Bike Lanes

photo provided by J. Kelley

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Bicyclist commuting from the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood along Lakeway Drive are claiming that ongoing denial to their request for bike lanes may lead to serious injury or death.

Drivers are unaware as to how close they are coming to bikers, said Justin Born, 22, a neighborhood resident who often bikes on Lakeway.

“I have had so many close calls with cars,” Born said. “It is stupid there aren’t bike lanes [on Lakeway Drive,] it isn’t safe.”

According to a City of Bellingham report titled “Bicycle Facilities Planning” from 1978, a five-year and a 25-year plan identified goals to improve bicycle safety throughout the city. The five-year plan indicates that the city of Bellingham would implement shared use signing along Lakeway Drive up to the intersection with Electric Avenue as well as warning striping along the entire length of Lakeway Drive.

When traveling along Lakeway in or out of the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood it is apparent that there is no lane giving bikers room to ride. There are a few signs reminding drivers to share the road with bicyclists.

There are currently no plans to put in bike lanes along Lakeway Drive, said Rory Routhe, assistant director for Bellingham Public Works. It was in the city’s six-year Transportation Improvement Program during the 1990’s before being dropped because of lack of funding, he said.

“Adding bike lanes to Lakeway in the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood will be a very large and complex project,” Routhe said. “The city supports the neighborhoods interest in providing bike and pedestrian infrastructure in this corridor when it is feasible and resources become available.”

The estimated budget needed to put in bike lanes is between $6 million and $8 million, said Routhe. It is unclear if the passing of Proposition One, benefiting transportation projects, will help to complete this long awaited project, he said.

Safety is a main concern of bicyclists and motorists alike, a Federal Highway Administration report said. Cars and bicycles have been competing for road space since the 19th century, the report said. The first recorded automobile crash in the United States happened in New York City in 1896 when a motor vehicle collided with a bicyclist, it said.

Traffic Safety Facts issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2008 stated automobile – bicycle collisions are 56 percent more likely to happen on roads without bike lanes.

Bike Lanes are comforting because of the clear divide between where cars and bikes go, said Jill Kelley, 22, a Bellingham resident.

“It is frustrating to be riding on the road with a car creeping behind you, apprehensive about whether to try to pass or not,” Kelley said.

The likelihood that Lakeway will receive bike lanes anytime soon is slim, said Routhe. The city evaluated adding bike lanes in 1998 when a second eastbound lane was added but was unable to accomplish this due to the steepness of cross streets, he said.

The traffic on Lakeway is bad enough and needs a full overhaul, said Shelly Johnston, who commutes on Lakeway every morning and evening. The city should overhaul the area and include bike lanes, she said.

Johnston, Kelly and Born all said if lanes were implemented there would likely be an increase in bicycle riders because of the added safety.

There are other options the city could assess, said Dick Schafer, bicycle safety specialist for the Federal Highway Administration. Off road pathways and shared use bus lanes a few ideas the city could look at, he said.

Motorist Rachel Miller said she would like bike lanes to be added.

“When I am driving in my car and there is a bicyclist in the road, I tend to think how great it would be if they were out of my way, “ Miller said. “A bike-lane and car-lane is a win-win situation for everybody. “

There are sidewalks along most parts of Lakeway Drive. Kjerstie Nelson of the Bellingham Public Works Department said that bicyclists may ride on any sidewalk that is not within a business district unless otherwise marked, according to the Bellingham municipal code, title 11- section 11.48.

“Riding on Lakeway can be very scary, and the sidewalks aren’t made for bikes,” said Born. “I have considered painting my own lanes on the road with a sliding door van. I have been scared for my life.”

Re-established Neighborhood Association

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – After nearly four years of inactivity the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood Association has revamped this fall after a dramatic fall-out of the previous association.

Nearly 40 residents attended the first meeting of the new Whatcom Falls Neighborhood Association, April 27 where they voted to re-establish an official group, said the new association president, Iain Davidson. Several small issues pertaining to the area brought the association back together, said Davidson, a neighborhood resident since 2003.

“The main point of reorganizing [the association] was to bring people together to accomplish a common goal, which would be a better neighborhood,” Davidson said.

Linda Stewart, the neighborhood services coordinator for the City of Bellingham said the group is making a good impression with the city. Stewart said that to see residents are once again willing to volunteer their time to communicate with their neighbors about local issues shows the city they are ready to engage in public affairs again.

The community was torn apart four years ago over an issue of community development, Davidson said. During 2004 and 2005 development along Birch Street resulted in the loss of front yard area for some residents and this was the first event leading to the disintegration of the neighborhood association.

Residents who had been opposed to this development began to move out of the area, Davidson said. The next year when a new developer shared plans to build houses in a field near a protected watershed, tension grew between the neighbors, the city and the contractor, Whitworth Park LLC, involved in the development of the area, Davidson said.

During this 2006 dispute the neighborhood association crumbled as the negotiations on lot sizes and the number of houses that could be built continually failed, Davidson said.

After months of debate the association president at the time, Mark Springer, left the board, soon to be followed by many other members, Davidson said. Over the next few months there was only one person left, he said.

“I was handed the ball,” Davidson said. “At that time I was the treasurer and secretary, then I was the treasurer, secretary, vice president and president.”

After three and a half years of rallying to get the association together, Davidson, Stewart and a few other residents held the April meeting helping to gain support from other community members. A bylaws committee was formed and soon began the long process of becoming a city recognized neighborhood association.

In order to get help from the city with different issues, an association must be a registered Wash., State non-profit organization, Davidson said. The group’s next goal is to accomplish this in the upcoming weeks, he said.

“I’m impressed with by the amount of work done by the Whatcom Falls organizing group,” Stewart said. “I look forward to seeing what the current association leaders will do in the future,” she said.

The new association has many long and short-term goals, from commercial improvement to clean parks, Davidson said. Based on an online survey of area residents the most sought after project is to improve traffic safety and flow neighborhood, he said.

“I drive down Lakeway [Drive] every morning to take my kids to school and the traffic is horrible,” said Kara Cotty, a neighborhood resident.

This is something that needs to be addressed, Cotty said. The fix won’t be an easy solution but it will be a valuable one, she said.

Also high on the survey was to update the neighborhood plan and receive updates on community growth and development, in part to help prevent future derailing of the new association.

Other issues the association wants to address over the next year and beyond, include; sidewalks and crosswalks on Electric Avenue, protection of Galbriath Mountain, improvement of the commercial area, tree cutting, and revision of the neighborhood boundary.

The board wants to begin expanding, Davidson said, there are plans to set up subdivisions dealing with history, crime, education of the neighborhood and more. There are also
talks of starting annual traditions such as a neighborhood picnic, he said.

The board includes Davidson as president, Damian Provalenko as vice president and Renata Dalrymple is the secretary and treasurer.

“Once the bylaws have been approved you can start the board of directors and get the ball rolling,” Davidson said.

Almost everything is in place for the neighborhood to become a recognized association, Davidson said. Once the group is official the city will be able to help with their area’s goals, he said.

“The city provides financial and material support to recognized Bellingham neighborhood associations,” Stewart said. “The city’s primary and formal method for communicating with neighborhoods is via neighborhood association leadership.”

Gas Leak Disrupts Business

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – More then a year after an underground fuel leak was detected, a construction manager has said contamination at the gas station on the 1400 block of Electric Avenue is more severe than originally thought.

Tom Pulver, vice president of Ultra Tank Services, the company hired to remove and replace the old tanks and contaminated soil said the leak was discovered last year by a technician completing triennial tests. The first steps were then taken to evaluate the extent of the leak, he said.

Within one week of the leak being detected and evaluated the earth that was contaminated was excavated, said Katie Skipper, public information officer with the Washington State Department of Ecology. The four underground storage tanks were drained, decommissioned and removed, she said.

The gas station pumps remained closed for a year while the owner decided the best way of dealing with the problem, she said, the tests of all pipes and equipment showed that everything was working fine and the location of the leak could not be detected. One engineer suspected a faulty release valve on the storage unit, Skipper said.

As testing went on the owner decided to replace all four tanks at his own expense, Skipper said, this was last month which is when digging resumed and more contamination was found.

“All remediation projects are a process of discovery regardless of the information compiled prior to excavation,” Pulver said. “We have encountered more extensive contamination than expected. An end date is still undetermined but we are behind our original schedule,” he said.

The project was suppose to take 45 days, Pulver said, the first two weeks were dedicated to digging out the contaminated soil, after four weeks, the crew is finally near at end of the contamination.

Older storage tanks are known to leak, said Jason Porter, a utility engineer with the City of Bellingham. This is a very minor leak compared to some other instances, he said.  There is a person on site testing the soil as it is excavated, if any fuel is found the digging must continue, Porter said.

Steve Marx, a Whatcom Falls Neighborhood resident of 31 years recently learned the leak was detected more then a year ago and he said it was disappointing that it hadn’t been completely dealt with sooner.

“It is good to know that something is being done to reverse the damage,” Marx said, “but they should just take the pumps out completely”

A ground water contamination was confirmed, Skipper said. There was 900 gallons of water pumped out until the water tested clean, she said, it is important to realize the difference between ground water and source water, which is where people get their water.

Marx said that he never understood why the city would allow a gas station so close to Lake Whatcom, a main source of drinking water for the community. The lake’s nearest shore is about three quarters of a mile away.

“There is virtually no way the fuel could reach the lake,” Porter said,  “And I can say that with a straight face.”

The gas station is approximately 15 feet lower than the lake, Porter said. If the leak was large enough it would still have to move uphill to contaminate the lake.

Besides the immediate harm caused to the surrounding environment, the leak has also affected some businesses in the small business complex surrounding the gas, said Tom Pulver, of Ultra Tank Services

There are only regular customers that come in to the different stores, said Aaron Brown, assistant manager of Davinci’s Subs, one of the businesses affected by the reclamation project. The gas pumps brought in a lot of walk-in customers and with the pumps not working the drive up traffic has shrunk considerably, he said.

The construction has been going on for more then three weeks, said Justin Born, 22, an employee of Lafeens Doughnuts.  There has been a significant decrease in traffic since the project started, he said.

“I’m losing up to 75 percent of my tips,” Born said.

The primary cleanup effort is complete, said Katie Skipper of the Department of Ecology. The construction crew is now in the process of installing two new tanks, which is more efficient than the four that were there before, she said. A whole new system, including fuel lines is being installed, she said.

Skipper said that Annette Ademasu, Tank Site Inspector with the Toxic Clean Up Program watches over all of the 129 registered underground storage tanks in Whatcom County. Out of these 129 tanks there is maybe two a year that produce minor leaks, Skipper said.

These tanks are located a various farms, gas stations, airports and other locations that need petroleum, Skipper said. Once the construction is complete at the Whatcom Falls site regular testing will be implemented throughout the next year to ensure that the environment has been completely restored.

The project site at the Electric Ave. Business Complex

Whatcom Falls Park is a popular local for residents of the neighborhood to exercise, meet and greet or  go for a stroll. It is one of Bellingham's most visited parks and is busy throughout the day. The need for more parks in the area has been brought up at recent city council and neighborhood association meetings as the population in the area continues to grow. Where would you like these parks to be placed?

A man rests during his run to admire the falls

Welcome!

Welcome to the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood News blog! There will be constant updates on what is going on in the WFN and latest details will be provided on continuing stories for our area.


About the author:
My name is Brian Corey and I am a student at Western Washington University. I will be using this blog as part of a reporting class as I pursue my degree in visual journalism. With constant updates about local news and reports on exciting stories I hope to capture readers throughout the Fall 2010 quarter.

I am also a writer/photographer for a local printed and online zine focused on skateboarding and northwest lifestyle called RockPaperScissors. Thank you for staying tuned as the progress of this site and the news continues to build!