After July’s agreement between Washington Bikes, local bicycle clubs and advocates, and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), construction work began in November on improvements to make crossing Hood Canal Bridge on bicycle safer.
We have recently received new photos of the construction activities, as well as updates from WSDOT’s project manager, Jeff Cook. The latest: construction has been pushed back a few weeks and completion is now scheduled for February 28.
Looking west to the Olympic Peninsula. Photo courtesy of Don Willott.
The safety improvements include over $1 million in improvements will be made by filling in bridge grating on the area used by bicycles with elastomeric concrete and by improving bridge plates that cover the floating bridge’s joints. For the recap of the campaign for improvements, see our press release from the summer.
In the case that you are headed across the bridge for a winter weekend excursion or excuse to spend the holidays on your bicycle, stay alert as the construction to the shoulders of the bridge will impact your ride.
From WSDOT:
“Our contractor has completed the infill for 3 of the 8 sections of grated roadway. Specifically, the south shoulder for the two lift spans and the east truss are completed. The south shoulder for the west truss is 50% complete and should be done by the end of next week. Operations are beginning to move forward on the north side. Work to install containment systems and form panels on the north shoulder will begin at the west lift span today.”
The North Kitsap Trails Association also reports that the new surface, “four and a half feet flush with the grating looked like it’d be much more comfortable to ride than three feet with carriage bolts and an inline edge of the plates.”
Still, based on the signage & cones, the contractors are not communicating it’s ready for use yet, so hold on until February 28! Until then, check-out some more photos of Hood Canal Bridge safety improvements progress, courtesy of Don Willott.
Close-up of the new elastomeric concrete material that fills the bridge grating.
View of the new elastomeric concrete riding surface under construction.
Many people in the bicycling community know that one of the ways to support Bicycle Alliance’s work in education, safety, and advocacy is to join our membership. Your membership dues contribute to our ability to educate legislators about current issues impacting safety and quality of life for people riding bikes. In addition your involvement in our organization sends a message that there is power and influence in numbers. The larger our membership the more our voice is taken seriously by people who formulate policy, make laws, and decide where public money is spent.
A relatively new development is the Organizational Membership. Started in Spring 2012 it encourages companies and non-profit organizations with an affiliation or interest in bicycling to support our work. Most recently Zipcar, U.W. Transportation Services, Net Motion Wireless, Commute Seattle and Pyramid Communications have all joined our ranks.
Benefits are wide-ranging and include: recognition on the Bicycle Alliance website and in our Annual Report, a business profile spotlight on this blog, one time social media recognition on Facebook and Twitter, onsite training workshops for bicycle maintenance and safety, and representation in Washington bicycle-related legislative initiatives.
There’s a definite value to Organizational Membership. Just ask Billy Thompson, Marketing Manager of Zipcar in Seattle. “This affiliation will allow us to promote our relationship with some relevancy to our entire membership base, with e-newsletter inclusion and social media mentions throughout the year.” He added, “We can’t fight the battle for alternative transportation alone, and we’re excited to support [Washington Bikes] with more than just enthusiasm.”
If your business or non-profit wants to build strong support and infrastructure for people who ride bicycles, consider joining hands with Washington’s state’s first statewide advocacy organization. Contact Jack Hilovsky, Fund Development and Membership Manager, at (206)224-9252, x 306.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Support Bicycling with More than Just Enthusiasm
Last year’s record turnout of over two hundred dedicated advocates for biking, walking, transit, and rail provided a critical voice to help us advance an agenda that led to increased state funding for Safe Routes to Schools and more flexible design standards for cities and towns as they work to grow bicycling and make it safer.
This year we want to make Transportation Advocacy Day 2013 bigger because bigger means more stories, more voices, and more testimony to grow bicycling statewide, to make it safer for kids to walk and bike, and to create great neighborhoods across Washington.
No matter how many white papers, statistics, and reports we reference to promote our policies to legislators, invariably, it’s the story that matters most. Your voice is critical in making the case for:
why kids need sidewalks, trails, and bike lanes to safely get to school – while saving our state money with reduced busing costs
safer neighborhood streets for children, elderly, and everyone else to live, work, and play
more recreational opportunities for bicyclists that lead to more money spent in cities and towns across the state
Transportation Advocacy Day is your opportunity in 2013 to connect with fellow advocates from across the state and to meet with your elected officials in Olympia on the issues we care about. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!
To register, visit Transportation for Washington’s RSVP page. There are many transportation options to get to Olympia, including Zipcar and rail. During the sign-up process, we’ll work to help your travel go as smooth as possible. Also, the entire day (food, scheduling, great workshops) is free!
Staff and dedicated volunteers from over ten organizations representing biking, walking, transit, rail, and public health are coordinating events and the policy agenda for the 2013 event. Luckily, the Transportation Advocacy Day platform is very similar to the Washington Bikes legislative agenda and includes:
Local Government Control and Safe Neighborhood Streets. The Bicycle Alliance again will lead the Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill to make safer streets and neighborhoods by allowing cities and towns the authority to set speed limits to 20 miles per hour on non-arterial streets.
Adding Health as a State Transportation System Policy Goal. The Bicycle Alliance will again support legislation that adds human health to the policy goals of our state transportation system —alongside existing goals such as economic vitality, mobility, and the environment.
Transportation for Washington’s Campaign to expand funding to give Washingtonians the freedom to get around, safer streets for our children, and more complete streets for our towns and cities.
Washington Bikes is excited to again collaborate with many different transportation interests and we can’t thank our dedicated volunteers, including Washington Bikes board member Bob Duffy who coordinates the facility logistics and makes participants’ experiences enjoyable with copious refreshments and lunch. His yeoman’s work goes back years when we hosted Bicycle Advocacy Day in Olympia.
If you haven’t met her already Transportation Advocacy Day will also be a great opportunity to meet Washington Bikes’s new Executive Director, Barb Chamberlain. She’ll be welcoming advocates at the commencement of the day’s activities.
So join us February 12 for Transportation Advocacy Day. It’s a great opportunity to grow bicycling statewide, to meet your state elected officials, and to tell your stories and to make your case for why Washington’s transportation priorities need more balance in Olympia.
And, again, thanks in advance for your support and advocacy in 2013!
Here’s a little pocket reference you’ll want to have on hand to share with your cycling friend who blows through stop signs or that co-worker who tells you bikes don’t belong on the road.
The Washington Bicycle Law Pocket Reference is a synopsis of our state’s bike laws with the applicable RCWs (Revised Code of Washington) cited for further information. This handy little resource fits easily into your pocket or wallet so you can always have it on hand.
The pocket reference is produced by Washington Bikes and is free for the asking.* Email info@wabikes.org to request copies.
*We do ask for a small donation to cover the cost of requests for bulk quantities.
It’s also why the 2013 Washington Bikes legislative agenda set in November recognized the need to address new approaches to get kids to school. We’re now actively exploring opportunities with legislators to improve our school transportation investments, while growing biking and walking to schools.
This Legislator’s Toolkit includes solutions to promote efficiency in spending, improve public safety on Washington’s streets, grow biking and walking to school, and create more jobs through small capital projects.
Such an approach recognizes that school districts and the state must address complex policy issues and on-the-ground realities of student transportation. Of course Safe Routes to School needs continued and larger investments, but additional policies, incentives, and investments need to occur as well to address the entirety of the issues that face schools and the burden of getting kids to and from home.
Washington Bikes isn’t unfamiliar with initiatives that lead to meaningful change for Washingtonians.
In 2004 when then-Representative Ed Murray partnered with Washington Bikes to establish the first Safe Routes to School pilot program, no one could have predicted the incredible response and results after less than a decade of partnerships, education, awareness, and safer routes for kids to walk and bike.
Eight years on and the results are great. Now the Bicycle Alliance leads a statewide grant to teach kids safe biking and walking skills to approximately 20,000 students in 30 districts statewide. Over $30 million has been spent since 2005 for education and building paths, bike lanes, sidewalks, and safer streets.
Demand is high for creating more efficient and safer ways to get kids to school. With less than $14 million available in the next biennium, over $46 million in projects from across the state have been denied funding.
www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden
And while we are constantly advancing a legislative agenda that looks for opportunities to grow safe walking and biking to Washington schools, we often have to protect this fragile source of funding. In October, along with our partners at the Transportation for Washington Campaign, Washington Bikes successfully advocated to retain $3.6 million in annual federal investments in Safe Routes to School that other interests sought to send elsewhere.
Growing safe walking and biking to schools is a central mission of Washington Bikes. Washington Bikes will continue to review the governor’s proposal; while we haven’t taken a position on it, we’re pleased to see that she has highlighted the need to address our state’s student transportation problem. Working with the 2013 legislature and Governor-elect Inslee, Washington Bikes is poised to identify long-term solutions that save us money, improve walking and biking safety, and create a better education system for Washington’s children.
I had the chance to share a bit about the work of the Bicycle Alliance in a really fast interview on Comcast Newsmakers. Four minutes isn’t nearly enough time to cover everything we do so this just skims a very few of the wavetops, but here it is. (And don’t you just love the way the screen capture function captures the speaker at an awkward moment and freezes it?)
Watch our blog for more on all the things I got to fly through in this interview.
For those of you who would rather read than watch, a transcript of the main interview with Newsmakers host Sabrina Register (minus the intro chitchat) :
Sabrina: Bicycle Alliance–tell us about the group.
Barb: We were founded 25 years ago growing out of local bike advocates who said we need a statewide bike advocacy organization–a nonprofit that’s focused on helping grow bicycling, pass public policy that makes this state a better place to ride, an organization that would do education and outreach–really around the state–and we’ve been doing that for 25 years very successfully.
Sabrina: Twenty-five years, quarter of a century–congratulations! So it sounds like the organization has grown and even evolved some since its beginning.
Barb: Definitely. One of the things we point to as an accomplishment of the last 25 years is we have been the organization leading legislation that improves the state for bicycling. We’ve led the majority of legislation passed in the last 25 years. So that’s everything from adding those questions you have to answer on your driver’s license exam about bike law to making sure that when a kid goes through drivers’ ed bike safety is part of that curriculum so as drivers and riders interact we all know the laws. So that’s just one of the things we’ve worked on.
Sabrina: You were part of a coalition that helped pass the distracted driving law.
Barb: Yes, Text-Talk-Ticket, because that’s really important to all of us. There was actually just a study released today about Seattle pedestrian behavior and texting is a really dangerous thing for you to do as a walker as well as a driver. And if you’re on your bike you probably shouldn’t be texting either.
Sabrina: That’s probably not a good idea also! I know you’re hoping in the next legislative session to get another law on the books. What is that?
Barb: We’ve worked for a couple of sessions now; we’ve made it halfway through the process and we know we have a lot of support from around the state. It’s called the Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill.
What it would do is really a matter of local control. It would let cities lower the speed limit in a neighborhood to 20 miles an hour without having to do a really expensive engineering study. It might just be common sense to say hey, we have a school zone here, and just outside the school zone we also have a park or a library or another destination. It makes sense to have drivers just stay slower through this section.
We’d just let cities do that. Right now they can’t do it without an expensive study. So it’s a matter of local control; it’s also a matter of making the neighborhoods a lot safer for people who are walking or biking through. And that’s kids–it’s also senior citizens or folks with disabilities who maybe just aren’t moving as quickly. And so slowing the driving speed makes it safer for everybody.
Sabrina: So not only do you work with a lobbyist in Olympia but you also work with state groups and agencies like the state Department of Transportation.
Barb: Yes, we work a lot with them because once the law gets passed then it’s how it’s implemented that will really matter on the ground to the people who are riding or driving through a stretch. We’ve worked on issues like a bridge over Hood Canal that had a particularly slippery bridge decking that meant people riding across on bikes fell, and if they were falling they might be falling into the path of the drivers and creating a lot more danger for everybody.
So the local riders in the area came to us because we have that relationship with DOT to bring them in and say can we make this better for here but then can we also, because we’re a statewide organization, ask DOT to take lessons learned and share them around the state so any other bridge design would be looked at to make sure it’s safe for riders.
Sabrina: We’re almost out of time but–bike-friendly, I asked the question–we certainly are. I think we can be even more bike-friendly. And we’re hoping that bike tourism takes off as well in Washington state.
Barb: Absolutely. The League of American Bicyclists has ranked us #1 in the nation five years in a row for being bike-friendly. That’s a combination of a lot of things–engineering, education, enforcement . . . we have all these Es we measure by. We are a great place to ride a bike already and we can get even better promoting bike tourism. It’s really great for small towns. It’s good for the people who live there every day to have that business riding through on two wheels.
Sabrina: So that’s something that’s a nationwide effort but certainly something we want to see emphasized here in Washington state.
Barb: Yes. We’re helping map the US Bicycle Route System as it comes through the state. It’s across the country–it’s also international coming down from Alaska through Canada. So we’ll be bringing money into the state with our two wheels.
In some ways 2012 was a tough year for bicycling, since Congress slashed federal funding for bike/pedestrian projects by 30%. Yet bike advocates and Bicycle Alliance members and supporters can point with pride to the impact of our efforts and celebrate the foundation we’ve laid together for even greater accomplishments in 2013. Watch this blog for progress reports on these and other projects:
Our Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill, which would permit cities to lower the speed limit to 20mph without expensive and unnecessary engineering studies, made it through the state House of Representatives on a unanimous vote in the 2012 session. We’re already working to ensure its passage into law in 2013 and have legislative sponsors lined up in both House and Senate.
We have championed Safe Routes to School funding successfully since its inception to make it safer for our kids to bike and walk to school. We’ll be working in the upcoming session on new approaches to funding school transportation and to defend the win we had this summer when the governor’s advisory committee recommended using federal highway safety dollars to fund Safe Routes–for the first time ever.
We started mapping the first segment of the US Bicycle Route System in Washington across the northern tier of the state with the help of local riders and clubs. When approved the route will become part of the official highway manual—biking will really be on the map!
We’re always educating people who drive, walk, or bike to make your interactions on the street safer. Click around our newly revamped website for bike law links and more.
We’re at the table not only when laws are written but also when long-range policy plans are developed by every state entity with the word “transportation” in its name. We’re working every day to shape a future vision that will treat bikes as mainstream transportation. In 2013 we’ll be helping write the next update to the statewide traffic plan.
We can’t do any of this important work without the support of people who bike all across Washington. As the year draws to a close we hope you’ll make three bike-friendly resolutions for 2013:
Invite a friendto join the Bicycle Alliance. (You could send a link to this post along with your own list of reasons why being a member really matters.)
Reach a new biking goal, whether it’s taking your first overnight bike camping trip, riding to work for the first time (or every workday all year round), or biking somewhere in Washington you’ve never seen before. Then tell us about it with a guest post for our blog, a note or picture on Facebook, or 140 characters on Twitter. We love to hear great bike stories.
Happy pedaling in 2013 and beyond!
PS: You’re counting on us to be your voice in Olympia, and we’re good at it–we’ve led the efforts for passage of the majority of bike legislation adopted in the last 25 years. Your support makes it possible for us to work every day to help make Washington even more bike-friendly. Thank you!
Posted in Advocacy, News | Comments Off on A Great 2012, an Even Better 2013!
After six years of volunteer service as the Bicycle Alliance’s webmaster, Rebecca Slivka is taking a well earned and much deserved break.
Rebecca created the original Safe Routes to School WA site in 2005, then agreed to manage the Bicycle Alliance site in 2006. The content was sparse back then and she was eager to work with staff to build a site that was interesting and useful to bicyclists.
“First I expanded the sections on commuting, legislation and resources. Later, I created online forms for membership, auction donations and auction ticket purchases,” Rebecca recalled. “Creating the online forms for membership and the auction were probably the most productive changes,” she added.
Rebecca’s involvement with the Bicycle Alliance goes beyond her website contribution. She helped gather the signatures that resulted in legislative approval for the Share the Road license plate. Her first Share the Road plate was BK00023, but she has since traded that plate in for a personalized one that proclaims her zeal for Scrabble: -TSNIEA (Fellow Scrabble lovers will recognize this as the best rack you can have in the game).
Her other volunteer contributions include serving as a Bike Buddy mentor, participating in early Bicycle Committee meetings with Sound Transit to ensure bike access on Sounder and Link light rail trains, and helping with the auction.
What’s on the horizon for Rebecca? Besides pursuing her love of Scrabble with the Seattle club, she is contemplating revisions to her Bicycle Watchdog website. No grass is growing under this bike adovate’s feet. Thanks, Rebecca!
Posted in People, Volunteer | Comments Off on Volunteer Spotlight: Rebecca Slivka
My life as a bike advocate got its start thanks in part to the Bicycle Alliance, which helped inspire and support my work as founding chair of Bike to Work Spokane (now Spokane Bikes, part of the Spokefest Association). That’s why it has been so exciting for me to go from working as a bike advocate in Spokane to working on behalf of bike advocates all over Washington as the new executive director.
What I learned when I sent out that first email in Spokane asking if people would serve on a planning committee and over a dozen people showed up was that people who ride bikes want to share their enthusiasm and inspire others to get on two wheels. That’s at the heart of our work at the Bicycle Alliance as the statewide bike advocacy organization. The commitment of our founders, members, supporters, and partners is the reason we’ve been able to lead the charge for the passage of the majority of bike legislation adopted in the last 25 years.
Whether you ride because bicycling is the most practical mode of healthy transportation, a great vacation vehicle, or an expression of your competitive spirit, your love for biking affects those around you. You really do make the world a better place when you ride (and we know that the more people ride, the safer and more pleasant the streets are for everyone).
Since moving to Seattle and starting work August 1 I’ve had the chance to talk with bicyclists around the state: in Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Richland, Bellingham, and Anacortes, for starters. The stories I hear tell me we have plenty of work to do together as advocates for a more bike-friendly Washington for all kinds of riders, and that we share the passion it will take to make progress.
The Bicycle Alliance has a dedicated board of directors, talented staff, and the support of thousands of people across the state who sport the Share the Road license plate and join us as proud members. Together we will truly make Washington the most bike-friendly state in the nation as we grow bicycling statewide.
See you on the road!
Posted in News, Spokane County | Comments Off on Riding Around Washington: Share Your Passion!
Guest blogger Kris Barker is one of three co-founders of Express Metrix Asset Management Software, a technology company located in Seattle, WA. Kris is an avid biker and rower, and is vice captain of San Juan 21 Fleet 1, an active small sailboat racing fleet. When Kris isn’t at work, on his bike, or on the lake, he plays bass and guitar in a band, and sings in a community choral group that raises money for Northwest Harvest.
L-R: Dawson Stoops, Kris Barker and Jeff Kelsey.
Express Metrix is a Seattle software company founded in 2000 by three dedicated outdoor types – two Washington natives (myself included) and an Alaska transplant. Between us, we commute a combined total of 50 miles per day on our bikes, often in the driving Seattle rain. Why do we do it? Apart from the obvious benefits relating to good health and traffic avoidance, it’s the best way to build up a positive mindset for the stresses of the day ahead and release tension on the way home from work.
We feel so strongly about the benefits of biking that we have put it on our healthy lifestyle agenda for our workforce. This includes reimbursing employees $500 if they purchase a bike, retrofitting our office space to include a shower room and lockers and, of course, leading by example. We have found that it’s not difficult to encourage workers to get out of their cars in favor of healthier commutes, and we are passionate about getting the word out to other employers that there are very easy ways to make it happen. Here are just a few simple tips:
Do it yourself – show everyone that it can easily fit into the daily routine.
Provide facilities – somewhere to change, shower and store bikes and equipment.
Offer incentives – employee loans, equipment subsidies or discount agreements with local bike stores will all work.
Take a personal interest – talk about it at the water cooler, at lunch, or at informal meetings, and post information on your bulletin boards.
Be enthusiastic and supportive, but don’t evangelize – biking to work doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Make it fun – hold friendly workplace competitions, meet up for coffee on the way to work, or get silly t-shirts printed; it’s a great building block for a strong work culture.
As a result of our efforts, around 20-25% of our employees bike to work regularly even during the cold winter months, with much higher participation during less inclement weather. Not to mention half of our employees participated in Bike to Work Month!
I truly believe that supporting healthy ways to work makes the office environment a more vibrant place, and I would encourage anyone with a personal commitment to biking to find ways to promote it at work. Talk to your colleagues, your executives, your HR staff – but most importantly, get on your bike and lead the charge!
