When you talk about the missing link in Seattle, the bike community knows you are talking about the missing link on the Burke Gilman trail between Fremont and Ballard. The fight to connect the trail to Ballard has been going on for decades and it doesn’t look like the lawsuits are going to end any time soon. That section is still used heavily by Ballard cyclists and we have learned to live with train track injuries and riding in a disappearing shoulder on Shilshole Avenue. It is a very frustrating situation because the city is committed to doing the right thing but the nearby landowners continue to find legal ways to stop SDOT from making a safe path. But that is not the only missing link in Seattle, and we have a lot in South Seattle. We have many more connections that need to be made until we can really call it a completed “Seattle Bike Network” of safe bike trails and lanes. Here are the other missing links that need the same sort of emphasis from the bike community and the city to solve. They are all in the South Seattle.
1. King Street from 5th Avenue to 12th Avenue in the International District.
This is actually considered a greenway but that just means that they painted sharrows on the road. This is a very dangerous street. There are many food delivery drivers double parking doing pickup, a lot of U turns, and several 4 way stops that are complicated with a lot pedestrians that disrupt whose turn is next. There is ample room on this street to remove just a few parking spots and create a real protected bike lane. I don’t think the city is even looking at it. I wrote about the issue here.
2. 14th Avenue in South Park
This is a very important connection for the Duwamish trail to connect with West Seattle, Alki, SODO or Georgetown but there is no bike infrastructure from West Marginal Way to the South Park Bridge over the Duwamish. There are 2 lanes in each direction and one of them is a parking lane for some hours. That parking lane could easily be removed for the city to make a Safe Bike trail connection. While the West Seattle bridge is closed, there are a lot more cars on this route so I don’t think the city will do anything until the bridge is completed next summer. The city understands the problem but doesn’t look like they are going to include it in their proposed Georgetown to South Park connection on East Marginal Way. I wrote about it here.
3. Airport Way from Ellis to Lucile in Georgetown.
Airport could use a bike lane for a couple of miles but these are the busy blocks that really cause a problem for those trying to get to Beacon Hill or over the hill to Rainier Valley. Cars are going very fast along the airport and then are supposed to slow down to 25 in Georgetown. This doesn’t usually happen. People are using this as an alternative to the freeway when I-5 is clogged so they really want to go fast through here. They need to do some traffic calming infrastructure in this area and reduce this stretch to 20 mph and 1 lane each way with bike lanes. I don’t think that is in the cards right now even though they are working a trail from Georgetown to South Park. That trail is going to be a great trail with terrible connections on both ends.
4. Rainier Avenue from Rainier Beach to Seward Park.
There is a scary bike lane along this stretch in some places but it disappears a few times so I think this can legitimately be called a missing link. This is a well used route for Lake Washington Loop riders and also for connections to Seattle from Renton and the Kent valley. Bikes get squeezed out in front of Be’er Sheva park and also along Seward Park Ave near the retirement home. There are ways to fix this by again removing parking but I am sure there would be some rich NIMBY opposition to any changes in front of many of these mansions.
5. 12th Avenue from King Street to Yesler.
This is a mess and there aren’t any easy answers unlike the first 4 missing links. SDOT originally had this section as part of the Jose Rizal bridge improvements that were done this year. They looked at removing some lanes but that would have caused a some traffic messes that would interfere with the streetcar. The city is not willing to slow down the streetcar when its biggest issue is how slow it is. Alternative routes besides 12th are difficult because of the elevation problems. Bike overpasses aren’t doable because of streetcar and bus trolley lines. Tunnels similar to the Burke in Kenmore seem to be the only answer but that would cost a lot of money. Until this is solved, we are going to have a huge missing link between Beacon Hill and First Hill/Capitol Hill/ Central District.
The first 4 on this list are some areas that can actually be fixed if the city really wants to. There other many other neighborhoods in the city that don’t have easy answers. Rainier Valley has a hilly greenway that doesn’t connect to places where people want to go. MLK may get a bike lane but the bike community is really clamoring for fixes on the most dangerous street in the city- Rainier Avenue. Sodo isn’t connected to anything. It needs East West connections as well as a North South route. Aurora Avenue is a busy arterial with many destinations but almost no bike access. Roosevelt has the much discussed problems on NE 65th street that we need to take another look at. There isn’t an easy connection between Wallingford and the U district across I-5. Green Lake to Fremont can also use an improved section.
I got to stop writing because there are many more and it is beginning to look overwhelming. Let’s focus on these 5 missing links in the South End that could really make a big difference in achieving the city goal of Vision Zero. These need to be fixed before we can have an all abilities bike network.