The City of Bellevue is wanting the public to get involved in exploring ways to make downtown a comfortable and safe place for people to ride bikes.
“People tell us they want to ride more in Bellevue, especially downtown, but it can be pretty intimidating with cars whizzing by your bike,” said Transportation Director Dave Berg. “A demonstration project would give us a chance to test a bikeway design that allows folks to feel and be safer on two wheels. Safety is a priority for us.”
Anyone interested in sharing their input on where the location of a demonstration project for safer cycling should take place is invited to attend an open house. There are also 2 lunchtime events coming up on November 21 and November 28 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Bellevue Connection Compass Plaza. If neither of those work for your schedule, you are invited to complete an online survey to help pick the street and project design that balances community priorities.
The streets of downtown Bellevue are all labeled “caution areas” due to heavy traffic, high speeds and the lack of bike lanes or shoulders. The project under consideration would create the first “high-comfort” bikeway, a lane occupying part of a street or sidewalk to create separation from cars.
Four streets are candidates for the pilot project: 108th Avenue Northeast and 106th Avenue Northeast for the north-south bikeway, and Main Street and Northeast Second Street for the east-west one. At least one location would be selected for the pilot.
The Transportation Commission will review community feedback and make a recommendation about a demonstration project to the City Council in early 2018. Bikeway or Bikeways could be installed as early as mid-2018 and would be evaluated through at least December 2018.
Take the online survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/bvuebikedemo
