• clara
• Sept. 12, 2018
• • bike
  • transportation
  • walking
  • advocacy
  • district-7

We need YOU to speak up for walking and biking at the Special City Council Meeting for Civic Arenas at Seattle City Hall this Friday, September 14, at 9:30 am.

The City Council will vote on ordinances relating to the redevelopment of the Seattle Center Arena (formerly known as Key Arena) this Friday, September 14, at 9:30 am. Public comment will be at the beginning of the meeting.

Show Up and Ask the City to:

We will be there with signs to share. RSVP to Clara@Seattlegreenways.org or by replying to this email.

1. Complete the Basic Bike Network by requiring OakView Group (OVG) to fund a small square of safe bike connections immediately surrounding Seattle Center and the new Arena: on Roy St, 5th Ave, and Broad St in addition to the already-planned 1st Ave N / Queen Anne Ave Couplet. This will provide safe, connected routes for people on bikes from SLU and points north, not just from downtown.
2. Extend pedestrian routes off of Seattle Center Campus to the East (to SLU), South (to Downtown), and West (to the waterfront).
3. Put a hold on implementing adaptive signal technology until it can measure and mitigate pedestrian delay.

The expansion of the Seattle Center Arena (formerly Key Arena) is slated to begin construction this October. The Arena developer has a responsibility to the City to ensure that event attendees have viable, comfortable, and efficient transportation options, and to incentivise their use. But the current plans map out a future for Uptown clogged by cars.

The current plans include a goal to have a whopping 55% of opening day arena event attendees arrive by private vehicle, with only 1% of event attendees arriving by bike and 10% by walking. We need City Council to require this big development to aim for more efficient transportation.

NHL Seattle found that 40% of expected attendees live within 4 miles of the arena. That’s 5,000 more people per event that could be choosing to walk or bike to the Arena if it were a comfortable, intuitive experience. Additionally, no matter how people start their journey to the arena, every event attendee will be a pedestrian for some part of their trip - walking to transit hubs or parking garages.

Developer investments in walking and biking infrastructure will improve the transportation experience for those arriving via any mode, minimize the negative impacts on the neighborhood, increase interactions between event attendees and local businesses, and will have the largest positive impact for the dollars spent.

The Oakview Group (OVG), the Arena developers, have been asked to fund many positive improvements, including:

Protected bike lanes (PBLs) and bus-only lanes on 1st Ave N and Queen Anne Ave, directly in front of the arena. Additionally, some pedestrian improvements to Seattle Center Campus and streets immediately adjacent.

Centralized locations for a small amount of personal bike parking, to stage and park bikeshare bikes, and bike facilities for employees.

Designated drop off zone for TNCs, creating predictability and reducing conflicts and safety issues between TNCs and people walking and biking (negotiations still underway).

However, this mitigation represents the bare minimum, and City Council should push OVG to be more aggressive in their modeshare goals and to fund the transportation mitigation that will enable success in reaching them.

We Need YOU to Show Up and Ask the City to:

1. Complete the Basic Bike Network (above) by requiring OVG to fund a small square of remaining connections immediately surrounding Seattle Center and the new Arena: on Roy St (1st Ave N to 5th Ave), 5th Ave (Roy St to Broad St), and Broad St (2nd Ave to 5th Ave) in addition to the already-planned 1st Ave N / Queen Anne Ave Couplet. This will provide safe, connected routes for people on bikes from SLU and points north, not just from downtown.
2. Extend pedestrian routes off of Seattle Center Campus to the East (to SLU via Thomas St Greenway), South (to Downtown via 4th Ave), and West (to the waterfront and the Elliot Bay Trail via the John Coney overpass). This includes wayfinding, lighting, ADA compliant curb ramps, and sidewalk repair.
3. Put a hold on implementing adaptive signal technology until SDOT commits to measuring and valuing delay for people walking (as they do currently for people driving), and the technology advances to a point where it is able to measure and minimize that delay.Friday, September 14, at 9:30 am.

We'll see you there!

Clara Cantor

Community Organizer Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Website - Twitter - Facebook