Re: Basic Bike Network Resolution

To: All Seattle City Councilmembers & City of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan
RE: Basic Bike Network resolution

Dear Councilmembers,

We are excited that the council is pushing to complete the Basic Bike Network. Thank you for your work on this vital safety improvement! It is critical to us that we have safe & connected infrastructure that allow a person (or family!) on bikes to get to destinations all over the Center City.

Safe, direct, and comfortable connections between Southeast Seattle and the Center City are limited and we ask you to ensure the Basic Bike Network has clear expectations of a strong, direct, safe and comfortable connection into the Rainier Valley and Beacon Hill. Our neighbors have long been required to accept high speed and dangerous streets as a part of daily life. Using anything but a car or bus is seen as an absurd and dangerous proposition to many in Southeast Seattle. With stronger and safer connections to downtown and the rest of the Center City, we can start to change that perception; we can begin to make Southeast Seattle safer for everyone, whether on a bike, foot or driving.

As SDOT designs and builds out routes, the council’s engagement and oversight will be critical and we applaud the council’s efforts to place checkpoints in the resolution. On Beacon Hill and in Southeast Seattle, our primary built-out bicycling infrastructure are the Neighborhood Greenways. While these are friendly and quiet routes, they are easily made less successful than they could be by inadequate wayfinding, sidewalks or corners and confusing or scary street crossings. We would also be supportive of Council efforts to help clarify and define what All-Ages & Abilities (AAA) means to the City; many of the existing Neighborhood Greenways have points that are not safe and are not “AAA” and we believe clarifying this may help future projects and the Basic Bike Network as well as allow us and other advocates to request improvements to our existing Greenways.

If we can finish the Basic Bike Network, Seattle will have more capacity and confidence to build more of our plans for biking and safer streets; we firmly believe the people of Seattle are excited and want to use safe biking infrastructure. The Basic Bike Network could be a catalyst to continue helping people get off fossil fuels and hop on a bike.

Thank you again for pushing to build our downtown Basic Bike Network. We look forward to the day when it’s easier to get to and around downtown on safe, friendly routes.

Signed on behalf of Beacon Hill Safe Streets,

Robert Getch
Co-Chair Beacon Hill Safe Streets

cc:

Gordon Padelford, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Director
Clara Cantor, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways