A bicyclist and pickup truck collided this evening at 46th St. and 14th Ave, just to the south of the Ballard Blocks complex.
The cyclist refused medical treatment, but he suffered scrapes on his arms and legs. The driver of the pickup told us he was driving east on 46th St. when the bicycle hit him, just behind the driver door. The cyclist’s front tire was bent, and he was too shaken up to talk to us.
A security guard at Ballard Blocks told us that this intersection and the one immediately to the north, Ballard Ave. and 14th Ave., are the scene of frequent accidents. Both intersections have two-way stop signs. “It’s only a matter of time before someone’s killed,” he said. “This may have just been a prelude.”
Bicyclist, pickup collide at intersection
I think that intersection has definately gotten more dangerous since the completion of Ballard Blocks. Street parking is always full now, and drivers on 14th have to stick their noses way out into 46th to check for oncomming traffic. That may or may not have been what happened here. Time will tell. But the problem will get worse once all those tenant spaces are full. Perhaps a traffic light is in order.
But I'm glad the cyclist is OK. Too bad he was too shaken up to talk. I'd be interested to hear his version of the accident.
It is actually a pretty smart thing to not make a statement when you are at fault.
Please everyone watch stop at stop signs, no matter if you are in a car or on a bike. I'm glad this didn't end as badly as it could have. I would also agree that there needs to be lights installed at intersections like this.
Also it got me thinking, can anyone recommend some place that you can buy bike liability insurance? With the new thin skinned cars I would have some just in case.
Never mind, it appears that most home owner and renters insurance cover this so I am good to go.
I now avoid these two intersections. I say within 6 months these will be 4 way stops or lights. It is needed now but what has to happen for the city to make this decision now??? Can we start this process as concerned citizens or must we wait for more accidents????
Or at least a 4-way stop…
That intersection is extremely dangerous and the city needs to fix it ASAP. The security guard is right, it is only a matter of time before someone is killed. You should avoid it. Traffic coming off at athe bridge intersects with Trader Joe's shoppers, Mars Hill church and Ballard Blocks. A temporary four way stop might bottle things up a bit but it would be safer.
The pickup driver was driving east on 46th and the cyclist hit him just behind the driver's side door? How slowly was the pickup moving? How did the bike end up 100 ft. from the presumed point of impact? Is that the cyclist in the yellow shirt with the bloody shin?
Something tells me there's more to the story.
But yeah, both of those intersections are trouble now, and need at least 4-way stops. Plus I can never find parking at Cash-and-Carry anymore.
The driver had the ROW, the cyclist had a stop sign, and it appears the cyclist ran the stop sign and failed to yield to the truck. (I can't imagine you'd t-bone a car and get that sort of damage if you're starting from a dead stop.)
So how exactly does this demonstrate the dangerousness of the intersection? To me it illustrates nothing but the danger of not stopping when you're supposed to.
I agree a four-way stop or even a light should go into this location before long, but simply from a traffic flow perspective, not because of safety. In my opinion (as a cyclist who goes through here several times a week) there's tons of visibility at this intersection, as well as at Ballard Way. It usually takes a while for traffic to let up enough for you to get through, but there's no problem seeing oncoming traffic. Patience is all that's needed to get through this intersection safely.
Besides, if cyclists really feel they need a light or a four-way stop to get across, they can ride one block east to 11th where there's a light.
The visibility and speeds at both of the intersections to the east of Ballard Blocks are horrible. As a cyclist, I have slow enough acceleration that it is very hard to find a large enough gap in traffic to make it through, and motorists aren't looking for me either. The fault could easily be with either party.
If I enter the intersection, but the car accelerates, with the width of those intersections, I might not be able to stop in time and a side-door impact is possible. The running a stop sign theory is also quite plausable. We need an eyewitness to know for sure.
Several months ago a very nice woman presented photo and diagrams of the problem here to the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board and SDOT. We really need at least a 4-way stop at both intersections. Even for car vs car visibility, it is a fatality waiting to happen.
This intersection absolutely MUST be made into a four way stop. The traffic from 46th Ave comes off of the Ballard bridge and sometimes it can take several minutes for a break in traffic long enough for a car going down 14th Ave to cross both lanes, resulting in long lines and, unfortunately, collisions. Drivers on 14th stick their noses WAY out, and drivers on 46th sometimes THINK there is a stop sign or they slow way down, confused. I actually got into a collision this past summer in this intersection and now I always go through it like an old granny, because I can't trust that everyone else knows how to navigate it. The only reason I take it is because it's a faster, less irritating way to sneak over to Ballard Ave than taking Market and turning left on Shilshole.
I think it's a stretch to say that he was stopped, thought it was safe to cross, and yet some how a truck accelerated so fast that he couldn't make it across one traffic lane and hit a truck behind the drivers door.
The truck would have to be pretty damn fast to accelerate like that.
Those intersections need something as you did point out it is very hard to get across them anyway but it's pretty clear that the bike was in the wrong this time.
Everyday I get into my gas guzzling SUV and roll downtown to my office having to dodge the 'bicyclists' on Shilshole who can't ride a straight line to save their lives. While my gas taxes pay for the roads, they 'own' them. These are the same folks who want to 'complete the link'. These are the same folks who should just take the bus, because cars or no cars they are going to crash and blame it on some one.
If you can't make it across the intersections around the TJ's on your bike without hitting a car, you need to get off your bike and walk across the intersection. I often park across the other side of traffic and have no problem walking across both lanes of traffic with my groceries. If you can't do that with a bike you really shouldn't be riding in traffic in first place.
It's not the road we own, per se, as much as access to the public right of way. If there were no cars on the roads, just bikes and pedestrians, I think it's fair to say that the roads could be built much smaller, simpler and cheaper than they are now. Building roads to accommodate the weight, speed and volume of automobile traffic we have is expensive, and makes it harder to build roads safe to share. So, yeah, we use gas taxes to fund the roads, but unless Seattle starts blocking off huge swaths of the city to motorized vehicles, and starts building new bike-only streets, I don't want to hear about how this this is somehow unfair to motorists.
“While my gas taxes pay for the roads, they 'own' them. “
Gas taxes don't fully pay for the roads. If that were the case gas taxes would be much, MUCH higher. Also keep in mind that almost all cyclists also own cars which means they're also paying their taxes. Seriously, this tired old argument has been debunked more than the myth about Obama not being a citizen.
“While my gas taxes pay for the roads, they 'own' them.”
'Your' gas taxes don't even cover the maintainance on the roads. That's why we passed the Bridging the Gap PROPERTY tax levy. We also have a large portion of transportation funding that comes from federal INCOME tax, and in Seattle some transportation funding also comes from SALES tax and an employer HEAD tax.
We all need to drop the entitlement attitude. We all pay for the roads and it doesn't matter which type of vehicle we use, we all could stand to go back to driver's ed again.
Give cyclists time. With the bicycle master plan, we have a lot of new people trying to bicycle, and on shilshole if they are riding near the edge of the road then you'd have a tough time holding a straight line too…the edge of the road isn't worthy of having pavement, it is absolute crap filled with gravel, potholes, uneven pavement, and it amazes me that more people don't crash when they try to ride on it.
“This intersection absolutely MUST be made into a four way stop. “
I always find this interesting. Why is that when an accident happens people always call for more stop signs/lights? Why don't people call for tougher licensing and motorist/cyclist education instead? The problem isn't lack of signage/lights – it's lack of intelligence on the part of motorists and cyclists. I remember reading a report on traffic safety a couple of years ago which pointed out that American roads have more signs per mile, more traffic lights, more stop signs and that American cops issue more traffic citations. Despite all these safety efforts we still have more accidents than other major countries. Clearly adding more signs and stoplights isn't the answer. If anything there is an argument in some circles that all those extra signs provide too many distractions from staying focused on what's in front of the driver. Just look at all the intersections in Europe which have roundabouts instead of traffic lights – multiple lanes of traffic at major intersections with nobody coming to a stop. Can you imagine something like that happening here in “me first” America? Despite not having lights telling them how to drive the Euros manage to have fewer accidents. You also have the autobahn where people travel 30-40 mph faster than on our interstates yet manage to have far fewer accidents (so much for “speed kills”!)
The one thing all the other countries do – which the US does not – is to have much tougher licensing requirements. Here in the US we'll give a license to anyone with a pulse. The written and behind the wheel tests are complete jokes and in every state I've ever lived in you're not required to have any formal training before getting a license. If you want to reduce accidents you need to make sure people know how to drive before letting them get behind the wheel.
Sure roundabouts are more effective at moving traffic efficiently. Do you think there's room for one here?
This intersection is an absolute clusterf**k. To say that ill-educated drivers are to blame is just plain wrong.
I agree that signage and/or signal upgrades are needed. Just within the last couple months, biking eastbound on the same street on occasional recreational rides, I've seen two vehicles run stop signs going southbound.
There is more to the story. A well-founded rumor says that the cyclist full on blew the stop sign. Regardless of any much-needed traffic revisions, Mr. Cyclist needs to ride legally.
Rumor also says that Mr. Cyclist's only comment was unprintable in a family blog, and began with the word “I'm.”
Exactly why the missing link needs to be completed … so the bikes can get OFF the narrow road and not be sharing it with cars and worse, trucks.
As to the comment about bikes not being able to navigate around the cars parked around Ballard Blocks, I have to say I have trouble navigating that in MY CAR. Maybe it's because it's still new and everyone's (literally, it seems) feeling their way around the parking/driving set-up in that area, but I've had several car-vs-car near misses just trying to drive past Trader Joe's. A little more awareness, courtesy and patience on everyone's part would be a good thing.
More signs and stop lights won't work if people don't heed them. Like other posters have said, if both cars and bikes followed the current rules/laws of the road, a vast majority of these accidents would be avoided.
People in this country don't get roundabouts. If you just sit and watch any one of the traffic calming circles in Ballard for about a day, you'll see all sorts of wierdness. People simply go around them anywhichway in an effort to get to their intersection the fastest, not with the flow of traffic. Not to menion they don't accomodate peds well.
People around the Ballard Blocks somehow become very clueless, I've seen it in drivers, peds, bikers.
I think the problem stems from the fact that is sits in the regular street pattern, but requires the slow moveing attentiveness that is required in a mall parking lot. The two don't mix well.
Even worse almost all of what we have in Seattle are really “traffic circles” and the rules of the road that apply to them are the same as for an open intersection, not the rules for roundabouts.
I have almost been clipped twice in my car on the Southern Side of the Ballard Blocks from people leaving the parking garage. Cut off about 4 times this year alone from people pulling out of the “Blocks”.
The missing link needs to be completed but it does nothing in this case as the bike was going South and the trail in this area is East West.
So yet another carsh. BFD. I've been bitching/moanging about the lack of anything being done to bring most of Ballard into the new millenium as far as traffic modification(s). The signals along Market St are from the 60's-70s's and have had little modifications done except lengthen the sequence. So our “leaders” have now packed a gazillion more people into the area and expect perfect harmony? It's nearly ridiculous to witness many here blame anything/everything but the obvious. It IS time for mandatory fees/plates/training FOR bikers. Much like boaters! Not their water either is it? When will the cyclists demand a vehicle ban and why not? Anarchy is alive and well, on Seattle's streets. Some peoples kids.
Interesting, I never knew there was a difference as far as use. Well, I knew that proper rotaries can preserve speed through an intersection, while traffic circles are designed to make people slow down.
I just wikied it and I guess there are some key distinctions a far as yeilding, which seem to logically flow from the smaller size of the traffic circle.
Do you have a link for the specific Seattle use? I'd like to read about this more.
Were you there, GregD?
The reason I don't usually comment on accident threads like this is because everybody is an expert and that drives me insane.
It's a “STRETCH” for you to speculate so baselessly on an accident like this without being a witness or interviewing the participants.
Drawing conclusions like “it's pretty clear the bike was in the wrong” based on this blog post and picture is laughable.
You have no credibility.
The only people who will take you seriously are the people who have a strong bias one way or the other.
The rest of us are different. We think. We like facts. We know what we do not know.
Peace, y'all. Hope the biker is ok.
Andy, wow, you must be a really smart guy. Determining the cause of an accident based on a blog post. That's impressive.
http://www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/ntc…
So you don't have to follow the link
Under State law, when two vehicles approach an intersection with no stop signs at about the same time, the driver on the left shall always yield to the driver on the right. This is also true for intersections that have a traffic circle or all-way stops.
Thanks for that.
There will be even less parking now that Maritime Pacific is moving in too. All of 14th is a nightmare. It should be demolished and they should start over from 65th to the ship canal. Put the road in the middle with angled parking on the sides. done!
Do tell, you can't dish like that, and leave us hanging.. you've got to give us the link to that blog!
Come on Silver, don't tell me you're going to play the blame game too. Based on “well-founded rumors” (is there any other kind ;)
Yes maybe the biker is at fault and I see them blow through those stop signs all the time.
But this blog can and should do better. You're a regular here, I can't believe you are assigning blame in an accident based on rumor and speculation.
regardless if he blew the stop sign or not, I hope he's ok. I hate riding through there and when I do I take the whole lane. Another crash that could have possibly been avoided if the missing link was finished. I ride through there to avoid the “Ballard toy tracks”. If only there was a safe way through Ballard!!!!!
Pot…meet Kettle
It's a blog and not a court of law, but tell me a plausible way this accident could have happened had the bike not run the stop sign.
Especially seeing as it was reported that the bicyclist accepted responsibility for the crash.
BTW, my BIAS is to make both cars and bike realize that they need to ride/drive safely.
City permits for all vehicles, bikes to scooters, cars to trucks. Pay by the pound.
Let's be clear here. There are many motorists who blow stop signs too. I see them all the time. I just love how us cyclists are supposed to follow the letter of the law but motorists get a pass.
It is frustrating that they didn't choose another name for them or adopt the normal roundabout rules of the road. I think it causes people to approach them with two different ideas of who has the right of way.
The missing link needs to be finished but as I replied above, how would and East West trail stop an accident when the biker was traveling south?
Just because you drive like shite doesn't mean everyone else should be held up. Maybe you shouldn't drive. I would say bike but there's no safe way through Ballard!
A better example is speeding. Show me a motorist who never goes a mile over the speed limit.
careful spidey lest someone will think you're anti-amercian, like a birther or something!
“I can't believe you are assigning blame in an accident based on rumor and speculation….”
I'm not. But I don't know the law, and if the fact that the bicyclist blew the light isn't in the story that the Swedes posted, it may be because of some liability concern on their part that we are not aware of. They will do what they need to do, and some times that may be to be careful.
Even when something is true, writing it can get you into trouble. Sort of like sometimes a lawsuit is unwarranted, but fighting it might cost you more than you can afford.
If I write that something is “rumored” you guys can read between the lines. Judge my credibility on my past posts, like you would anybody's, and make your own determination. It may be that I heard it from a witness who doesn't wish to be identified.
you two may want to read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
Reported that the bicyclist accepted responsibility? Where. Link please.
Oh WOW so now you know the biker's starting point and destination, as well?
Wow, you are one really smart guy!! VERY knowledgeable!!! A real asset to this community!!
Going south is irrelevent. The streets over there are such an unsafe mess there are a million variations for getting through it. He could have easily been going from Ballard to Fremont and this is the route he ended up on (because there is no trail).
Facts, GregD. If you are going to comment here, you owe it to the rest of us to be FACTUAL.
FACTS. Where have I ever misstated or misrepresented FACTS???
Because the missing link is so bad, many cyclists jog north-south to Leary or other neighborhood streets and then return to their east-west direction of intended travel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
Was the biker in a helmet?
You may want to read this:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fact
I asked that too, but the person I spoke with couldn't remember. (And not because of a head injury.)
You have credibility because you don't usually do this.
I'm not defending the biker and personally I'd tend to believe your sources. But you are lowering the standards of community reporting and clearing the way for all the idiots out there to make their wild claims based on “rumor” as well.
The fact that you need to even ask this question demonstrates how poorly you understand the area and issues related to the trail.
You've exposed yourself as completely unknowledgeable.
And yet you, of all people, can tell the rest of us exactly who was at fault here. Priceless.
This is a blog not a court of law.
And if you want to play that game How about how you drug Snoose junction through the mud with no FACTS?
I think you are just being overly protective, if this was most likely the cars fault I would be blaming them.
I know that bike are your pet cause, but this is a blogs comment section, not a court of law.
Me…my pet cause is to try to learn from incidents and try to improve my behavior to prevent from repeating the mistakes.
Hell, I recently changed pedal systems to one that was easier to use, to encourage me to actually stop at stop signs.
I wish I were ITK like you!
So someone asks a question, seeking knowlege….
“how would and East West trail stop an accident when the biker was traveling south?”
And is bashed for being knowledgeable “You've exposed yourself as completely unknowledgeable.”
Now thats priceless!
OK you win I'm done, I don't want this to devolve into personal attacks like you want it too.
In closing please EVERYONE please drive and ride safe.
For the life of me, I don't understand why people here guess as to who to blame when these accidents occur. People make mistatke, on bikes, on foot, in cars….in life, in general. The world is imperfect and not everything is as perfectly safe as what we would all like, but with that being said, does it truly matter who to throw blame at here? Between the parties involved, yes it will matter, and I hope that those involved will heall fully, but this forum tends to bring out the worst in people when it comes to rumors, speculation, and judging.
Oh, by the way, I am not above any of it, myself, so please don't take this as being “too preachy” but come on people! If it were a malicious act, it would be something different, but it was an accident!
Doug11 is so crazy, I love reading his wild rants. He looks like a possum.
Ah, now we see. Another hater because of the attention I brought to Snoose Junction Pizza.
Good news, GregD. The post is still there. So you can point out one – JUST ONE – misstatement of fact in everything I wrote.
Just one misstated fact. If you're going to accuse me, then please, please point out ONE INCORRECT FACT.
and btw, the General Manager of Snoose Junction voted for the lawsuit to stop the bike trail and admitted to doing so in these very comments. That is a FACT.
https://www.myballard.com/forum/topic.php?id=1546
I wonder how he feels about this accident. Maybe we should ask.
Please, don't bad mouth possums here, as well! I recall some comparing Doug to Tim Eymann, but I think he is more like Al Sharpton. No matter the facts, he does bring light to a subject, whether right, wrong, or with malice.
Greg's comment that was so OFFENSIVE was this one:
“The missing link needs to be completed but it does nothing in this case as the bike was going South and the trail in this area is East West.”
That's just a ridiculous thing to say.
That has nothing to do with personal attacks.
We don't know where the biker was going. So we don't know if the trail would have made a difference in this accident or not.
WE NEED THIS TRAIL.
People like GregD will make all sort of opinions on how much the trail matters.
WELL THE TRAIL MATTERS A LOT.
MAYBE IT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS ACCIDENT.
Maybe.
Maybe. That word is missing from Greg's vocabulary. He's going to come on this blog and say the trail “does nothing in this case.”
Well that's an idiotic thing to say.
And my job is to point that out.
Don't quit and blame personal attacks, which you started.
Quit and ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG.
Ballard needs the trail! NOW!!!!
No, Al Sharpton represents a community and brings people from his neighborhood together.
Amen BBO. We are agreeing more and more lately! When are we getting that beer?
Readers of any blog need to make their own determinations about the credibility of each and every contributor. My credibility does not bear on the credibility of anyone else's posts, and If “idiots make wild claims,” they are effecting their own credibility, not mine.
With some news items credibility is less of an issue, such as a post about a street being closed. Avoiding that street, even if it isn't closed, just doesn't cost you much. In a case like that, you can act on a poster's information without worrying too much about their credibility.
In some cases readers may want to do their own research, such as was the case for me with the Missing Link. Each time we check out a story on our own, we have more data about the credibility of the people who have made statements on that issue. Walking the missing link helped me to understand the trail situation, and also helped me to judge for myself which posters' information most closely matched the reality of what I saw.
Sometimes emotions can color a person's contributions to a blog, even effecting their credibility. Whenever a person posts obsessively about a topic, posts with anger or bitterness, or uses gross generalizations and/or exaggeration, I instinctively read their posts with suspicion. Balanced and reasoned posts generally project more credibility.
Obviously these are only my views, and reflect how *I* read this, and other, blogs.
NEW RULE:
Please cite examples of mis-stated facts when accusing me of mis-stating facts. I do not mis-state facts.
Gracias.
That would be nice, but he also breeds a lot of hate among racists. But he does not quit because he know he is in the right.
People may hate me too, but I am right about this trail. We need it. NOW. Come on Ballard LET'S GET THE TRAIL BUILT!!!!
Ahhhhhhhhhh, the ego of imposing rules in a blogforum.
Al Sharpton travels all around the country, and doesn't just stay within his community. I am not saying he is bad, at all, but sometimes he takes on a cause, I believe, just to bring more light to a particular issue. Dougie does similar things here whenever the missing link trail can be interjected to a subject, or Ballard Chamber members can be publicly chastised.
Starbuck, first mate: To be enraged with a dumb brute that acted out of blind instinct is blasphemous.
Captain Ahab: Speak not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me. Look ye, Starbuck, all visible objects are but as pasteboard masks. Some inscrutable yet reasoning thing puts forth the molding of their features. The white whale tasks me; he heaps me. Yet he is but a mask. 'Tis the thing behind the mask I chiefly hate; the malignant thing that has plagued mankind since time began; the thing that maws and mutilates our race, not killing us outright but letting us live on, with half a heart and half a lung.
The intersections around the Ballard Blocks are death traps. Ridiculously awful city planning.
And I here thought building a mall in Ballard was just offensively tacky. Turns out it's hideously dangerous, too!
I am making a bit of an assumption since I don't know where the cyclist was heading to. As I said, I ride through that very spot sometimes (when I'm traveling east/west) when I'm trying to avoid the Ballard play train tracks where there have been too many cyclist crashes to count.
Yeah, I'm a regular pinko commie. That explains why I spent a decade serving in the Army unlike such great American patriots as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh who spent zero days serving their country but did find plenty of time to become drug addicts. ;)
Just because you're smart enough to recognize that occasionally the cheese eating surrender monkeys come up with a good idea doesn't mean you're not patriotic. I know that's hard for some of the foaming at the mouth right wingers to believe.
Personally, I'd love to see roundabouts. Instead of waiting several minutes due to nanny state traffic lights to cross 15th and Market I could instead simply slow down, merge and roll through the intersection. Of course this would require drivers to master the incredibly difficult skill of merging at low speeds – something people in this town apparently find too difficult given all the calls on this post for yet more traffic lights and stop signs.
No, it's a statistical fact that people in this country don't know how to drive. For the same number of miles driven Americans have more accidents. That's a fact.
Have you been to Europe? There are thousands of intersections that size which either have no traffic signs (people – gasp – rely on skill and awareness to safely make it through) or have roundabouts.
Always astounds me how many people don't know this fact. Right up there with people who don't realize all intersections are considered crosswalks even if the white lines haven't been painted on the road.
Again, lack of driver testing is amazing in this state (and country!)
Why the hell doesn't the city just make the improvements to these corners NOW, before someone is killed?
AND SEND THE BILL THE DEVELOPERS WHO CREATED THIS UNSAFE SITUATION!
Of course, the city won't do that. They profit, we all pay.
These developments – the so-called “Ballard Blocks” and half the other crap that has been jammed into Ballard – should never have been allowed in the first place. The fact that there are going to be fatal accidents was entirely predictable. Adding four-way stop signs and new traffic lights will be necessary to stop the bleeding, and then that will in turn cause more gridlock. Welcome to the New Ballard.
Ah, sounds like the mayor making his final argument for ripping down the viaduct…
Ten years from now, after the next earthquake levels half of the city, and the only thing standing within a quarter mile of the waterfront will be that viaduct, Fat Greg will still be standing there in Victor Steinbrueck Park, tossing harpoons down at the state highway, screaming “to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!”
God, I'm not gonna miss him…
Planning? What makes you think the city does any planning?
Well, no worries……there will be another monstrous building across the street from the new Ballard Blocks in the near future…….with the plan to dump the cars from the parking garage right near the railroad tracks under the bridge. That sounds like an excellent place to, aslo, have a bike trail…..not!
” The fact that there are going to be fatal accidents was entirely predictable”
Well don;t look at them and shake your fists when you're driving, look at the road.
You TWIST THE HECK out of the facts and grossly exaggerate. Would you like a recent example?? Here is one:
“I have asked and I did not get an answer. Apparently Michael asked too, and he didn't get one either so I am not alone in this.
But I bet if EVERYBODY would ask, we'd eventually get one!!!!!!!!
As I've said before, I love Second Ascent. They are by far the best bike shop around. The guys in there are really knowledgeable and friendly and not arrogant like many shops and the prices are great and the selection is great. BEST BIKE SHOP – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Except for one small issue… their membership in a business group that sues the city to stop bike trails. Seems like an easy fix. What is the Chamber doing for them anyway, except costing them customers like me?
It would so nice if somebody from Second Ascent would participate on this blog!!!! Let's invite them!! We NEED more businesses participating here!!! Please join me and I love that store and I want to shop there again. “
They are a member of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce that is appealing the “missing link” of the BG Trail. It is not trying to stop “bike trails” or anything of the like! It is challenging a particularly poor selection of a part of a trail. Please, don't cowardly attack another Ballard business with misrepresenting the facts and the use of hyperbole.
Don't you mean… sounds like an excellent reason TO have a bike trail?
More buildings and garages and traffic aren't going to result in the bikers just leaving the entire area!
The busier it gets, the more reason to have a logical traffic flow that maximizes safety for bikes and cars and pedestrians.
It can be done. The trail by Fred Meyer is ok and after that it runs through a heavy industrial area and that's ok too. Sure there are crossings and signs and shared lanes but it is much much better than the situation by Ballard Blocks now.
BBO, sometimes you lack imagination!! A bike lane through a heavy traffic area is a good idea and completely possible. You'll see……
No no. Al Sharpton is funny and funny equals smart. I see neither here.
Dougie……….we do have a BIKE LANE through there now, but it is not good enough for you…………
Did you notice that the state is projecting to lose another $238 million in tax revenues in the next two years……..what a great time to further hinder businesses!!!!
Perhaps you are the visionary, Dougie, unemployed people on bicycles, and a trail won't be needed because the unemployed won;t be able to afford autos…….THAT IS A SOLUTION!
We don't need no stinkin rules.
Oh yes BBO because only cars and big concrete parking garages create a healthy economy and bikes/transit/density/smart urban planning don't and oh yes, the economy sucks now because of that famous worldwide economic plague, bike trails. Without the bikers “hindering” their business all the industrial and maritime businesses in Ballard will thrive. And adding a bike trail would simply devastate Trader Joes!! LOL.
Oh and let me guess, do you support spending $4.2 BILLION dollars on a tunnel to replace the viaduct, which requires the largest tax increase in Seattle history.
Because that's good for the economy and business. Ummmmm ok.
A decent bike trail is a measly pittance compared to what taxpayers will pay for that tunnel. Nice time to get all economically sensitive, BBO.
Well Dougie, I am able to sustain my biz and withstand bankruptcies while some of my competitors cannot because I don't just look at large amounts of money, I am a little more conservative with each dollar…….from some of the things I have read from you, I would say that the world is more complex than you comprehend.
Point of fact: 45th does not have a bike lane now. It has “sharrows”, mainly to keep cyclists from criss-crossing the tracks unnecessarily near Fred Meyer, and to suggest a safer way to cross near the bridge. And to remind motorists that the road is a shared space. Even if cyclists need to be licensed and taxed and let's create several new govt bureaucracies to lose money collecting a pittance in bike tabs, why don't we?
If I understand correctly, Phase 1 of the Missing Link would create a safer, grade-separated bike lane/”cycletrack” on the south side of 45th, which could help most of the gripes you've had about 45th present and future, BBO. But that's all stalled now, thanks.
As for better cyclist education, I'm all for it. But based on the abject failure of motor vehicle licensing teaching drivers how to drive safely, I'd suggest we teach safe cycling skills in K-12. Right after they cover sharing.
Ahhhhh Julian, what exactly are “my” gripes about the “future 45th” because you really have little idea about my “gripes” pertaining to this issue. You know why?? I have only shared a couple of them.
Teaching cycling in schools???? Come on, the public schools are failing with what they have to deal with now…..how about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY? What happened to share the road? I thought that was what cyclists like to preach, but truly, it sounds like that is not enough and like everyone else there is an agenda of always wanting more, more, more! (I sound like Billy Idol!)
Personal responsibility is a character issue, best learned at home. Traffic and cycling safety is a knowledge and skill issue that is effectively taught in schools in countries that enjoy much higher traffic and bicycle safety than we do, not to mention less obesity, and “happier” childhoods. I would take active transportation safety education over dodgeball any day. Many of us still cycle, all of us walk … anyone still playing dodgeball for exercise?
“appealing” is just a fancy word for suing.
They filed a lawsuit. Against who? The City of Seattle.
Did it stop the trail? Yes. Construction was slated to begin, and was STOPPED while the LAWSUIT is pending.
Hyperbole? Hardly.
The Chamber SUED the City and that STOPPED the trail construction. FACT.
That's funny, I think the same thing about you, I don't think you understand the complexity of the world AT ALL.
Cyclists and cars have no busness being on the same roads together. Will it take another death to understand that?
Cars and cars have no business being on the road together. Will it take another 40,000 deaths (US annual rate of automobile collision fatalities) to understand that? – Ballard Tax Payer
Yep, developers are evil. They create economic value, job opportunity and community amenities and a taxable asset base for the funding of social services – under the control of zoning authorities….
Sounds like an evil scheme being perpetrated in Europe and Canada as well.
The facts is, the ant-development zealots demand that developers limit building heights. The high costs of development (hearings, planning reviews, mitigations) requires developers to try and maximize the use of space on their property – pushing buildings out to the street (Ballard “Blocks”). This reduces the sight-lines at intersections.
The next time you see someone crumpled at that intersection, thank your neighborhood zoning activists.
Damn those “ant-development zealots”! We have enough ants already!
Julian:
How do you KNOW that kids in other countries are happier than US kids? Teach cycling right after sharing? If you are going to purchase a bike, then that bike becomes YOUR responsibility. With that, educate yourself. I have a boat, and to feed my narrow self interest, I would like teachers to teach boater safety classes! Teachers are struggling as is, get them back to teaching math, reading, writing, not bike safety. CRAZINESS!
Well, child “happiness” has been studied, for one. That doesn't make me right, but neither does your ALL CAPS!!! (if you squint at the screen, it's kind of hard to tell you and doug11 apart these days. I'm just saying …).
In an extensive UNICEF survey of child well-being (since there is no blood test for happiness, of course), report here (http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_…), summary here (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1…), Dutch kids were at the top, we were second from the bottom of “rich countries”.
As for boating, I think Ballard schools would do well to have some field trips to the fish terminal, docks, etc if they don't already. I think it's OK to expect schools to do more than teach to the WASL. I agree they're woefully underfunded, but I'd be willing to pay more in property taxes to fix that. Would you?
You've done a fair bit of “concern trolling” on this forum about cyclists not wearing helmets, unsafe cyclist behaviors, and even suggested you cared more about a cycling parent's child than she did. When folks like Michael Snyder and myself respond with constructive ideas about ways to improve safety and educate new cyclists, you don't have to agree, but it'd be nice to hear some suggestions from you beyond “PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!!!” Human behavior is more complex than that.