Thank you for writing to this office about the City's decision not to
stripe bike lanes on a portion of Stone Way, as a part of the Stone Way
repaving project. A portion of the currently un-striped Stone Way was
originally slated for bike lanes as a part of the Bicycle Master Plan
to paint stripes along several arterial roadways throughout the City.
However, the Seattle Department of Transportation is reconfiguring the
lanes along Stone Way from N 34th to N 45th, which will now include two
through lanes and one left turn lane. This decision was made in order
to create a separate space for vehicles to turn, while allowing through
traffic to flow more smoothly.
The minimum width for a bicycle lane is five feet, and along Stone Way
from N 40th to N 45th there is enough space for three lanes plus two
five-foot bike lanes, but the section from N 34th to N 40th the road
actually narrows and cannot legally accommodate bicycle lanes. A solution
that has been used in other parts of Seattle, as well as in cities such
as Portland, is to paint "sharing arrows" or "sharrows" on the auto
lanes to indicate to vehicles and bicyclists that they are sharing the
road with each other. These "sharrows" are generally in the form of a
figure on a bicycle along with arrows, and will be painted at intervals
along that stretch of Stone Way.
The Bicycle Master Plan is an innovative plan for bicycle safety and
striping throughout the City, but it must work in conjunction with
innovations to move vehicular traffic as well. In fact, SDOT will monitor
how bicycles and vehicles interact on this stretch of road for the next
six months, and based on the outcome of this analysis, SODT may
determine to maintain the new lane configuration or pursue alternate
configurations.
Ultimately, safety is the City's priority. This was not a decision not
to stripe bicycle lanes, but rather a creative solution to a difficult
safety and space issue between vehicles and bicyclists.
Thank you again for contacting me. I appreciate hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jan
I SMELL BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They just found out now that the road is isn't wide enough? They didn't mesure the road before they issued the master plan?
WTF????
gsbarnes
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:24 pm
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
Another note: Stone is wider by 6 feet than the section of Fremont that has bike lanes.
So, yeah, I call bullshit.
_________________ I have always thought in the back of my mind: Cheese and Onions
DJStroky
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:14 am
Joined: 25 May 2007Posts: 356Location: Downtown Tacoma
An email reply from David Hiller wrote:
Evan:
First, thanks for all the work put into the ride. I'm very proud to have been associated with it.
As for the cross-section/chanelization issue, the plan was to continue the configuration that's in place from 40th to 45th - uphill bike lane down hill sharrow with a wider travel lane. The "as built " width between 34th and 40th is a too narrow for two 7ft parking lanes, two 5ft bike lanes, two 11ft travel lanes and a 12ft two-way turn lane.
Also, on the .83 boards, people keep talking about Woodlawn - common mistake. They actually mean Woodland Park, but that would need a lot of work to facilitate crossings at the major east west arterials - plus it doesn't lineup with the continuing north-south arterials. It just dead ends at 34th and 39th. If you look at the Bike Master Plan, there are a couple of Bike Boulevards planned in that neighborhood - but that's IN ADDITION to the arterials not IN PLACE OF.
Take care,
David Hiller
Advocacy Director
Cascade Bicycle Club
_________________ Tacoma isn't that bad... well maybe it is
gsbarnes
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:37 am
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
So Jan Drago's letter is nonsense; the BMP talked about 1 bike lane (uphill) on Stone Way and 1 sharrow (downhill), for which there is plenty of room.
Also, looking at the BMP map, I see they want a similar treatment for the rest of Fremont Ave (north of 42nd) and sharrows on Wallingford. I see no bicycle boulevards (marked in orange) running north-south in the Wallingford or Fremont areas.
_________________ I have always thought in the back of my mind: Cheese and Onions
Patrick
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:28 am
Joined: 03 Oct 2006Posts: 29Location: Eastlake
Hey all.
First, a huge congratulations and thanks for a great demonstration ride on Wednesday. Together we did a great job of analyzing the issue, getting the word out, distributing materials, and communicating our message to the media. You all should be proud.
Also, thanks to those of you who've contact the Mayor and Council on this issue. Speaking of, we have heard from several of you about the confusing response coming out of Councilmember Drago's office.
Here's the deal. What we're asking for is that the City reinstate its original rechannelization plan, which calls for a road dieted configuration (two lanes with a two-way center turn lane) along with a bicycle lane in the uphill direction (climbing lane) and sharrows on the downhill direction. It is correct that there is not enough space to have standard bike lanes on both sides, but that's not a bad thing in this case. The current thinking is that sharrows on downhill segments where there's parking can help keep cyclists out of the door zone.
Patrick M
Cascade Bicycle Club Advocacy Dept.
ps. We've called Councilmember Jan Drago's office and notified them of the confusion their response was generating. It should be updated soon.
laura
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:49 am
Joined: 22 Jun 2007Posts: 1050Location: wherever the dance party is
Best quotable from the post-ride Fremont Dock Restaurant experience was bellowed by Nova and she and Trevor threw elbows for nachos:
"I'm 5'2 and I'll kick your ass!"
Work it girl!
ksep
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:16 am
Joined: 27 Jan 2007Posts: 1879Location: Westlake
Well well well. Looks like a recent SDOT study shows that the road diet on Stone Way ended up improving safety and traffic.
Bike advocacy success.
_________________ -Kevin
n_claw
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:31 am
Joined: 02 Jul 2007Posts: 517Location: the only hill: Beacon
dear SDOT/Stone Way Hardware/Suzie Burke/etc, please remember for future fights about transportation infrastructure:
I (we) WON!!!
nice work, comrades.
I hope all of you smile while riding up Stone Way, because remember: this is the lane that bikes, whiskey, and SLB/.83 built.
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