The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) deserves a lot of credit for adding bike lanes and various bus improvements throughout the city. They may not be building them fast enough, but they are building them.
Unfortunately, far too often, the bike lanes are built right where the buses run. Quite often this limits the ability of SDOT to then add bus improvements (like bus or BAT lanes). The street just isn’t wide enough. While this is inevitable in some cases, whenever possible bike lanes should be added where they won’t conflict with buses.
For example, consider Fremont Avenue in the north end of Seattle. At North 110th Street it connects to the Interurban Trail — a major bike route that extends all the way to Everett. From 110th to 77th, Fremont Avenue is a Greenway. Work has been done to make the route more pleasant and safer for riders. Much of the work is quite extensive. At major intersections bicycles are allowed to go straight, but cars are not. It has practically everything you want in a bike route — except bike lanes. To the west there is a similar street: 1st Avenue NW. It isn’t quite as good (cars are allowed to follow 1st on major intersections) but it is close. It wouldn’t take that much effort to reach the same quality as Fremont Avenue. In both cases it needs bike lanes. Instead, the bike lanes come and go on Greenwood Avenue, a street with a major bus route (the Metro 5). There are additions to the bike lanes being considered as part of improvements to the 5. These are all well and good, but they create a needless conflict with buses and bus infrastructure. In most cases, there is a limited amount of street width. You can’t add bike lanes and bus lanes (or BAT lanes) in the same place. Quite often we are simply putting the bike lanes in the wrong place.
In some cases these conflicts are inevitable. Eastlake is a great example of this. It is a critical bike path. It is a very important transit corridor. There is only so much room. The end result is a plan that largely favors bikes, which I believe was the right call. It is too important a bike corridor, and there is no good alternative. While it took a while, SDOT has managed to come up with a plan that should allow the buses to avoid the worst congestion, while maintaining good speed and safety for bicyclists.
But quite often, we don’t have to make that choice. More recently, SDOT started planning around the NE 130th Station. Most of the riders will come from buses to the east and west via the 130th/Roosevelt/125 corridor. It is essential that the buses avoid congestion, and offer riders a fast connection to Link. But it is also a significant bike corridor. There are only a handful of crossings of I-5, and 130th is one of them. Between the station and 1st Avenue NE, there is no alternative but to travel along (or right next to) 130th. But west of 1st NE, there are two very good alternatives for bicyclists. North of 130th, riders could take Roosevelt to Meridian and then either stay on Roosevelt (to Aurora & 145th) or go west on 137th. South of 130th, there is 128th. This would require a new traffic light at 128th & Aurora, but it would completely replace the dreaded crossing of Aurora at 130th. It will prove very difficult to make 130th & Aurora safe, let alone pleasant for riders. There is a pedestrian overpass, but it doesn’t work for bikes. Everyone else has to deal with cars and trucks making turns from one major street to another. In contrast, while it would require some money to add a traffic light (and beg buttons) at 128th, it would be remarkably safe, similar to the excellent crossing at 92nd. Once riders crossed Aurora at 128th, they could easily connect to the aforementioned Interurban trail, or continue west toward Broadview. The result would be an excellent set of bike paths that serve both sides of 130th. Riders looking for a bike lane would be able to avoid having to go all the way north or south to 130th, while also avoiding the nasty crossing of Aurora. This is a great opportunity to create a system that is ideal for bikes and buses.
These opportunities are not everywhere. In many cases we have to make tough decisions as to whether to prioritize bikes or buses on a corridor that is important for both. But whenever possible, we should move bike lanes onto streets that don’t conflict with buses.
