For those who commute via human power between West Seattle and downtown (or beyond): As announced last week, the new Alaskan Way bicycle/pedestrian path opened today. Bob Anderton, who shared the photo, says he saw more than a few bicyclists this morning who didn’t get the word, still using the old detour. WSDOT explains the new route here, and also invites bikers/walkers to stop by and celebrate near the north end of the new trail (S. King Street) – 4-6 pm.
I rode this this morning. It’s smooooooth. There are a number of plaques and dedications along the way, which I did not stop to view. Maybe on the ride home tonight…
I missed it completely, because I was riding on the street where God intended cyclist to ride.
CCW,
I’m sure CenturyLink, Xfinity, SCL, etc will figure out reasons they need to cut into the new smooth path as quickly as possible and make it bumpy! /Sarcasm.
I didn’t see the new path until I was completely passed it. I rode the same detour road as in the last many months…..go pass the USCG building and hang a right under the viaduct, followed by a left at the next light. It appears we don’t go under the viaducy, but straight now.
If you ride the street normally past the Coast Guard Station, it’s easy to miss the new path entry as it’s still marked “Detour” rather than “New Bike/Ped Path” or something.
Be careful entering/exiting new path at King Street. That side of the intersection (south side) is still marked “closed” and at least when I went through there this morning the southern E/W crosswalk as still closed. Vehicles entering/exiting the Port entry are very likely not used to dealing with peds/cyclists over there…
It’s a nice path – a definite shortcut from longer route under viaduct and back. No reason one can’t still use the older detour street route if one prefers though.
Okay, nice start. Now keep building it South ’til you hit the Green River Trail!
New section of trail is nice. Hope to see it extend further south as the project goes on.
i also missed the new path this morning! i took my normal northbound route under the viaduct (same as cowpie’s route, above, rejoining the old bike path where you turn right to get back onto alaskan way, at the light south of king st), and nearly smashed into the old path’s barrier at king street while heading north on the old path. really looking forward to testing out the new path on my way home tonight – and avoiding all train traffic!! yay!!
This is another improvement that benefits commuters. With the work progressing on the Spokane Street viaduct, Alaskan Way, Harbor Island, and the tunnel replacing the Alaskan Way viaduct, our transportation options are improving.
Looks niiiiice!!! Too bad I’m not commuting downtown anymore. Is that a Dutch bike?
This was fantastic this morning and afternoon. FYI, the people at the table giving information and asking questions about my experience of the path were fantastic! It also sounds as if they will be tackling the uncomfortable conditions south of this section. Hopefully they’ll be able to build something this nice and hook it up to the West Seattle bike path (the section that cuts through the trucker parking area).
Can someone give me some advice about cycling routes to downtown? (I don’t commute by bike, but am considering giving it a try). From the lower bridge of the WSB, what is the best way to get to the general area of 8th/Virginia downtown?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Rode this on Sunday. Surprised to see it open and happy not having to deal with trains, trucks, tourists and automobiles for a brief section of Alaska way. Let’s keep this thing going to the lower bridge!
Kacey: Once over the bridge, you’ll want to circle around to underneath the bridge and follow the bike path to East Marginal Way. From there, you’ll head north on Marginal in the bike lane. There’s a lot of construction going on near the Coast Guard (where Marginal turns into Alaskan Way). Here, you’ll hop on the new bike trail mentioned in this article. At the end of the trail at King Street, you’ll cross over to trail on the other side of Alaskan Way and continue north to Marion, then up to 1st Avenue.
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From here, the gentlest slope would be to bike north on 1st Ave up to Pike Street, turn right (east) to 6th Ave, then left (north) to Westlake, then right on 8th.
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You’ll need to be comfortable driving in traffic once you hit 1st Ave, but fortunately I never find the downtown too bad in the mornings. The evening rush hour is a different story though.
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I’d be happy to ride with you on your first trip if you’d like someone to point out the intricacies of navigating the route through construction and traffic. I’ve been bike commuting for 20 years and could tell you just about anything you need to know about getting around Seattle by bike.
Okay, nice start. Now keep building it South ’til you hit the Green River Trail!
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Heck, why not all the way to Portland? It’d make the STP safer and more enjoyable! ;)
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Mike
“Heck, why not all the way to Portland? It’d make the STP safer and more enjoyable!”
Of course mixed use trails are notoriously less safe than riding on the street. I’ll give it a shot this evening; I’m sure I’ll love the smooth pavement, but I’ll be under no delusions regarding improved safety.
(how do you do that quotey-thingy?…)
oooh, I like the quotey thing, too! Mike, share your blog-comment prowess with us mere mortals, please! :)
The new trail is nice, and I love the idea of extending it south however far you want to define south. Actually the one thing that confused me, though, was that the woman directing traffic at Atlantic (I think) (NB around 9:15am) said we had to hit the button and wait for the walk light before crossing. I guess it makes sense, but I would never have thought of it. Before yesterday I just crossed when directed or there was an opening.
RobertSeattle, funny, a nice protruding railroad track at a 45deg. angle perhaps? hee hee…
Thanks for the commuting advice and the generous offer! I will give it a try & let you know if I run into problems. Thanks!
JAT & Jill, Use the blockquote tags shown in the XHTML tag list.
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For this tutorial, I’ll use the [] brackets. Simply replace them with the pointy lesser than/greater than brackets for proper display of the quoted text, to turn this:
[blockquote cite=]Copy and paste desired quoted text here[/blockquote]
into this:
Copy and paste desired quoted text here
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Mike
Sorry, comment time is over.
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