Beacon Hill Blog

Beacon Hill bicycle and pedestrian plan honored with award

The Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, a project of Beacon BIKES and the City of Seattle, has won a 2012 VISION 2040 Award from the Puget Sound Regional Council. Vision 2040 Awards honor real-life examples of sustainable growth and improvements to quality of life in Puget Sound communities.

The Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan has been designed as a ten-year plan to develop a network of pedestrian and bicycle routes to connect important and well-used locations with neighborhood greenways, cycle tracks, intersection improvements, and other solutions to increase safety for walkers and cyclists of all ages. Among the proposals is a crosswalk and “median refuge island” at South Spokane Street and Lafayette Avenue South, a location that leads directly into Jefferson Park from a neighborhood greenway but is currently very dangerous to cross.

Read more about the award here.

Tags: beacon bikes!, bicycle lanes, bicycles, pedestrians

Pedestrian improvements planned for Beacon/14th intersection

Mayor Mike McGinn today announced new funding for a Safe Routes to School project on North Beacon Hill. The project would install curb bulbs, curb ramps, and a pedestrian island at the complicated intersection of Beacon Avenue South and 14th Avenue South, near Beacon Hill International School.

Other projects in the Safe Routes to School program include pedestrian improvements near West Woodland Elementary School in Ballard, and improvements near McGilvra Elementary in Madison Park. The $800,000 for the plan comes from the city’s Real Estate Excise Tax, which is required by law to go to fund capital projects such as these.

View Planned pedestrian improvements at Beacon and 14th in a larger map

Tags: pedestrians

South Orcas sidewalk project begins Sept. 4

A new sidewalk will soon make South Orcas Street a bit friendlier to pedestrians. The sidewalk is to be built on the south side of Orcas between 28th Avenue South (near the Chief Sealth Trail and Dearborn Park School) and 32nd Avenue South and will include ADA-compliant ramps, rebuilt driveways, and improvements to vegetation along with the new concrete sidewalk.

However, there is some pain to come before the promise of better walking conditions. During the project work, starting September 4, South Orcas Street will be closed for 24 hours a day to eastbound traffic between Beacon Avenue South and 32nd Avenue South. There will be an open sidewalk on the north side of the street. Completion of the sidewalk project is scheduled for October 31.

For more information about the Orcas sidewalk project, see the project’s website. We first wrote about this project when it was announced back in September 2010.

View South Orcas Street Sidewalk Project in a larger map

Tags: mid-beacon, pedestrians, sidewalks

Beacon B.I.K.E.S. appeals for greenway support

The folks at Beacon B.I.K.E.S. sent out the following appeal on Facebook yesterday:

Hello Beacon BIKErs,

This is a call to anyone who is on this list that lives on Beacon Hill and wants to see our Greenway be built.

SDOT had a community open house on July 19, I saw many of you there. They collected public comments, many of which were positive. However, there have been a few individuals that have been very vocal in their opposition and their voices are drowning out the broad-based support we have for this project in our community. Please take 5 minutes to write an email showing support for the project to SDOT and Council. I have spoken with key individuals at the City and they say these emails are the single most important thing we can do right now. If you can, add why the project is important to you personally. They have heard from me and a couple other active members many times, to have a really powerful effect it would be wonderful if those of you who have not been very active could write an email.

The details of SDOT’s plan can be found here:
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/beaconhillgreenway.htm

Address to: Brian.Dougherty@seattle.gov
CC: sandra.woods@seattle.gov, dongho.chang@seattle.gov, sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov, Douglas.Cox@seattle.gov, tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov, dsahearn@gmail.com, and anyone else you want…

Thank you for your help in making Beacon Hill a safer and more livable neighborhood.

The proposed greenway would follow 18th Avenue South from the I-90 trail south to South Hanford street, where it would zigzag over to Lafayette Avenue South, then along the edge of Jefferson Park to South Dakota Street, then south on 12th Avenue South to South Lucile Street. The greenway route would have improvements and repairs to make the street safer for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians alike, including new signage and street markings, crossing islands at certain intersections, a new left turn lane on South Spokane Street, and others. As mentioned above, details may be found here.

View Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway in a larger map

Tags: beacon bikes!, bicycles, pedestrians

Open house to discuss Neighborhood Greenway

All are invited to a Seattle Department of Transportation open house on Thursday, July 19 from 6:30-8 p.m. at Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.) to discuss the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway.

The greenway is a 2.8 mile long pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly route through North Beacon Hill, providing improved access to locations including the I-90 Trail, Beacon Hill Station, Beacon Hill Library, Jefferson Park, Maplewood Playfield, Mercer Middle School, Maple Elementary School, and Cleveland High School.

The route has changed slightly since the earlier proposed version of the Greenway. The current route will start at the I-90 Trail and 18th Avenue South, then continue south along 18th. The greenway will then turn and cross Beacon Avenue South at South Hanford Street, and continue on Lafayette Avenue South into Jefferson Park. The route will continue south of Jefferson Park, crossing 15th Avenue South at South Dakota Street, and continuing on 12th Avenue South to South Lucile Street.

What makes a run-of-the-mill route a neighborhood greenway? Greenways are non-arterial street routes that have improvements to encourage and support safe bicycle and pedestrian use, in combination with reduced auto speeds and volumes. In the case of the Beacon Hill Greenway, these enhanced features have been proposed:

• Signs and pavement legends along the greenway
• Stop signs to control traffic crossing the greenway
• A median island with new marked crosswalks at Lafayette Avenue South and South Spokane Street
• A median island with new marked crosswalks at Beacon Avenue South and SouthHanford Street
• Rechannelization and signal improvements at Beacon Avenue South and South Spokane Street
• A widened sidewalk on South Dakota Street between 16th Avenue South and 14th Avenue South
• A paved trail adjacent to Jefferson Park

View Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway in a larger map

Tags: bicycles, greenways, pedestrians

Walk to improve the walking experience on Beacon Hill

You can help improve things for pedestrians on Beacon Hill by taking part in a Beacon Hill Walking Audit on Saturday, February 25, from 1-2:30 p.m. All are invited to join the Beacon Hill Merchants Association and Feet First in a conversation and walk through the North Beacon Hill commercial district to discuss improvements in connectivity and the overall pedestrian experience.

The walk will begin at the corner of Beacon Avenue South and South Spokane Street, near the fire station at the north end of Jefferson Park. It will begin with a short presentation by Feet First. Bring a poncho or umbrella if the weather calls for it—the walk will go on regardless of weather. Feet First will provide cameras and clipboards for notetaking.

The walking route will go north from Spokane Street to Beacon Hill Station, and the walk will take about 90 minutes.

For more information about the Walking Audit, contact Gia Clark of Feet First (gia@feetfirst.org or 206-652-2310 ext. 3), or Angela of the Beacon Hill Merchants Association (info@beaconhillmerchants.com or 206-459-1430).

Tags: pedestrians

Biking on Beacon: More Neighborhood Greenways coming to Beacon Hill in 2012

By the end of 2012 Beacon Hill residents will be able to safely walk or bike from the Mountains to Sound Trail to Georgetown on a quiet and safe residential street optimized for non-vehicular traffic.  First presented in the Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan, this signed route (mapped here) will include safe arterial crossings at Beacon, Spokane, and Columbian, as well as pavement markings, tree planting, and other safety improvements. The 3-mile route connects six schools (Cleveland, Maple, St. George, Thurgood Marshall, Asa Mercer, and Washington), three major parks (Maple, Jefferson, Judkins), the library, and our business district with a pleasant safe street for you and your family to walk or bike along (of course, cars are still welcome for local residents).

At a January 10 meeting of Seattle Greenway Organizers at the Beacon Hill Library, Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw enthusiastically announced a set of pilot Neighborhood Greenways being planned by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) that are designed to make streets safer and more pleasant for people who live, walk, bike, and drive in Seattle’s neighborhoods.

The Neighborhood Greenways under review total 11 miles: seven miles in Ballard, Beacon Hill, Greenwood, North Delridge, Wallingford, and the University District and an additional four miles in Laurelhurst (funded by Seattle Children’s Hospital). These projects are intended to form the backbone of a new network of Greenways that effectively connect people to the places they want to go by giving them a choice to travel on quieter, safer streets around the city.

Councilmember Bagshaw, chairing the newly formed Seattle City Council’s Parks and Neighborhoods Committee, is excited to include Neighborhood Greenways on her agenda.  “Greenways connect parks and schools, community centers and neighborhood business districts. Neighborhood Greenways help with transportation, and they help with getting people where they want to go within their own communities.” (Watch a YouTube video of Councilmember Bagshaw’s announcement here.) Councilmember Bagshaw and Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the Seattle Transportation Committee, have taken great leadership initiative on Greenways.

In case you missed previous posts here and here: Neighborhood Greenways are slow-speed, low-traffic residential streets made even more pleasant for the people who live, walk, and bike on them. By adding new park-like amenities and limiting cut-through traffic, Greenways are naturally attractive both for families, and for anyone seeking a safer, more connected community experience. By placing Greenways a block or two away from major arterials, Neighborhood Greenways create a great option for people who prefer to walk or bike away from congested streets. While many new dedicated walking and bicycling trails are beyond the reach of our City’s budget, 10 miles of Greenways can be built for the cost of a single mile of new trail, offering the potential to bring a high-quality network to all Seattle neighborhoods at a comparatively low cost. Neighborhood access by emergency service vehicles and freight delivery vehicles—and parking—is preserved along Greenways.

If you would like to get involved with Greenway planning on Beacon Hill during these exciting times please visit the Beacon BIKES webpage and come to our February meeting!

Tags: bicycles, greenways, pedestrians

Neighborhood greenway organizers meeting on Beacon Hill next Tuesday

A Seattle city-wide neighborhood greenway organizers event will be held on Beacon Hill at the Beacon Hill Library next Tuesday, January 10, from 6-7:45 p.m. Beacon Hill currently has a new greenway in progress along 17th/18th Avenues South, between Jefferson Park and the Mountains-to-Sound Trail. For more information on what neighborhood greenways are all about, see this video about Portland’s greenways project.

Here’s the announcement for next Tuesday’s meeting:

Seattle’s Neighborhood Greenways movement is attracting many newcomers to bike advocacy who are eager to transform Seattle into a city where everyone can bike and walk safely. Come join us to learn about the history of bike advocacy in Seattle, and how our growing Neighborhood Greenways movement can complement the hard work that’s already been done to make Seattle one of the nation’s most respected cities for bicycling and walking.

We are privileged to welcome Blake Trask as our featured speaker for this meetup. Blake is the chair of the Seattle Bike Advisory Board (SBAB) and is the Statewide Policy Director of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington (BAW). He’ll be providing us with the context for Seattle’s current (2007) Bicycle Master Plan: who was involved in it? What was the vision? What were the biggest challenges? And how can Neighborhood Greenways be incorporated into the 2012 update to the Bicycle Master Plan?

Blake brings a wealth of knowledge and many years of experience in improving bike safety “from the inside”. By learning from Blake where we’ve already been as an advocacy movement, we will be even better equipped as Neighborhood Greenways organizers to “work within the system” to make bicycling and walking safe and attractive for all Seattle.

We will also be discussing the upcoming neighborhood project fund grants (deadline Feb 1). This is a great and easy way to get some Greenways built in your neighborhood NEXT YEAR!

Please attend this meeting if you can.

Tags: beacon bikes!, bicycles, greenways, pedestrians

Greenway signs sprout on 17th and 18th Avenues

New signs appeared along 17th and 18th Avenues South recently, the first visible step toward the new Beacon Hill Greenway, part of a planned network of neighborhood greenways on Beacon Hill. The signs direct cyclists to neighborhood locations such as Jefferson Park and Beacon Hill Station via the greenway route.

Greenways are residential streets that are designed to be safe neighborhood connections for bicyclists and pedestrians, while still allowing automobile access using traffic calming measures. (City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw has posted a FAQ with more information about neighborhood greenways on her website.)

Seattle’s greenways have recently seen a lot of press, including articles in The Seattle Times, Publicola, Seattle Bike Blog, and The Atlantic Cities.

For more information on bicycle and pedestrian strategies on Beacon Hill, see the Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan, a ten-year plan put together by Beacon B.I.K.E.S. and ALTA Planning + Design. (See also the appendix.)

Tags: bicycles, greenways, pedestrians

Beacon B.I.K.E.S. meeting tonight

BEACON B.I.K.E.S. (Better Infrastructure Keeping Everyone Safe) will be meeting tonight, September 6, from 6-8 p.m. in the Beacon Hill Library conference room. Light refreshments will be provided. The meeting is open to all who are interested in safely getting people of all ages and abilities around the Hill on foot and bicycle.

Tonight’s agenda includes:

• Debrief of previous month’s events
• Discussion of Seattle Greenways potluck on September 14
• Event logistics for 350.org Moving Planet on September 24
• Crossing counts at Spokane and Lafayette
• NEPO 5k Don’t Run: volunteers for Serpent Walk
• Hilltop Red Apple bicycle parking update
• Other announcements

See more about Beacon B.I.K.E.S. at http://www.beaconwalksbikes.org/.

Tags: beacon bikes!, bicycles, pedestrians