Transcript
Speaker: everybody, this is Ben Sharp, your host of the Mercer Matters podcast. Today I'm joined by Mercer Island resident, Jim Stanton. He and I met by way of ah the Parks Commission meeting, which happened earlier this month in January. Today's discussion, we're going to talk about ah we're going to start talking about e-bikes and try to catch you all up on some of the things are going on with the the city and the parks department with respect to e-bikes on the island. And then we're going to talk a little bit more broadly about sort of bikes and pedestrians and infrastructure on the island in general, something that ah Jim has a lot of experience spent a lot of time and energy working on as I've learned and talked with him ah throughout his many years here on the island. um
Speaker: So today the the format's going be a little bit different. ah Normally when i ah i'm I'm doing interviews and I try not to hold a position and and just let the let the candidate talk when i'm doing candidate interviews, today it's goingnna be a little different. um I definitely have a a position on this and I want to share some of information about what I've learned and why I think it makes sense.
Speaker: ah to have e-bikes of kind of everywhere on the island. So without further ado, Jim, thanks for joining. um I'll turn it over to you for a second to kind of give an introduction of yourself and kind of your background, and then we'll dive into the discussion.
Speaker: Great. Thanks, Ben. It's a pleasure to be here. My wife and I have lived on the island at the South End for over 40 years. We've raised three sons on the island, and I'm also, in about 1994,
Speaker: ah began to seriously ride a bike when my middle son and I did the, joined some other parents and sons on the island, some dads and sons. And we did the Seattle to Portland bike ride. it's ah It's a long bike ride. i guess it's about 150 miles. We did it in two days, but my middle son at the time was 11 and so were the other kids. It was great.
Speaker: Since then, I've been involved in, gotten more involved in cycling. I am one of the members of the steering committee for a group called Neighbors in Motion, which for the last more than 10 years has worked with the city to advocate for safer bicycling conditions and infrastructure on Mercer Island.
Speaker: So my view when I look at these things is someone who's raised three sons on the island from childhood to through the the high school, and also as someone who's tried to work with the city to improve bicycle safety um for the community.
Speaker: Well, thank you thank you very much for all the work that you've done. i know I was chatting with you a little bit before we went on air here, and yeah, you've you've done a lot. And i think that's amazing about merceriologists as an aside that you know there's so many people that are involved in so many things to to kind of make this community better. So thank you very much for all that you've done there.
Speaker: Yeah, it's not just me. We have a ah Google group with about 160 people. We have a steering committee, some of whom you've met, that's very active.
Speaker: but And most of them share my, we we have a common perspective and that we've been on the island a long time and use our bikes, not just for recreation, but also for transportation. Awesome. Well, thanks for that and and for the introduction here and for joining me today. So what I thought we'd do is let's let's kind of catch everybody up on on a little bit, or at least my perspective, your perspective on where we're at with respect to e-bikes. um I think everybody listening has, I'm sure, seen them out on the roads.
Speaker: it's you know It's a technology where it's a motor-assisted bicycle. The kids really have adopted them. I have five children. i ah you know me personally, I bought them all bikes. Jim, ah we live on First Hill, lot of hills.
Speaker: And the bikes never, they never rode the bikes. They just sat there. ah And then the e-bikes started coming out and and we're an early adopter type family. And i I got one, actually two for my wife and I.
Speaker: And the kids would ride them constantly. um more much Put many more miles on them than my wife and I did. And um so you know fast forward a couple of years and and you know all the kids that are big enough to ride them have them.
Speaker: And you know it's just it's they they get used a ton. They go everywhere on these things. And I think it's i think it's awesome, especially for you know those of us that live you know with a lot of hills. It makes it a whole heck of a lot easier and more fun to go and roam around.
Speaker: ah But with that, there's been a lot of controversy um with the e-bikes, which we'll get into ah you know the definition of some of these things. I guess you have to, in in a way, be an attorney to kind of figure some of this out, the way things are written.
Speaker: But there's the e-bikes with the pedals and the motor c assist, and then there's the e-motorcycles. And between the two categories of bikes, at least my perception is that that that there's been a lot of angst in the community.
Speaker: I know I've talked to people on the city council. They get lots of complaints. Certainly, if you go on Facebook or next door, there's no shortage of discussion about e-motorcycles, e-bikes, and kids.
Speaker: So ah the city last year effectively ah made it – I'm going to call it banned e-motorcycles. They didn't ban them, I guess, technically, but they you know are definitely starting to crack down on unlicensed operators of e-motorcycles.
Speaker: um which, ah you know, I personally, I think makes sense. um You know, they're fast. Those go, you know, 50, 60 miles an hour if you want them to. No pedals.
Speaker: You know, they're their motorcycle effectively just run by an electric electric motor. And so that happened last year, Jim. And What kind of caught my attention and and made me get involved, at least, and I know you've been involved much longer, was an email that I got actually from ah from a friend who's on the council, ah city council, about the the potential of sort of, quote, banning e-bikes and parks.
Speaker: And I hadn't really followed that all that closely, but in December, I guess there was a ah parks commission meeting and and a recommendation but from the the city park staff to effectively you know ban or outlaw potentially class one, two, and three. So all e-bikes ah from most areas and parks and open spaces.
Speaker: we And we can dive into a little bit what that what the official recommendation was. There was a little bit more nuance to that, but um So that's that's, Jim, where I got involved and started to think about how that would affect our kids as they ride around the island. And and in talking to you before the show, you know you've you've you've spent a whole lot more time thinking about this than I have. And so maybe I'll throw it over to you um to kind of give give your background that we can talk a little bit about what was discussed in that meeting and kind of potentially some some win-wins in terms of path forward that the the Parks Commission, the city can take to kind of try to make this beneficial for everybody. Well, my understanding is that this issue of e-bikes came to public attention as a result of the behavior of teenagers on illegal e-bikes, or not e-bikes, sorry, e-motorcycles. E-motors, yes.
Speaker: and that people assume that those e-motos were also e-bikes. The federal government actually defines what an e-bike is, and they define it as a consumer product. So it and it specifically does not have to be regulated in the way motorcycles, cars, and other vehicles on the road.
Speaker: And those are reflected in the classification of one, two, and three. they have to have fully operable pedals. They can't have a motor over 750 watts.
Speaker: And if you're unless you're pedaling, the motor can't make it go more than 20 miles an hour on its own. And so that's what an e-bike is. But what was causing all the problem were these e-motorcycles. And to the normal person, um it's, you know, that's- You look an awful lot of luck sometimes. you'll send You know, let's so they're the problem.
Speaker: So what we had was behavior of ill of kids behaving poorly on an illegal bike. But somehow the reaction to this has some has included all e-bikes, even ah and all riders. And there are a lot of riders on this island who are not teenagers or not or even younger.
Speaker: But I think the initial reaction from ah from those from complaints about that those activities were, let's ban the bikes. That's an easy solution.
Speaker: Instead of saying, perhaps looking a little deeper into it and saying, this is a behavior problem on the part of a few people. Let's take a deep dive and see how we can affect the behavior.
Speaker: Yeah, and I... Bicycles have been in the parks for decades. Certainly bicycles have, and increasingly e-bikes. And as you know, well that's I'll leave that as a separate discussion.
Speaker: But anyway, I think the initial reactions is and instructions to the city staff was come up with a policy that gets these bikes out of the parks and open spaces, as a fast, quick solution to to complaints about e-motives. Yeah. And and you it seems like we were kind of barreling headfirst in that direction.
Speaker: there's you know People can go look ah on the Parks Commission website. There's a draft recommendation from staff and it effectively said that you know class one, two, and three e-bikes were not going to be allowed in parks unless sort of otherwise unless there was a sign that said they were.
Speaker: So they were kind of excluded except where they would be included. And a number of us, noticed that and, ah you know, started of thinking through the implications of that.
Speaker: um And not just, not just for kids, you know, for everybody, of course, you know, I'm thinking this, you know, for my my kids at home and kind of how they use the bikes and how that would be, that would be problematic. Before we dive too much further though, would you mind, Jim, let's, but so what is the difference between class one, two, three?
Speaker: You mentioned the Emoto, right? No pedals, you know, can go very fast, kind of a different class. It's not a bike, it's a motorcycle. A class one is an e-bike that you have to pedal to make it go.
Speaker: The electric motor, there's no throttle on it. So it's electric assist. And if you hit 20 miles an hour, the motor cuts out. And class two is has a throttle. It has pedals. You can pedal it.
Speaker: but and But you don't have to pedal to make it go. The throttle can take it up to 20 miles an hour, then it cuts out. Class three is a class one e-bike um that allows the motor to assist you up to 28 miles an hour instead of 20.
Speaker: I think, in my perspective, most of the bikes that people complain about are or frankly, class two, the bikes with throttles, because a class three e-bike can be very low powered. It just doesn't have a cap at 20 miles an hour. And to make it go fast, you really have to pedal and work hard.
Speaker: But those are the three classes. Yeah. And so I agree with you. i mean, it's people see kids on the bikes, they're not pedaling. so they're like, hey, you know, what's that about? and i And so that would be the class two in the Emoto that would allow you to do that. Right. OK.
Speaker: those Those are the ones with throttles. And as as a little bit more background, you mentioned the federal government regulates these things, but but the state law is also settled. And, you know, to not not to go too into the weeds here, but my understanding is that e-bikes, class one, two, three e-bikes are treated under state law as regular bicycles. Is that right?
Speaker: That's correct. But as we speak, there's a bill... in the state legislature that was is under discussion now to reconfirm that.
Speaker: But yes, the state has basically adopted the classification as its official classification. okay and that And that's important as we kind of talk through some of these nuances. And I would say the rest of the discussion is a lot of nuance because um as I found out kind of rolling up my sleeves and and people on NIMH are particularly well-versed in all of this, it's it is complicated.
Speaker: And I think that's part of the the challenge that we have as a community is maybe just attempt to uncomplicate some of this stuff so people can understand. An example of the complication, and you know I know this because I own several of these bikes, but one of the challenges is that ah you can modify which class this bike is in the software, right? So you know there's there's no real easy way, just looking at an e-bike, I don't think anyone can discern what class it is unless, you know in some cases, you kind of got to go into the software to figure out, which I think also makes policing this a big challenge.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's right. it's almost It's very difficult to tell the difference between a class one e-bike and a class three e-bike. Yeah. Class two, at least you can see you know by observation if somebody's pedaling or if it has a throttle. Yes.
Speaker: Yeah. so So, okay. so thanks for helping kind of lay the lay the groundwork there. So, Take us through, i assume you were at the at the meeting in December or were observing it. to Kind of take us through what what happened there and then we can talk about kind of what happened and at the January meeting kind of where we are today. Well, I was not a participant in the first meeting. i found out about it afterwards. Okay. when i But wasn't it a particularly good time of year?
Speaker: It wasn't a good time of year. And also there have been some retirements in the parks department. So normally the bicycle community would have been notified in advance so they could have participated early, but we were not.
Speaker: And so we did not participate or provide a different perspective until the January meeting. Yeah. and And part of what alarmed me a little bit was I got a text message from a friend and he said, hey, you know I think there were nine or 10 emails the city or the parks had received wanting to ban the e-bikes. And there was only one in favor of keeping them. And I said, wait, what are you talking about? you know i had no idea this was happening. And so that's when he mentioned to me that They were going to have another meeting early January. And unfortunately, I think there were a number of us who came out sort of for for keeping the e-bikes um in the parks.
Speaker: And I don't think there were many, i don't think there were voices in person in opposition. um Maybe I think there were a couple of letters. And it's interesting, you know back to the opposition for a second. what What I found, Jim, was that people, there are people on the island who just don't like the things, right?
Speaker: Any of them. And they want to see them all banned. the The drivers have to have insurance, have to have license, blah, blah, blah. Which is like, okay, you you're welcome to hold that opinion. I think the problem with that is that at least as we're framing the discussion around the parks, um,
Speaker: None of that really matters. you know the state is is you know The state is the entity that requires whether or not you have to have insurance when you operate something. um So there's just a lot of the, at least what I saw, a lot of the complaints, you know they don't like them clearly. They don't want them anywhere.
Speaker: But you know this is this is really about, the you know the discussion was about the parks and a lot of these things, you know Parks Department can't do much about. So we had the meeting in ah in in january early January, and there were a number of us there. You and I were there and kind of a couple of people virtually, we're allowed our three minutes, which goes by quickly, which is why I'm glad we have a chance to kind of record this.
Speaker: you know i I think what I attempted to communicate to the commission was, you know you know one, let's let's let's let's take a break here and slow down a little bit. um It felt like we were just barely headfirst into you know banning all these bikes.
Speaker: But also, I think that there's there's a lot of things to consider that are much more complicated when it comes to what the net effect of that decision is. and you know Maybe we could start, you know you and I were talking before we hit record that it's pretty challenging to safely navigate from, like let's say, where I'm at on the North End Island down to the South End to, say, the middle school. you know I was telling you that my son wanted to ride his bike to school and I you know My wife and I were like, no, no, no, you're not going to do that. But then we you know I rode along with him and he knew a path that went through parks and went through side roads and alleyways and all this stuff. And and it was you know he was able to avoid going on West Mercer, which is a non-starter for me. And then he was just on Island Crest Way just for a bit, kind of on that path on the side. So I was comfortable with that.
Speaker: But I mean, bigger picture, there's really not a good corridor there. And this is something that you've been working for for a long time. So do you want to chat a little bit about that? Yeah, I think that the park situation is really a reflection of the fact that there aren't safe alternatives for bicycles to ride out on the streets.
Speaker: ah We don't have, we have very few bike lanes there. They're not well marked and they're chopped up in tiny little pieces around the island. So it's very hard to find a a consistent bike path ah that would be safe for kids to to ride very far. if you So as a parent, on the south end, I had the same situation you did. i had a son going to Highland Park School. I had sons go to the to Mercer Island High School.
Speaker: And there was no safe way to go on the streets or stay without to to go there. So we encouraged them to use the parks as much as possible. And we finally found a safe route. And so they would use parks and sidewalks to get there, which a lot of people don't like and complain about. That's right.
Speaker: But as a parent, again, as a parent, you know, the alternative is, you know, having them on the roads. That really was one of the big drivers for us as an organization was we've got to make it safe for the kids on this island.
Speaker: Yeah, I totally agree. And, you know, you fast forward, don't know how old your kids are, but 20, 30 years. And now with the e-bikes, just they're all out there in droves. Right. And so it's it's almost made the the problem more so severe. Right. And and the or the urgency for figuring this out more significant.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree. And its I live near the middle school. And so I often go by there when when people are arriving in the morning. And there are more and more kids on e-bikes, more and more kids on e-scooters.
Speaker: You see them up on sidewalks, on the streets and the like. And i guess the benefit is it cuts down on the number of cars, but it's clear that that's an area of growth.
Speaker: E-bikes are actually the fastest growing area of bicycle sales in the United States. And the state now has a a new director, three years ago, of active transportation.
Speaker: which incorporates e-bikes and mostly e-bikes and bikes and has ah a statewide strategy of encouraging it. Yeah. And i I think, you know, for good reason. You know, I mean, it's it's it's fun. It's more accessible for adults and kids. um You know, it takes the terrain, you know, largely out of the equation when you have help.
Speaker: So, yeah, I mean, there's there's a lot of great reasons why these things are selling like hotcakes. So, i you know, maybe maybe next, um you know, let's kind of let's kind of talk through So I agree with you. as as As the infrastructure is right now on the island, I mean, it only makes sense for the kids to have to go through the parks to get from point A to point B safely.
Speaker: um And this includes, you know, school district property in some cases. So there's there's multiple stakeholders here, as I've learned. You have the city, you've got the parks department, you've got the school district, you've got the what open air trust, which manages Pioneer Park, I've learned. I hope I got that right.
Speaker: Open space, conservative. Open space. Okay. Yeah. ah So you've got you've got various stakeholders, all that have their own way of making rules, but then are also, i believe, attempting to coordinate with one another, which I think is a good thing.
Speaker: But as you look at, you know, as you look at, okay, what's what's the solution here? I think it's pretty clear that, you know, we all want to advocate for safety, you know, safety for pedestrians, safety for vehicles, safety for the the bike riders, e-bike and otherwise.
Speaker: You know, i think we want... people to operate these things in a respectful manner and be thoughtful of one another when we're, you know, out in the community and, yeah you know, and and be able to all kind of coexist. I mean, I think that's at a high level, at least in my mind, it's kind of what we ought to be creating policy for.
Speaker: And, you know, and so I think the concept, my concern, Jim, and I told you this on the phone, was that when I heard banning the e-bikes in the parks, I think that that, you know, if that's, if that is the direction that they end up going,
Speaker: it it then sets a tone, gets communicated to to the city council. Well, this is what the parks department did. And the city council takes that ball and runs with it, right? And so are they starting to ban these things in other spaces? And so it just felt like, you know, as a community, we were clamping down on operating e-bikes with little error for, you know, kind of a thought otherwise. um And so fortunately...
Speaker: you know, in the, in the meeting, you know, earlier this month, a number of us talked and, yeah you know, the commission to their credit um took a step back and it's going to take some more time to kind of evaluate the impact of what they're considering doing.
Speaker: So I think for now, you know, we've got some, some time to be able to advocate for why we think it makes sense to, to continue to allow these in parks and open spaces. I have a couple of,
Speaker: The path forward I would hope that they might take would, or at least consider would be, first of all, let's we've passed some legislation or some regulation of the eMotos. They're now illegal um and ah that seemed to be the source of the complaints. So let's take a breath and see if that basically solves the problem.
Speaker: Second, I think the problem is largely behavioral. So why don't we look at teaching, doing two things? One, putting up signage, considering speed limits and training to affect behavior, which would, I think, are all positive things to do regardless and see if if what the effect of that is.
Speaker: But this appears to be a behavioral problem and not and you know, the ah ah problem of of the bikes because they've been in the parks for a long time and do this step by step and see what what's needed.
Speaker: ah Training is particularly needed, I think. The city made one effort to explain the difference between e-bikes and e-motos, but I don't think there's much training about what's expected of kids on e-bikes.
Speaker: And that would, and again, I think we're basically talking about younger people on e-bikes. And the other one is signage that's consistent and clear. We've looked at the signage all around the island and you really can't, they're very erratic and it's hard to tell what's allowed where.
Speaker: And then third, why not consider separating bikes from pedestrians and creating some trails that are clearly for bikes and some that are clearly for for pedestrians and eliminate the source of the conflict to begin with. Those are, I think, all things to consider that would be would allow all the residents an expanded use of our parks and not limited to just pedestrians. Yeah, I think You and I are in alignment for the most part. You know, I mean, the letter that I wrote, yeah, hit the pause button.
Speaker: The signage, let's talk about that. But certainly signage is completely ambiguous now and it really could be improved. um And then the education, 100% agree with you.
Speaker: There's, you know, I think a lot of people hear education are like, yeah, those kids need to be taught how to ride respectfully. Well, you know, I agree with you. Also, the the community needs to understand the difference between the bikes and and which kids are operating, you know, legal bikes legally. And and then, you know, those that are operating e-motorcycles illegally.
Speaker: ah because as I testified in, in early this month, my kids have been harassed and there's no other way to put it. I mean, they've been outright harassed by people that live here for riding their bike completely legally.
Speaker: And it's just because people, you know, they don't believe that those bikes are allowed in places based on the signage. And that maybe we could talk about that for a second. ah A perfect example of this is on the, the, the Lyd Park there, ah the West entrance,
Speaker: On the bike trail, there's a sign that says no motorized vehicles. And I think a lot of people, ah right, wrong, or indifferent, look at an e-motorcycle, well, or an e-bike, excuse me, an e-bike with a motor, and they think, well, geez, that's that's not allowed.
Speaker: And, you know, the that this is where Jeff from your group, ah wrote me a two page email and it is complicated. You know, it it it is just way too complicated to figure out when an e-bike is a, you know, motor vehicle when it's not. i mean, it's, it's, it's crazy.
Speaker: And so I think the city could do us all a favor by, you know, having signs in places ah to indicate you know, what the rules of the road are for for everybody, right? So the pedestrians know, hey, these are allowed.
Speaker: the The kids know whether or not they're allowed. Law enforcement knows. i mean, i I think I mentioned in one of my letters that we had a run in with somebody who was very angry about ah my kids operating their bikes there on the Lid Park on the on the pavement, called the police on them.
Speaker: you know Fortunately, I was there you know attempting to deescalate it with this gentleman, which was not happening. So I waited for the police to show up. And even even the officer that responded was confused as to what the rules were.
Speaker: and ah And so you know fortunately, you know it ended up being a learning experience kind of for everybody. um But you know i I kind of came away from that thinking, and man, this is ridiculous. you know A citizen just called the police on kids riding their bikes in a park.
Speaker: you know It's like, i I don't know that any, I don't know. I don't know that any of us really want to be living in a place where that is becomes common. I mean, it's just kind of crazy. um So the signage, you know, there's just a lot of opportunities to improve the signage.
Speaker: And I think that's a great suggestion. Yeah, i my the city has a bit of a problem in that there are different groups that ah control different pieces of property.
Speaker: um You know, the the trail through Aubrey Davis Park was built and is ultimately controlled by WSDOT. And so they have regulations. It connects to King County trails on both sides. And so it has to more or less follow the trails that that govern the the trails that it connects to.
Speaker: And then the parks signs all have different nomenclature. And so some say no bikes, some say no motor vehicles. um And it's confusing for somebody walking down the street or, well, if for anybody looks into it ah to figure out ah what's allowed and what's not.
Speaker: So some consistency in the signs that made it very clear that maybe use consistent terminology would be a big help and would help people understand what's allowed and what's not.
Speaker: Yeah, I i completely completely agree with you. And I know you know the on the education piece, um there was some, i think there was one assembly at the middle school last year. um There was an effort by the school district to educate the kids on on the e-bikes and how to ride them properly and all of that.
Speaker: um I think there's a lot more opportunity there, which which sounds like you know the city and And the school district are working on that, which I think is a good thing. um And then, you know, lastly, i i have to give it credit to I think it was Ashley Hay, the chair of the Parks Commission.
Speaker: um I think she's the one who mentioned this concept of etiquette over access, which which I really liked and resonated with me. and And kind of the thought there is, you know, instead of you know, banning or regulating these things all all over the place.
Speaker: Let's have ah an expectation of etiquette. Let's have an expectation of, you know, operating these things respectfully, ah help educate, you know, young young kids on how to do that.
Speaker: And, you know, I think that that's an opportunity to sort of, you know, be be able to have access to everybody. in the parks ah in a way that, you know, it was respectful versus, you know outlawing them or banning them or, you know being overly prescriptive with where you can operate these things. Because, Jim, at the end of the day, and this was the biggest issue that I had with all of this, right, is is the actually enforcing any kind of ban of e-bikes in the parks.
Speaker: You know in a nutshell, my understanding was that the the bikes, the e-bikes were only going to be allowed on you know, paved surfaces where the where the city um had signs that they were allowed to ride.
Speaker: And I was thinking, man, you know, there's all sorts of use cases where, you know, a kid a kid goes, you know, to First Hill Park here, pikes parks their bike next to the picnic table. Well, they've they've just, you know, broken the law, right? they've They rode their bike through, you know, areas that weren't allowed to go play at the park. You know, what are you going to do You know, yeah same thing about Luther Burbank Park going down to the beach. I mean, there's just a bazillion different use cases where um I think everyone or most people would agree that it makes sense to allow a kid to ride their bike to the player at a park.
Speaker: And yet, you know, if there wasn't a sign specifically allowing for that, ah you know, technically they'd be in violation, which... Okay, probably not going to be enforced. Right.
Speaker: But what it does create is, you know, even more contention between, you know, pedestrians who don't like the bikes and the kids on the, on the e-bikes. And I just think that that's a recipe for a disaster.
Speaker: I don't know. you have any thoughts on that? Yeah, I i keep coming back to ah the context of of the parks. Our roads need to be safer. We need safe alternatives to the kids riding in the parks. That will reduce the necessity for kids to be in the parks.
Speaker: Second, it's we're talking about a behavioral problem of a small number of kids on illegal bicycles. That's not representative of all the other kids and adults on the same on e-bikes.
Speaker: we can There are some obvious areas we can improve, but we can't just keep regulating bikes out of areas on the island and expect to reach a solution.
Speaker: We have to create better infrastructure. We have to create clarity in the rules. We have to train the kids and make it clear what's what's acceptable what's not. And i think that is the kind of approach that I would strongly advocate for. Yeah, I'm in complete agreement. And you know but my position was let's not ban the ban the e-bikes, any of them.
Speaker: um And let's I think there are plentiful other paths forward that you've eloquently illustrated here. So thanks thanks for doing that. You know Pioneer Park is one of the areas that people talk about a lot. And if we could get a safe ah bike trail that would connect the ah but IMS um up past Island Park School, there's a project to to put in ah a bike trail along Island Crestway that would be safe.
Speaker: That would would reduce the number of people that would actually be in Pioneer Park. And it's that kind of approach, I think, that would make...
Speaker: provide safe alternatives for for kids and adults. Well, that's a ah perfect segue because um i was going to ask you to shift gears a little bit here and talk about some of the other opportunities or work you've been doing on the island with respect to improving infrastructure. um So tell us a little bit more about that. you were You were telling me before we went on air that ah there have been a number of proposals for a long time ah to improve infrastructure.
Speaker: ah for bikes here on the island. That was one of them. Would you mind just kind of giving us some context to what you've been working on and and what your thoughts are for how we could make things better? Sure. The city's had two comprehensive bike pedestrian plans, one in 1996, 2010, which basically restated the 1996 one.
Speaker: And all of those written called for a safe bicycle passage down the center of the island. They also recognized, identified a bunch of other smaller projects around ah neighborhoods and the like, and also putting shoulders on at least one shoulder on the inside of East and West Mercer.
Speaker: East and West Mercer are almost finished. But in terms of what residents need um to safely get kids to their schools, for commuters to get up to the new light rail station and the like, we need a safe passage down Island Crest Way.
Speaker: And there's an area there of about a mile and a half from Street to down to the post office, I'm sorry, the mailbox at 53rd, where it's it's all chopped up, dangerous, there are roads coming in from the side, there's no safe passage of that area.
Speaker: And when cars are there in the morning dropping off kids, um it's it's not a place you want it. Commuter traffic's there, you don't want to be in the road. um So that's really been the area that we have focused on currently.
Speaker: We think that's the biggest need. In the past, um we have certainly supported completing the shoulders on East and West Mercer. ah And we actually worked with Judy Cliburn in the state legislature when she was the head of the Transportation Committee ah to raise the funding for ah the master plan of the Aubrey Davis Park.
Speaker: And we had hoped to address, and then that led to a $500,000 state grant to improve safety on the on the trail through Aubrey Davis Park.
Speaker: But think, Right now, having worked on this for about 10 years, we think the highest priority is this missing link along Island Crest Way um that's just a big hole in our transportation system.
Speaker: And what do you think it takes to get that done? Yeah, that's one that we really do need to get done. And it's when we get that done, we can claim that we actually have a connected network, which is what the COMP plan now calls for.
Speaker: Okay. And is that what what's it going to take to get that done? is that a Do you know the budget for that for that project? has that been Has there been a budget discussed?
Speaker: it's then that It's in the the current transportation i'm sorry transportation improvement plan and to start next year They have, they're looking at doing a big hunk of it, but unfortunately it, it's slightly isolated that the beginning and the end of it don't connect to the, um to the rest of, to a to the rest of the network.
Speaker: But it's an important piece to get done. And I believe they also have state funding for a lot of it. Okay. Yeah. And you were also saying that there's grants that could be had and your organization's been working or or could be put to work on helping get some of those grants. The the state passed an active transportation bill about two years ago that put almost a billion dollars into improving active transportation.
Speaker: And about $220 million dollars of that is for grants to improve infrastructure. And another 200 million is for ah K through nine education in the schools where the state fully funds training access to bicycles and the like for bicycle training.
Speaker: Cascade Bicycle Club has the contract to deliver that statewide. um As far as I know, we're a year or two away from that program reaching Mercer Island.
Speaker: ah They focused on rural and less well-funded school districts first. But they they train the teachers, pay the teachers for their extra time. They provide the bikes, maintain the bikes.
Speaker: So it's ah it's a it's a program that's coming our way. And and represents the kind of effort the state is is making to make bicycle train bicycles a component of our state transportation system.
Speaker: Well, Jim, ah gosh, thanks very much for... taking the time to to chat about all this. Appreciate you sharing your knowledge, which is you know far more significant than mine. I feel like I've got the training wheels on to use the metaphor a little bit here, but thanks for for joining me and and chatting through this today. If people want to learn more about ah your group, Neighbors in Motion, where would they go to to to find out?
Speaker: There's two places. One is a Google group called MI Cycling, MI-Cycling. And if you go to Google groups and try to log in on that, it'll direct you to me. And we that's a closed group.
Speaker: We do not want to become an argumentative group, like some of the other online groups can be.
Speaker: We're a group of people dedicated to making bicycling safer on Mercer Island. But if you'd like to join, would welcome you. Yeah, there's enough of those platforms. For some reason, we also have, I think, info at neighborsinmotion.org will also direct your email to me.
Speaker: And we'd be happy to let in Mercer Island residents who want to make cycling safer. And one other thing they can do is the city has just opened up their comment sign or their comment site on the transportation improvement plan, which they will be discussing in April or May.
Speaker: So I would encourage people if they want to make comments about cycling and improving cycling that go to the Let's Talk site on the city site.
Speaker: They've just opened up a site on the transportation improvement plan and you can register your comments there. Yeah, and I can put a note to a link to that in the show notes. I'll do that. And I will also put a link to some of the information about um the efforts the Parks Department is doing so people can can get caught up on that. But, you know, as always, ah you know, write an email, take a little bit of time, be active because don't just assume somebody else is going to do it because they're not folks. We've got it. We've got to speak up.
Speaker: And then it. No, no, no numbers count. That's right. So all you parents out there want your kids riding bikes around, ah this is your opportunity. So, Jim, thanks thanks very much for joining. Thanks for taking the time and sharing all of your knowledge with us. Appreciate it.
Speaker: Thanks, Ben. I appreciated the opportunity.
