On Thursday night, you have two opportunities to make your voice heard on community happenings.
From 6-8 p.m. at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St., Sound Transit is inviting you to an open house to learn about Northgate Station design and access update.
The light rail project is part of the agency’s Northgate Link Extension, which is scheduled to open in 2021.
The presentation portion of the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., covering topics including:
- Refinements to station and plaza design.
- Preliminary results of Northgate Station Area Access Study (pedestrian and bike improvements).
- King County Metro’s transit center and transit-oriented development plans.
- City of Seattle’s 1st Ave NE cycle track and I-5 pedestrian bridge.
For more information, contact the Northgate Link Extension project team at 206-398-5300 or northlink@soundtransit.org.
Also on Thursday, May 23, you’re invited to a Town Hall Meeting with King County Councilman Rod Dembowski and State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who also is a Maple Leaf resident.
Dembowski, who spoke at last month’s Maple Leaf General Community meeting, states on his homepage:
I am committed to listening and learning from you, so that county government can be as accountable, efficient, and responsive to you as possible. For that reason I will be hosting a series of Town Halls, in every community across District 1 this year, so I can hear firsthand what issues are most important to you
The Town Hall is from 7-8:30 p.m. at Northgate Community Center, 10510 Fifth Ave. N.E.
Which will you choose?
MapleLeafBob, was right on. There’s been a long-standing issue between drivers and cyclists in this city and I don’t think catering to the whims of the few vs. the needs of the many is the answer. A buffer wont help anything. Cyclists are notorious for ignoring traffic rules and getting up on sidewalks when it suits them. One nearly ran me over near the UW Hospital after failing to yield to a pedestrian crossing then yelled at me that it was my fault. I’m terribly sick, couldn’t walk fast, and crossed at the appropriate place with the right of way.
I missed your meeting but no one seems to be discussing the buses that would be pulling in and out on 5th Ave between 115th and the transit center especially
Donna, a buffered bike lane (as proposed on 5th Ave) would have a physical divider between the car lane and the bike lane; either a curb or pylons. This has proven to be very effective in other cities with much lower fatality rates than seattle.
On the other hand, “greenways” are typically mixed use- cars + bikes together- but are signed as “local access only” for drivers.
The communication from MLCC, with images, is my source of information for buffered bike lane on 5th. vs greenway on 1st, so if that was incorrect that would explain our misunderstanding.
One of the advantages of the 1st Ave option is that there is already an existing area that allows a definite separated bike line from vehicles, not a painted stripe on the road. It also doesn’t have the intersections like 5th Ave, which is where collisions between bicyclists and motorists are most likely to occur.
The perspective of this proposal was not suggested or inspired only by drivers or businesses, but also by cautious bike riders such as myself who does not like riding with cars and wants a truly separated bike trail to ride on safely.
I agree Neighbs, both it is!
Well, since the Open House starts at 6, and the Town Hall starts at 7, I’m going to both!
I understand both your perspectives.
The MLCC proposal is obviously written from a driver & business owner perspective. Fair enough.
Will kids&parents who live on 5th Ave and ride bikes to Olympic View Elementary actually ride west & downhill to 1st ave, then back uphill on 92nd so they can use the greenway? Mine would not.
As a community we need to prioritize safety over conveniance. I lost a good friend, a cyclist, a parent of two, a very talented individual, who was hit by a car & killed on a road popular with cyclists but which had no bike lane. Yes cyclists may be the minority, but we owe it to them (and our kids) to make our neighborhood safer, even if less conveniant.
“promote cycling as the primary means of transportation in maple leaf”
Nope. Not gonna happen. Far too many work to far away and with kids, pets, and other commitments simply do not have the time to travel to work or other places solely by Bike. They need more flexibility. Dropping of kids, running to the grocery store real quick on their way home, the hassle of a workplace without a locker room to shower and change into business casual clothing, etc….
It’s a great notion to have, but will not happen in this generation. It’s better to focus on other forms of alternative travel like buses and subways. Bikes are not realistic as a mass form of transportation. Not too mention, why should we cater to the minority group on the road with their own lane?
I agree with the MLCC’s recommendations!
Scott,
I respectfully disagree with you and agree with the MLCC. The proposed buffered lane would run from the Transit Center all the way to 80th which would remove a significant amount of parking for both businesses and residences that are on 5th Avenue. There’s already a parking problem on 5th and this will only make matters worse since these cars won’t just magically disappear . Like what is happening on Roosevelt cars will increasing be parked on side streets congesting the neighborhood, making it more difficult to park for the neighborhood. You do make a good point about the section nearest to the transit center being used for park and ride, but that is only a small section from 103rd to perhaps 97th. Beyond that point its no longer an issue. Recent stats (Metro/Sound Transit stats) show that bike riders account for 2% of all riders who board at the transit center. Similarly, this Maple Leaf blog recently cited our neighborhood as having a 2% bicycle commuting rate. That’s not too bad a number but to me, this is too small of a group to allocate 20-30% of the road. Buffered lanes seems like an item that can be revisited in the future if need be once we have commuter rates closer to Capitol Hill (which is currently at around 10%). Already SDOT has quite a bit for bikers in this neighborhood (see: Roosevelt bike lanes, 5th Ave. Sharrows, etc). It might serve them best to not forget about cars as well.
As a maple leaf resident of 5th Avenue, and a very frequent cycle commuter, I respectfully disagree with MLCC’s recommendation to place a cycle greenway on 1st Ave NE.
I would prefer the proposed buffered bike lane on 5th Ave, as proposed by sound transit. Even if it removes my parking spots.
Buffered bike lanes are safer for cyclists as there would be no car traffic in the bike lane at all, unlike the proposed 1st ave greenway which would still allow for local car access.
The 5th ave route is also more direct for most commuters.
Most all residents of 5th ave already have driveways or garages for their cars. I do.
Local businesses on 5th ave will benefit from increased business from cyclists. Customers will simply be encouraged to ride, rather that drive.
Any remaining parking spots on 5th ave may likely be taken by sound transit users anyway. Bus riders already take many of the 5th ave. spots currently so they can catch the 5th ave bus lines.
we should ask ourselves if we want to promote cycling as the primary means of transportation in maple leaf, or continue to watch 5th ave become the I-5 bypass. Moving bikes off 5th ave will only increase speeds and traffic as drivers look for a shortcut between greenlake and northgate.