News
Health Department Director Supports Lake City Road Diet
In a letter to the city council and Mayor Mike McGinn yesterday, Seattle/King County health department director David Fleming came out in support of a controversial proposed "road diet" on NE 125th Street in Lake City. Under the proposal, 125th would be converted from four car lanes to three, with a bike lane on each side of the street.
In his letter, Fleming noted that adding turn lanes generally "improves road safety, prevents injuries caused by crashes, and improves the health and quality of life of roadway users and neighborhood residents." A similar project on Stone Way in Wallingford, Fleming noted, reduced crashes by 14 percent, crash injuries by 33 percent, and collisions with pedestrians by 80 percent.
Additionally, improving access to bikes and pedestrians encourages people to get out of their cars and lead more active, healthier lives, Fleming said. "Residents of cities and states with a higher percentage of trips and commutes by walking or cycling are more likely to get the recommended amont of daily physical activity. These cities and states also have lower rates of obesity and diabetes."
Residents of the neighborhood have mobilized for and against the project. Opponents have been gathering signature on a letter opposing the project since last year. Meanwhile, proponents of the project have gathered about 1,000 signatures on a Cascade Bicycle Club-sponsored petition expressing support.
NE 125th St., according to the Seattle Department of Transportation, only carries 16,000 cars a day, and has a much higher than average rate of speeding and collisions between cars and bikes or pedestrians.
Related: Google Maps Bike There is having a contest to come up with a new term "road diets," which actually increase roads' ability to move people (though not cars), and thus aren't really "diets" at all. "We need a term that describes the process of fixing a road so that it becomes whatever we want it to become. So, for instance, when a road diet adds bike lanes, can it still be considered a road diet?"
Read the whole thing---replete with references to Jane Jacobs, internecine battles between pedestrian advocates and cycling advocates, and an argument against helmet laws---here.
In his letter, Fleming noted that adding turn lanes generally "improves road safety, prevents injuries caused by crashes, and improves the health and quality of life of roadway users and neighborhood residents." A similar project on Stone Way in Wallingford, Fleming noted, reduced crashes by 14 percent, crash injuries by 33 percent, and collisions with pedestrians by 80 percent.
Additionally, improving access to bikes and pedestrians encourages people to get out of their cars and lead more active, healthier lives, Fleming said. "Residents of cities and states with a higher percentage of trips and commutes by walking or cycling are more likely to get the recommended amont of daily physical activity. These cities and states also have lower rates of obesity and diabetes."
Residents of the neighborhood have mobilized for and against the project. Opponents have been gathering signature on a letter opposing the project since last year. Meanwhile, proponents of the project have gathered about 1,000 signatures on a Cascade Bicycle Club-sponsored petition expressing support.
NE 125th St., according to the Seattle Department of Transportation, only carries 16,000 cars a day, and has a much higher than average rate of speeding and collisions between cars and bikes or pedestrians.
Related: Google Maps Bike There is having a contest to come up with a new term "road diets," which actually increase roads' ability to move people (though not cars), and thus aren't really "diets" at all. "We need a term that describes the process of fixing a road so that it becomes whatever we want it to become. So, for instance, when a road diet adds bike lanes, can it still be considered a road diet?"
Read the whole thing---replete with references to Jane Jacobs, internecine battles between pedestrian advocates and cycling advocates, and an argument against helmet laws---here.
