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.”