PHOTOS: Emerald City Ride crosses westbound West Seattle Bridge, circles peninsula

7:17 AM: That’s a screenshot from a few minutes ago as the SDOT traffic camera at the crest of the West Seattle Bridge showed the first bicyclists crossing the bridge on the Emerald City Ride. Between now and 9 am, the riders, who started near the stadiums and are accessing the bridge via southbound 99, will head over the westbound bridge and onto Harbor Avenue to continue the ride around West Seattle. The ride is on the westbound lanes only; eastbound remains open to motorized traffic. After riding around Alki and down to Fauntleroy, they’ll head back through eastern West Seattle and via the regular path on the low bridge. (Here are ride details sent to riders.) Updates to come.

7:27 AM: That’s from our photographer along Harbor Avenue, as the post-bridge riders head north/west along the West Seattle waterfront.

(added) And some video:

Meantime, the SDOT camera at 1st/Dearborn just showed another wave heading onto the short closed stretch of southbound 99, which closes to riders at 8 am.

This is a ride, not a race, so departures are going in waves.

7:46 AM: Still crossing. Noticed a recumbent rider too.

Thanks to Debra Salazar Herbst for this view of riders on Alki Avenue:

8:10 AM: This is the first Emerald City Ride since 2019; previous rides have included other iconic roadways such as the Alaskan Way Viaduct pre-demolition. The riders, meanwhile, are down to a trickle; SDOT has turned the high-bridge camera to look eastward:

Unrelated to the ride, a car has stalled/broken down on the low bridge (thanks to Rose for the word on that) so access to the westbound low bridge is backed up.

8:27 AM: Watching the live camera pointed north/west on the high bridge again. A few stragglers are still crossing.

That was as of a few minutes ago. Now they’re picking up the cones, so it looks like the bridge part of the course has cleared.

8:35 AM: Down on the low bridge, some riders are headed back to the SODO start/finish line, via the regular path:

8:45 AM: Haven’t seen cars on the high bridge yet (15 minutes remain until the official preannounced “no more bridge access” cutoff).

8:51 AM: High bridge now reopened to motorized vehicles. We’ll check with Cascade later to see what the final registration total was for the ride.

ADDED 5:24 PM: Thanks to Allyne Armitage for rider’s-eye-view photos:

Darius May 5, 2024 (8:05 am)

Looks like fun! What a neat event

Pelicans May 5, 2024 (8:09 am)

Huge amount of riders. Riding slow enough to hold conversations. Wind is coming up strong from the southwest. They’ve been rounding Alki Point for at least 30 minutes and still coming. Any estimate on how many participants? Hope the rain holds off until they’re done. Lovely northwest day for ducks and a ride!

WSB May 5, 2024 (8:59 am)

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They were hoping for 2,000, with a cap at 4,000, but I didn’t get a chance to ask on Friday where they were at after registration closed Thursday. Expecting to add that on Monday unless they mention it somewhere before then.
- Kathy May 5, 2024 (3:51 pm)
  
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  I saw someone with 4104 on their bib. But I didn’t see any in the 3000’s. Might have been a fluke/out of sequence. At the start they announced it would be 3000 riders. I was 107. Fun ride, thank you weather for cooperating.
Anita L Elder May 5, 2024 (4:09 pm)

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Nearly 3,000 is what I heard at Cascade.

Kt May 5, 2024 (8:17 am)

Please be careful if you are driving from Lincoln Park to Westwood. Cyclists are ignoring stop the sign by Endolyne Joe’s and taking up the whole lane heading very slowly east up the steep hill on Barto. Very dangerous situation.

JustSarah May 5, 2024 (9:06 am)

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You’re right, it sounds dangerous for them since so many drivers seem to think they have full rights to the road, and to mow down anyone in their way.
- Reema R May 5, 2024 (6:07 pm)
  
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  😂😂😂 this response makes my day!
Colby May 5, 2024 (9:16 am)

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Cyclist are allowed yield at stop signs. In large pack rides such as this, it’s more dangerous for riders to come to a full stop.

I was surprised to see no traffic control at the ferry. When we road by, it was just letting out.

Also, very appreciative to the vehicles that yielded and left space for us riders going up Barton.
- Kt May 5, 2024 (11:46 am)
  
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  The Safety Stop allows people biking to legally treat stop signs as yield signs when no other traffic is approaching and when they have slowed to a reasonable speed. Cars were present at all four stopsigns and the cyclists just blew on by. Was very unsafe.
M May 5, 2024 (9:23 am)

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Cyclists can treat stop signs as yields versus ignoring stop signs. Law went into effect several years ago allowing cyclists to treat stop signs as yields. Still need to check for cars and only go through if safe to do so.
- Ross May 5, 2024 (12:15 pm)
  
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  That has to be one of the goofiest rule changes.. seems very unsafe.
  - Colby May 5, 2024 (5:38 pm)
    
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    It’s more unsafe on a bicycle to be stopped and having a vehicle misjudge their speed/stopping and end up rear-ending the bicycle. https://sdotblog.seattle.gov/2020/09/30/washington-states-new-bicycle-safety-stop-law-allows-people-biking-to-treat-stops-signs-as-yield-signs-with-some-exceptions/#research
max34 May 7, 2024 (9:47 am)

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I was a rider. There were police and others at all major intersections making sure everyone was being safe. If there wasn’t one at EndoJoes then i agree there should have been, because there would be a worse pile up as everyone has to get their momentum back to continue up the hill. The route was generally closed to car traffic on the one-way route around WSEA (vehicles could move in the opposite direction). This kind of group ride is a bit of inconvenience for drivers for sure, but i didn’t notice anyone being aggressive on 2 or 4 wheels.

KBear May 5, 2024 (9:38 am)

Cyclists are still required to stop if other traffic is already at the intersection, just as cars would at a yield sign.

bill May 5, 2024 (11:07 am)

Ha ha, I’m in one of the pictures! Echoing what Colby said, the most dangerous part of mass rides like this is when riders bunch together at stops. If riders are flowing through an intersection the safest thing is to continue. Traffic control at 45th and the ferry would be a good idea, however. Bel Gatto missed the boat, they should have had a sandwich board on the corner.

Alkistu May 5, 2024 (11:09 am)

This traffic is a typical transportation day in Holland. Love seeing this kind of healthy, clean and quiet transport even on a cold and rainy day. Could be a daily thing..??

Apples to Oranges May 5, 2024 (2:13 pm)

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Sure. Move to Holland. But our topography is different, our culture is different (war on cars aside), and our infrastructure is entirely different. It’s great to see this day of recreation, but changes to how we commute and live aren’t happening anytime soon. And, hills are gonna hill..
- bill May 5, 2024 (4:54 pm)
  
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  Holland had the same infrastructure as ours decades ago but as a nation decided the death toll and carnage from cars was unacceptable. Plus being a tiny country it was obvious earlier than here that paving everything for cars was not going to work long term. Changes could happen here, and quickly.
- bill May 5, 2024 (5:34 pm)
  
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  PS. Some 3000 riders just proved hills don’t matter, so can we be done with the “hills” canard. There was probably similar moaning in the Netherlands about the wind off the North Sea.
  - Another One May 6, 2024 (2:45 pm)
    
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    I was pushed over sideways by a gust of North Sea wind in Holland once!
- cwit May 6, 2024 (10:38 am)
  
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  You lost me at ‘war on cars.’
Anita May 5, 2024 (4:19 pm)

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I wish! Did you see the Seattle Times article where they criticized the short shut down of the bridge for a couple of hours? Yet, they seem to be fine with the Montlake Bridge being open almost all day yesterday for the boats (causing backed-up traffic everywhere)!
- bill May 6, 2024 (1:54 pm)
  
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  The absurd Seattle Times editorial prompted me to sign up for the ride. Notice there is no coverage in today’s paper. Here, I’ve updated the Times’ mission statement, free of charge: “We are steadfast in our commitment to ignore stories that might embarrass our editorial board.” https://company.seattletimes.com/who-we-are/
- max34 May 7, 2024 (10:07 am)
  
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  Just canceled my Times subscription after reading that op-ed. What an incredibly bad take, and i’m not one of those tite short wearing ultra cyclists, but I do ride/commute in from WSEA to downtown whenever i can. All those bike lanes ARE used, every day. Just because folks don’t see a steady stream of riders at all hours when they happen to notice a lane exists doesnt mean otherwise. I’ll never understand why people who chose, or have to drive more often than not vs other modes are not in favor of doing whatever is possible to provide alternatives that would nominally help their travels. You cannot build your way out of congestions when it comes to more lanes. You can see that everyday in every major city that tries.
Anne May 5, 2024 (4:41 pm)

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Great turnout-but on a daily basis-no. Seattle is not Holland & theres no way the bridge would be shut down on a daily basis to facilitate this.
- Tae May 6, 2024 (9:16 am)
  
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  This was not a daily ride or suggested to be a daily ride so no expectations to shut the bridge down daily.
- Kathy May 6, 2024 (3:16 pm)
  
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  All the more reason why the West Seattle Bridge should have been designed to include bike lanes. It’s a terrible design that encourages bad driver behavior and frequent crashes.
Rhonda May 5, 2024 (5:25 pm)

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Holland is flat 🚴

Admiral-2009 May 5, 2024 (5:20 pm)

Ross many rider’s are clipped in or use toe clips that makes coming to a full stop undesirable especially in upgrade situations. Regaining momentum, balance and working to get your feet into the toe clips after a complete stop in upgrade situations in particular can be challenging for many riders.

KBear May 5, 2024 (6:21 pm)

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If it’s too hard to obey traffic laws while wearing toe clips, maybe skip the toe clips.
hj May 5, 2024 (8:30 pm)

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Been riding with clips for 25 years, both traditional clips and cleats, and never had a problem unclipping when necessary. It’s not an excuse.

interview with Seattle driver May 6, 2024 (5:10 am)

Q: What would you pay to improve traffic by getting half these cars off the roads?
A: Oh I’d pay anything.
Q: How about letting cyclists use the roads?
A: Never mind.