Friends of Lake Sammamish

City of Sammamish need to hear from Ped/Bike interests

Sammamish councilmembers need to hear from you today! Sign this online petition. They cite the cost of $340K as too much money to pay to put in bike lanes on a major arterial connecting Skyline and the future Eastlake high schools. They say a planter is more important than meeting national, state, and local safety guidelines for the design of transportation facilities to save human lives. The Washington Transportation Safety Improvement Board calculates the cost to society of one injury accident as $285K and one fatality accident as $3.4M. Email your councilmember today (4/11) and tell them you want the planters to be replaced with bike lanes or the design revisited to consider pedestrians, bicycles, trees, and motorized vehicles. A livable community is one where people feel safe to walk, ride, socialize, and move about safely, especially near schools, parks, and urban centers where kids and the elderly frequent. The current project does not support this.

More project details:

228th Ave NE - Major North/South Regional Arterial through Sammamish (with no feasible alternatives for bike/ped).
No bikelanes included in Section 1C (between Skyline HS/water tower at SE 8th north to the retail area at Inglewood Hill Rd/NE 12th)
The City of Sammamish is improving 228th Ave NE using the following (typical) configuration, from west to east:
- 6' sidewalk (likely concrete)
- 5' planter strip (in lieu of bike lane - there is enough right-of-way for BOTH planter and bike lane)
- 2 x 11' travel lanes (AASHTO calls for at least 12' plus a 4' shoulder - the raised curb and gutter leaves no "bail out" area)
- min 12' turn lane or median
- 2 x 11' travel lanes (AASHTO calls for at least 12' plus a 4' shoulder - the raised curb and gutter leaves no "bail out" area)
- 5' planter strip (in lieu of bike lane)
- 12' wide shared use path (likely concrete). This is a steep grade so mixing bike/ped on the sidewalk with driveways and side streets is extremely dangerous.
No bike lanes. Cyclists are expected to use the 12' wide shared use path on the roadway's eastern side.

During the time served on the City's Trails Subcommittee, the one comment heard most often, BY FAR, was the request to include bike lanes along 228th. The City has already built a portion of the roadway per the configuration outlined above, and the feedback received from cyclists regarding this section of roadway has been that bike lanes should have been included. (228th is the city's Main Regional Arterial and an important transportation route.)

Michele Petitti, Sammamish Councilmember, listened to these comments and requested that the Council reconsider their 228th design for the section currently under construction. Councilmember Kathleen Huckabay was the only other councilmember who was willing to revisit the design decision. As it stands now, the Council has decided not to change the design, so there will basically be no bike lanes along 228th from SE 24th to NE 12th.

The reasons that the current configuration is not favored by cyclists are:

1. When traveling within a road right-of-way, cyclists prefer traveling along designated bike routes.

2. The proximity to schools, parks, and retail on a steep slope where peds and bikes are mixed on a sidewalk and cyclists ride against traffic is extremely dangerous. Motorists are not accustomed to watching for fast traveling bikes and traffic from the right.

If you feel the city should include include bike lanes along 228th you should contact the Sammamish City Council. Email: citycouncil@ci.sammamish.wa.us. Also copy the City Manager: byazici@ci.sammamish.wa.us.

Bente Pasko pasko@nwlink.com is intimately familiar with the project and needs your support.