Have they seen the huge backups that occur due to the bridge opening and closing?
Where in the world did these planners get their degrees from?

When did we decide that all roads have to be changed to accomodate bikes? I admire the people who bike to work but lets get real. Why are we changing our infrastructure to accomodate the very small number of people who can really use bikes as their main form of transportation???????
This is going to be a mess during construction and then it will be clogged up with fewer lanes for cars.

Well the Mayor has clearly fallen sort on this proposal. We should eliminate the remaining east and west bound lanes to make room for a trolley. Oh and the trolley needs to be different technology than the SLUT so we can’t connect the two lines. That should render the corridor completely useless.

It’s an interesting idea. I’m also concerned about Fremont Bidge backups, in the eastbound direction, west of the bridge. I believe traffic backs up quite a bit farther than than the 2 lane section proposed in the map above.
I presume that the traffic engineers have observed this and taken it into account…

In addition, westbound traffic, headed for the Ballard bridge, also backs up often. It’s not uncommon for evening commute traffic into Ballard, heading North on 15th, to be backed up from Market St in Ballard all the way South to Dravus, with Nickerson traffic headed for the bridge also backed up. If Nickerson is a single land in each direction all of the way to the Ballard Bridge, then that will be another problem. If you’re trying to stay to the right in order to go under the Ballard Bridge, to head South on 15th… you won’t be able to.

WTF!!!! SDOT are you kidding us?? I think it is time to vote to see who heads up SDOT and hope at this time next year gone will be our Mayor too, in 2010 Later Nickels!! I like to see you commute via bike to work!!

If we are talking about budget short falls, this is not something that HAS to be done. I am a biker and the amount of bike traffic on nickerson is slim. This will devastate peak traffic.

If you do not believe that to be true, try waiting in line from 7-11 and wait to get on the fremont bridge.

Also one lane includes buses, so when they are running slow, or stopping at each stop that will slow things down even more.

Again if we had so much money we were just looking for things to spend money on I would be interested, but it just doesn’t make sense AND considering money is tight, even if it was a win/win it wouldn’t make sense!

I agree with Jon, this is not something that has to be done. Why spend money we don’t have to decrease lanes for automobile traffic in an area that a limited number of bicycles use.

They did the exact same thing on 24th NW and many bikers commented that they don’t feel safe in that bike lane with parked cars on their right and Metro buses needing to cross the bike lane to reach the bus stops.

Also, the proposed Nickerson bike route parallels the Burke-Gilman bike trail right across the canal.

This just doesn’t seem like a wise use of money, especially in this economy.

I like this. I ride my bike on this street a fair amount and it is terrifying. Drivers on this street don’t share the road well at all, especially Westbound, so this is a nice addition.

And to the commenter above who asked why we should do this for the small amount of people who “can” ride to work, the number of people who could ride is quite large. the number who will when proper infrastructure exists is smaller. the number who do now because not enough bike lanes exist is even smaller. But the number who could is large. For example, in Denmark, more people 70 yrs + ride daily than Americans.
You could ride, you just won’t because you think it’s your right to drive everywhere.

actually, you can get out of your car. you just don’t want to.

we’ve been car free for 2 years.

Mike said : “i’m so looking forward to finally being able to bike from work to home w/ out being assaulted by cars who refuse to share the road.”

Assaulted by cars? are you kidding? YOU learn to share the road instead of thinking YOU own it. It’s cyclists like you who give them ALL a bad name.

really? -

you’re a genius, i can tell.

bikes have as much right to use the roads as moronic drivers such as yourself. put down the cellphone, the latte and pay attention to the friggin road.

i give them ALL a bad name? wow, you’ve never even see me ride, but that’s a good one.

anyway, enjoy your traffic jam, a**hat.

Actually…the biker tried to illegally pass the turning van on the left. Let’s not be so black and white people. Many drivers are bad at it as are many cyclists.
I think the bigger issue is spending money that we don’t have on “feel-good” projects.
Yes I could abandon my car and take 3 different buses into work everyday. But it doesn’t make sense to me.

Don’t limit auto options while telling us that metro service is going to be cut after upping my property tax and sales tax to pay for it.

No one’s mentioned that there is already a dedicated bike path that runs from the bridge to SPU, the Ship Canal Trail. Why not expand on that?

It would be nice if they extended the ship canal trail, and I don’t know why they’re not doing that.

I suspect though that once these changes are made you will see more bikers on this road. It’s actually a very convenient route for cyclists to take (and not hilly!), but the current configuration is very dangerous.

I haven’t read all the comments yet, so forgive me if I sound like a broken record.

I used to live on that curve shown in the picture. We lived there for about 3 years. In that time I saw COUNTLESS accidents. One teenager ran into a tree. One drunk driver totalled at least 4 cars. A motorcyclist was LAUNCHED from his bike. My car was hit by a hit and run driver. And my husband was hit on his motorcycle by an unaware idiot.

Something needs to be done. Sorry you’ll have a longer drive… but I’d like to let my husband out of the house without fear of him dying.

Bike riders like us do need to respect and follow the rules of the road. Many do not, it’s true. And I hate that.
But, as one of the riders that stops at stop signs and red lights, signals his intentions using hand signals, doesn’t pass on the left, etc… I have to say that many drivers are as bad about following the rules as many riders are.

The long and the short of it is that we all do have to share the road because we all do have the right to use it, equally. Some routes are better for bike riders and should be made safer for us because, I am sorry, many, many drivers will not respect our right to the road and give us a safe amount of space without a white line telling them to do so.

I support the removal of any vehicle lanes for the conversion to bike or pedestrian. Our society has put the automobile and its driver ahead of everything else for too long.

Internet tough guy is creative AND smart. Way to insult someone with the name you gave yourself. You represent your side’s argument well.

hahahaha

This is a fantastic idea. We need to discourage people from driving cars as much as possible, and get as many of these awful things off the the streets as we can.

We need the mayor to use forced behavioral modification as part of his transportaion plan to make more people to ride bicycles, whether they want to or not.

This will decreace our dependence on fossil fuel, help lower green house gases, reduce global warming, help save the Earth, and make Seatle, and the world a much better place.

Right?

Settle down, Mohini.

Mike, I don’t appreciate seeing bicyclists cruising past me while I wait at a stop light only to see said bicyclist decide they’ll use the crosswalk to blow through the red light and then return to the right lane and put us drivers sitting behind them driving 18 in a 30 mph zone. Yes you have the same rights as cars but you don’t have the right to blow through stop lights or cut across the double yellow to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street so as to avoid the left turn on the red light. And save your breath by not telling us you aren’t that guy.

Look, bicycle commuting is not for everyone. Obviously those individuals who commute long distances or have to carry tools and supplies to and from work will not be able to ride a bike. And, yes, there are cyclist who disregard the road rules, but take a look at those cyclist. I bet they are the ones who are wearing spandex gear and like to pretend they are racing in the Tour.

Then there is the rest of us out there…the bike commuters in rain gear, windbreakers and flashing lights. We ride to work because we are trying to be healthy, or we can’t afford to park downtown, or we want to help alliviate traffic congestion, or we are trying to lose weight, or we need to work off our stress from our jobs before we get home to our kids, or we can’t afford gas and car maintenance, or we think we are helping the planet, or all of the above. We respect the traffic laws and are equally as annoyed as car drivers by cyclists who disregard the laws.

So give us a break. Try to remember that we are not out there just to piss you off. Don’t threaten to run us over when you see us in an intersection. Try to remember that that cyclist you are threatening to kill may just be a middle-aged, overweight working mom who is trying to lower her blood pressure by exercising the only time she has…on her way to and from work.

Do the project managers at SDOT communicate? A two lane Nickerson will be lovely when all the Magnolians are making their way to the “improved” Mercer street and the fabulous 99 tunnel entrance.

My name is Sarah, but you can call me Mike if it makes you feel better.

Mike must ride really fast, cause sometimes he peddles past me twice in a couple minutes, going the same direction. I bet he could kick Chuck Norris’ butt!

Cheers for this posting, guys, retain up the fantastic operate…

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