PeopleForBikes placed Seattle at the top of their list by crowning the Westlake Ave Protected Bike lane as the country’s best new bike lane of 2016!
This week they made the announcement and spoke with SDOT Director Scott Kubly about the importance of the Westlake PBL, which is on the west side of Lake Union and connects neighborhoods to the north and beyond the Fremont Bridge (and surrounding trails and parks) to South Lake Union and downtown.
Here’s an excerpt from their post: “What they got was a world-class bikeway: the first flat, intuitive link joining downtown Seattle to the north side and a vast regional trail network.”
Bike ridership on Westlake has doubled after the protected bike lane opened in September, compared to the previous year. People biking now have a separate space to ride, making the area safer and more comfortable for cyclists of all ages and abilities.
The project also improves safety for all users by featuring a pedestrian path for people walking that is separate from the bicycle lanes. The designated space for people biking also makes the parking lot more predictable for drivers, which makes this scenic corridor more accessible for residents, employees and customers.
With community input built into the design, the Westlake PBL has created a safer corridor for people walking, biking, and driving while preserving approximately 90 percent of the parking.