Seattle looks to attract cyclists of all abilities

SEATTLE – For many in Seattle, the image of a typical cyclist is a Spandex-clad, yellow-jacketed two-wheeled warrior who braves the steep streets of the city.

But as the city prepares to overhaul its five-year-old bike plan, some want to make the city safer and friendlier to those not so accustomed to navigating the streets on two wheels.

There’s a new push to get “willing but wary” cyclists on their saddles with protected bike lanes buffered from traffic, designated bicycling boulevards where traffic is slowed and walkers and bikers have priority, and traffic calming features like speed bumps.

“We want to make sure we’re building infrastructure for people who are 8 or 80,” and not just for the more experienced commuters, said Blake Trask, statewide policy director for the Washington Bicycle Alliance who formerly headed Seattle’s bike advisory board.

The city is planning to build seven miles of walking and biking boulevards in five neighborhoods this year, with more likely on the way. So-called neighborhood greenways modeled after ones in Portland are designed to make it safer for walkers and bikers to get between their home and school, the grocery store and park.

The city is taking public comment on the new plan, which would also consider features that separate cyclists from cars, called cycle tracks. They’re common in bike-friendly European cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam, but more U.S. cities such as Washington, D.C., and New York City are trying them out.

Still, any talk of bike improvements in Seattle is sure to stoke resentment from some, who believe the city’s policies favor bikes and transit over cars. Local talk-show hosts and columnists have ranted against what they call the city’s anti-car campaign.

It hasn’t helped that the city’s most famous biker, Mayor Mike McGinn, sometimes known as “Mayor McSchwinn” for his enthusiasm about two-wheeled transportation, has irked some by increasing parking rates downtown and backing a measure to tax cars to pay for transit and bike improvements that even tax-friendly Seattleites rejected.

As the city overhauls a plan currently aimed at tripling the number of cyclists in the city, many say they’d want features that cater to a broad range of riders.

The current plan “is working great for people who are already comfortable biking in the city,” said Dylan Ahearn, who helped form Beacon BIKES after feeling the plan did a lot for commuters getting downtown but not as much for those getting around neighborhoods. “There’s a wider segment of the population that could be served if they (the streets) were safer.”