Your waterfront

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How many times have you biked or walked along the Seattle waterfront, felt the salt in the air, listened to the gulls, looked out to the snowy Olympic Mountains and thought: what a city.

But despite this scene that many of us enjoy, it’s likely that you had to work a bit to get there—I always carry with me a feeling of disconnection from the natural beauty of Seattle’s waterfront.

That’s all about to change.  Maybe.

Still in the early stages of design, we’re unsure what kind of waterfront we’re going to get. (I'm surprised that the teaser images on the Waterfront Committee website don't have a single bicycle in them.)

But we have a pretty good idea of what kind of waterfront we want: a safe and connected one that works for bicycle commuters, recreational riders and pedestrians.

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Nice cycletrack-- but whoa, those are pretty long crossing distances across all those lanes...

Safe means that the crossing distances should be shorter for bicycles and pedestrians, traffic speeds should be below 30 mph and intersections should be carefully designed and signalized.

Connected means that the bicycle facilities should be wide to accommodate the large numbers of anticipated riders, the facilities should work for all types of riders and there should be strong east-west connections for all modes.

Tell the design team to get it right from the start. There’s a workshop that’ll start with a brief presentation and finish with an open discussion and a chance to speak up.  It’s 5:30 to 7 p.m. this Wednesday, Feb. 8 at Town Hall (downstairs, 1119 8th Avenue).  RSVP for the workshop here.

Let’s make sure that we make the best of this opportunity to connect to the tremendous natural beauty of our waterfront and create the kind of waterfront we’ve all been dreaming about.