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Seattle's Streetcars: Worth Building Right

UPDATE: January 11, 2008

Seattleites received a new transit option last month when the South Lake Union Streetcar began regular service along its 1.3 mile route. With the installation of this starter line, Seattle joins a growing number of American cities that are rediscovering the potential of trams, streetcars, and other fixed-guideway transit systems.

Unfortunately, some local cyclists have found out that streetcar tracks and bicycles can be a painful combination.

While we do not have definitive counts, Cascade Bicycle Club has received nine reports to date that the 1 3/4" grooves along the streetcar rails are catching tires and causing crashes, some of them serious. Concerns about injuries and a perceived lack of bicycle accommodation is driving some in the city, including grassroots advocacy group Seattle Likes Bikes, to demand that the City of Seattle improve conditions for riders.

Cascade Bicycle Club raised concerns with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) about bicycle-unfriendly features early in the planning process for the South Lake Union Streetcar, including the fact that some of the tracks were located in the right lane, where under state law bicyclists are typically required to ride. They were not reflected in the final design.

Transit and bikes can compliment each other, and Cascade Bicycle Club applauds the City of Seattle's work to expand the range of transportation options available to residents. At the same time, we call on SDOT to incorporate lessons learned from other streetcar cities to make this and all future streetcar routes as safe as possible for Seattle cyclists.

To that end, Cascade Bicycle Club will soon be hosting a forum featuring transportation officials from cycling mecca Portland, Oregon, which grappled with the same issues when it began running streetcars in the late 1990s.

The forum is tentatively scheduled for March 11th. If you are interested in attending, RSVP to patrick.mcgrath@cascadebicycleclub.org

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