Close it forever!! Unfortunately this is one of my least favorite sections to ride in Seattle. I usually have no problem riding with traffic, but LW Blvd is uniquely stressful for me. Too many cars, no shoulder, wide-ish lanes, but not enough space/sight distance for cars to pass when it's busy. All of my peeves come together on this street. It's a shame this was once part of Seattle's first bike path; you'd think the city would do something to honor that history (which is very interesting and worth looking up 😉)
Close it. Drivers will always find other ways to get places, and there's really no need for drivers to use this street unless they live there or are visiting a local resident. If they wish to visit the park, then it seems they could park on a side street and walk there. However, if you give someone the option of driving, then many will do so. If there's no option, then people will find different ways to desirable places.
The sign may say "street closed" for cars but the flip side of that coin is that it's really "street open" for people. Since the auto industry's targeted policy/propaganda campaign to stigmatize and criminalize "jaywalking" in the early 20th century (i.e. literally just existing in what was previously a public space), city streets have been forcefully monopolized for cars and closed to pedestrians by default for several decades. Sure, cyclists are legally allowed to ride in the street. But with rising traffic violence and pedestrian/cyclist deaths across the US, and the many more times of severe and life-altering injuries that go unnoticed, very few people have the risk tolerance to ride in mixed traffic even if it would otherwise be a no-brainer to walk, bike, or roll for a trip. SDOT and Seattle Times both found that there was overwhelming public support for LW Boulevard to be "open" to people every single day (see recent articles from The Urbanist). Also, it's been repeatedly shown that the only way to fix traffic is to remove space from cars and replace it with more effective alternatives, so it's a win-win. Given the climate crisis, the traffic violence crisis, and the clear public preference to build cities for people instead of cars, it should be an easy decision.
Also, 99% of Seattle's streets (maybe an exaggeration but probably not far off) is dedicated to cars, whether it's travel lanes or on-street parking. Closing LW Boulevard to drivers would be a non-issue - just go around. However, with Seattle's incomplete network of safe bike infrastructure, adding just one safe segment would enable trips that were previously all but impossible.
@@ericchen6803 As someone who lives in a sunbelt city (Charlotte), I would love to have a network as good as Seattle's. I understand it's incomplete, but by US standards its at the top of the pack as far as I've seen. Still, more is better, and the city should continue devoting more space to bikes and pets, and less to cars. So we certainly agree about that.
![New Uptown to Downtown Seattle Bike Lanes [4K][Bike Tour][Climate Pledge Arena]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zPhG1TncJ7Q/mqdefault.jpg)
![I've waited my whole life for THIS ride || Exploring Seattle by bike [Cycling Vlog]](/img/1.gif)
What do you think should happen with lake Washington Blvd?
Wonderfull.
Hey, loved the series on the Lake Washington loop. Hope you will consider uploading footage for the rest of the loop.
It will be there! 😂 Most definitely when I come back to Seattle
Close it forever!! Unfortunately this is one of my least favorite sections to ride in Seattle. I usually have no problem riding with traffic, but LW Blvd is uniquely stressful for me. Too many cars, no shoulder, wide-ish lanes, but not enough space/sight distance for cars to pass when it's busy. All of my peeves come together on this street. It's a shame this was once part of Seattle's first bike path; you'd think the city would do something to honor that history (which is very interesting and worth looking up 😉)
Close it. Drivers will always find other ways to get places, and there's really no need for drivers to use this street unless they live there or are visiting a local resident. If they wish to visit the park, then it seems they could park on a side street and walk there. However, if you give someone the option of driving, then many will do so. If there's no option, then people will find different ways to desirable places.
That section is probably the only nice one on the Seattle side of the Lake Washington loop…
Is there a nice side on the east side? From google maps it looks like all private property along the the rest of the lake
The sign may say "street closed" for cars but the flip side of that coin is that it's really "street open" for people. Since the auto industry's targeted policy/propaganda campaign to stigmatize and criminalize "jaywalking" in the early 20th century (i.e. literally just existing in what was previously a public space), city streets have been forcefully monopolized for cars and closed to pedestrians by default for several decades.
Sure, cyclists are legally allowed to ride in the street. But with rising traffic violence and pedestrian/cyclist deaths across the US, and the many more times of severe and life-altering injuries that go unnoticed, very few people have the risk tolerance to ride in mixed traffic even if it would otherwise be a no-brainer to walk, bike, or roll for a trip.
SDOT and Seattle Times both found that there was overwhelming public support for LW Boulevard to be "open" to people every single day (see recent articles from The Urbanist). Also, it's been repeatedly shown that the only way to fix traffic is to remove space from cars and replace it with more effective alternatives, so it's a win-win. Given the climate crisis, the traffic violence crisis, and the clear public preference to build cities for people instead of cars, it should be an easy decision.
Also, 99% of Seattle's streets (maybe an exaggeration but probably not far off) is dedicated to cars, whether it's travel lanes or on-street parking. Closing LW Boulevard to drivers would be a non-issue - just go around. However, with Seattle's incomplete network of safe bike infrastructure, adding just one safe segment would enable trips that were previously all but impossible.
@@ericchen6803 As someone who lives in a sunbelt city (Charlotte), I would love to have a network as good as Seattle's. I understand it's incomplete, but by US standards its at the top of the pack as far as I've seen. Still, more is better, and the city should continue devoting more space to bikes and pets, and less to cars. So we certainly agree about that.