gilman-trail</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/dan-strauss/" target="_blank">#dan-strauss</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/missing-link/" target="_blank">#missing-link</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/sdot/" target="_blank">#sdot</a>

Tom FucoloroCM Strauss asks mayor to study Market and Leary for Missing LinkCouncilmember … <a href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/03/10/cm-strauss-asks-mayor-to-study-market-and-leary-for-missing-link/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Continue reading →</a><a href="https://wp.me/pYeSb-273s" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://wp.me/pYeSb-273s</a><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/ballard/" target="_blank">#ballard</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/burke-gilman-trail/" target="_blank">#burke-gilman-trail</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/cascade-bicycle-club/" target="_blank">#cascade-bicycle-club</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/dan-strauss/" target="_blank">#dan-strauss</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/lee-lambert/" target="_blank">#lee-lambert</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="u-tag u-category" href="https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/tag/missing-link/" target="_blank">#missing-link</a>

Recent searches

Search options

Administered by:

Server stats:

#danstrauss