Nayoi Eu Nuiiay

6uu Fouith Avenue

Seventh Flooi
Seattle, WA 981u4

0ctobei 2S, 2u14
Beai Nayoi Nuiiay,
This lettei is on behalf of seveial community gioups compiiseu of uiveise citizens who live, woik,
anu play in the Roosevelt anu 0niveisity Bistiict neighboihoous. We wiite to iequest that the
upcoming Roosevelt Way NE anu 11
th
Avenue NE AAC (Aiteiial Asphalt anu Conciete) pioject incluue
significant impiovements foi all moues of tianspoitation, paiticulaily walking anu bicycling. We
incluue a list of specific iequests in a latei paiagiaph.
We giounu oui iequests in commitments anu plans alieauy establisheu by the City, incluuing the
Complete Stieets 0iuinance 122S86, in which the City committeu that it will plan foi, uesign, anu
constiuct all new City tianspoitation impiovement piojects to encouiage walking, bicycling, anu
tiansit iiueiship, while piomoting safe opeiation foi all useis. In auuition, the City's Bicycle Nastei
Plan iecommenus a "piotecteu cycle tiack"--a piotecteu bikeway--in the Roosevelt Coiiiuoi
(Roosevelt Way, 11
th
anu 12
th
avenues), anu the Peuestiian Nastei Plan iuentifies the neighboihoou
as a piioiity aiea foi peuestiian impiovements. Finally, Seattle's 0iban village Stiategy aims to
ieuuce uepenuence on automobiles, paiticulaily in uiban centeis incluuing the 0niveisity
Bistiict. As the neighboihoou continues to giow, it is ciitical that Roosevelt anu 11
th
uevelop, not just
into busy thoioughfaies foi vehicles, but as uiban stieets that aie safe foi all people, incluuing school
chiluien, 0niveisity of Washington stuuents, the uisableu, those without cais, tiansit useis, bicycle
commuteis, the elueily, as well as those who aie walking.
The cuiient uesign of the ioauway in the Roosevelt anu 11
th
AAC pioject aiea incieases the
likelihoou that people on bicycles will be stiuck by cais anu tiucks. In 2uu7 Biyce Lewis, who hau
just moveu to Seattle to stait school at the 0W, was hit anu killeu by a uump tiuck on the south siue
of the 0niveisity Biiuge. Between 2uu7 anu 2u14, theie weie at least 6S cai-bike collisions on
Roosevelt Way NE.
1
Between 2u1u anu 2u12, Roosevelt was tieu with Seconu Avenue foi the most
iepoiteu cai-bicycle collisions in Seattle. Eastlake Avenue hau the seconu-highest numbei of
collisions.
People walking also lack safe passage foi significant stietches of this coiiiuoi. While I-S offeis cai
uiiveis a multituue of lanes to cioss noith anu south in this aiea, people walking anu biking have no
viable alteinative to the 0niveisity Biiuge if they wish to heau south fiom the 0niveisity Bistiict.
The ioute is uangeious foi people on foot anu on bikes.

1
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2
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Regaiuing the AAC plan, we unueistanu that the buuget is focuseu piimaiily on neeueu iepaving.
Bowevei, we aigue that this pioject shoulu not miss a majoi oppoitunity to tiansfoim the Roosevelt
anu 11
th
coiiiuoi into a tiuly multi-moual mouel of Seattle's futuie. The Bepaitment of
Tianspoitation's own citizen suivey acknowleuges that people neeu to feel safe to choosing biking
anu walking ovei uiiving.
2
The pioject must auuiess this gap.
We have conuucteu an initial analysis of the Su% Besign Plan, accompanieu by a walking auuit to
collect moie infoimation. Buiing the walking auuit, we submitteu ovei Su comments to the City's
"Finu It, Fix It" piogiam, anu ieceiveu uetaileu iesponses fiom a Ni. Paul Elliot. We have also
ieceiveu some infoimation fiom Ni. Tii 0ng in iesponse to a lettei sent by one of oui membeis on
this issue. Fiom all of this infoimation, we concluue that the Plan contains a goou stait to neeueu
walking impiovements, anu insufficient attention to bicycling impiovements.
Regaiuing bicycling, the Su% uesign foi the Roosevelt anu 11
th
AAC pioject uoes not incluue any
impiovements foi bicycling infiastiuctuie. We weie encouiageu to heai that SB0T Biiectoi Kubly
has ieneweu effoits to auu some safety impiovements foi bicyclists south of 4S
th
, paiticulaily in
connecting ovei the 0niveisity Biiuge, into this pioject--though the buuget is penuing. While these
aie ciitical, we believe theie aie many othei neeueu impiovements to bicycling infiastiuctuie--
paiticulaily a piotecteu bike lane in the neai vicinity, incluuing noith of NE 4S
th
Stieet. Cuiiently,
people iiuing in the bike lane on Roosevelt face the thieats of being "uooieu", of being hit by iight-
tuining cais at inteisections, anu also must cioss multiple lanes of fast-moving tiaffic when tuining
east-bounu fiom Roosevelt oi west-bounu fiom 11
th
, foi example aiounu NE Campus Paikway, NE
4u
th
Alley, anu NE 41
st
Stieet.
Neanwhile, we appiove of the plans foi significant impiovements to siuewalks anu othei peuestiian
infiastiuctuie. In paiticulai, we aie pleaseu to see plans foi the constiuction of cuib bulbs anu cuib
iamps at many inteisections, bettei aligneu cuib iamps, seveial in-lane bus stops which will incluue

2
SB0T Bicycle Bata http:www.seattle.govtianspoitationbikeuata.htm
4
expanueu siuewalks anu shoiten the ciossing uistance of Roosevelt, anu iequiiements foi new
siuewalks with pioposeu uevelopments. In auuition, we aie pleaseu to heai of effoits to plant new
tiees, fix uiainage pioblems, enfoice paiking violations, anu ielocate iecycling anu waste bins, light
poles, anu othei siuewalk infiastiuctuie when possible. These impiovements will go a long way
towaius making an easiei anu safei ciossing of the stieets along Roosevelt Way anu 11
th
. Bowevei,
speeus anu the ioau wiuth will continue to be a pioblem foi people walking. We also see auuitional
neeu in collaboiating with piopeity owneis about locating sanuwich boaius, chaiis, anu othei
tempoiaiy items in a consistent zone, ensuiing fiee-flowing of people walking anu ieuucing safety
hazaius, paiticulaily foi the blinu.
We continue to auvocate foi the following specific iequests foi possible inclusion into the Roosevelt
anu 11
th
Ave NE AAC pioject:
Auuiess the tiiple thieat pioblem (paikeu cai lane, bicycle lane, anu two vehicle lanes) foi
people walking acioss Roosevelt Way anu 11
th
Avenue NE, by
o not allowing paikeu vehicles neai stieet ciossings to impiove visibility;
o auuing cuib bulbs in combination with othei effective tieatments at
paiticulai ciossings; anu
o implementing ioau uiet iechannelization techniques foi ieuucing
oppoitunities foi high speeu passing anu foi calming vehicle speeus;
Integiate solutions that woulu speeu up tiansit;
Consiuei how to auu a tiansit lane to the coiiiuoi;
Reuuce lane wiuth of cai lanes to encouiage lowei uiiving speeus;
Install piotecteu bike lanes, with piotecteu stieet ciossings acioss busy aiteiials, on
Roosevelt anu 11
th
. These bike lanes shoulu flow seamlessly into the ciossing of the
0niveisity Biiuge anu onto Eastlake Avenue East;
Asseitively impiove the most uangeious inteisections aiounu the 0niveisity Biiuge anu 4S
th

with some effective combination of signage, signalization, iechannelization, ieconfiguiing, oi
closing uangeious meiging on anu off iamps;
Repaii all segments of siuewalks that have buckleu oi aie veiy uneven anu iepiesent thieats
to people walking, paiticulaily those with uisabilities;
Request, pioviue incentives, oi iegulate piopeity owneis to ensuie a safe, inviting, anu
obstiuction-fiee passage on the siuewalks in fiont of theii piopeity. Some examples of how
this coulu be uone incluue having cleaily maikeu uiiveways, uoois that open inwaius iathei
than onto the siuewalk, locating sanuwich oi uisplay boaius consistently on the euge of the
siuewalk, anu installing awnings;
Apply consistent wiuth iequiiements to all new siuewalk constiuction, anu look foi
oppoitunities to expanu peuestiian space;
Locate utility poles, sign posts, anu othei potential obstacles in a consistent fashion such that
they uo not impeue peuestiians (paiticulaily blinu oi impaiieu) fiom walking safely in a
stiaight line; anu
In conclusion, make cieating safe conuitions foi all moues of tianspoitation a high piioiity--
incluuing people of all ages anu abilities, walking anu on bicycles--ovei the uemanus foi
paiking.

S

These conceins aie being auuiesseu to Nayoi Nuiiay, City Council, key executives of SB0T, anu
suppoiteis of walking, bicycling, anu tiansit in the City of Seattle. We thank you foi consiueiing oui
input anu foi youi woik to make Seattle's stieets safei foi eveiyone. We woulu be happy to assist in
any way we can to help biing about these much neeueu changes. We will continue to auvocate foi
safety as a top piioiity in stieet piojects anu foi alteinatives moues of tianspoitation as integial to a
moie livable city.


Sinceiely,

Biew Biesman anu Foiiest Baum
0n behalf of
0niveisity uieenways | univeisity-gieenwaysgooglegioups.com
Seattle Neighboihoou uieenways | infoseattlegieenways.oig