Seattle has a Holgate bike lane situation of its own

Up in Seattle, they’ve got a bike lane battle that has some striking similarities to our situation with the new bike lanes on SE Holgate Blvd.

As I’ve reported several times in the last few months, the City of Portland is facing considerable opposition from some people near the lanes on Holgate. They claim, and the City has admitted, that not enough warning was given prior to the lanes being installed. Some residents also say the bike lanes aren’t needed because no one’s using them and that they are making the street more congested.

The situation on Seattle’s NE 125th Street seems quite similar. The street currently has four standard vehicle lanes and not much room for bikes. SDOT wants to add a bike lane and remove one standard vehicle lane in each direction. According to an article in the Seattle Times, not everyone is happy about it.

From the Times:

“City officials say it’s a safety issue and the changes will reduce speeds and provide pedestrian and bicycle access on the busy east-west roadway. They say many drivers now go at speeds far above the posted 30-mph limit.

The city says the change would not affect capacity on the road.”

But…

“Residents complain that the city was working to change the road without notifying them.

“It’s so insulting and offensive: No one in the neighborhood knew about it. It’s sneaky and underhanded,” said resident Debra Jarvis, who said the issue has galvanized the neighborhood. She said she bikes to work, but putting bike lanes on steep 125th makes no sense. “Why not put bike lanes on Mount Everest?” she said.

She also said the change will clog the street. “It will be congested. It will be a snarling mess.”

Full article here.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Spiffy
Spiffy
13 years ago

the first link to the article has an extra quote on the end making it not work, but the link at the end of the article works fine…

Debra Jarvis is right, they should put bike lanes up Mt Everest… but that will probably be a while…

but wow, that is exactly like the Holgate issue… it’s eerie… I guess people really are the same everywhere…

gutterbunny
gutterbunny
10 years ago

I think Everest would make better single track, than bike path.