r/seattlebike • u/godogs2018 • 10d ago

Cars can’t go on a scenic Seattle roadway this weekend. Could that become permanent?

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/seattle-bicycle-weekends-expands-as-the-city-slows-lakeside-traffic/
93 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

47

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

From the article:

Yousef Shulman is the fourth generation in his family to own Leschi Market ... “It’s a huge deterrent. I get phone calls from customers. They apologize they can’t make it to us,” Shulman said. “If you add 10 minutes to somebody’s drive, they’re not going to come to you.” ... Besides, he said, bicyclists already use Lake Washington Boulevard, safely and in numbers. “There’s droves of them in packs,” he said.

I sure like that market, but those statements are infuriating. There is plenty of evidence that walkable streets increase revenue for local businesses, and yet he repeats that car-brained nonsense.

And if he thinks it is "safe" to ride there, then he hasn't ridden there. I know from experience that entitled and impatient motorists "punish pass" bicycles for the sin of existing. "Taking the lane" is the only option on much of that route.

24

u/cnmb 10d ago

people on bikes go to stores too.. there's this strange conception that cyclists aren't people who just do the same tasks as people who walk or drive. also, is this guy really getting calls from people saying they can't make it to his market because of a 10 min delay?

9

u/sochok 10d ago

Guarantee he’s not. That’s incredibly disappointing since I use to frequent this market (always on foot) and can guarantee the few parking spots available in front of this business are at most a fraction of their customers. The first time I visited this market was on a bike as well, so kudos to the owner for alienating the community.

14

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

is this guy really getting calls from people saying they can't make it to his market because of a 10 min delay?

I doubt it. And if he is, it is probably two bitter old people who take the time to call a retail store to complain. Meanwhile, the store is packed with shoppers who arrived on foot or on bikes.

4

u/sdevoid 10d ago

I was wondering this too. Does the market take standing orders from customers for pick-up? And since this is not close to the closed sections of LWB, are those drivers just incapable of taking a different street?

1

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

They probably expect to dominate every street at every time, even though they didn't pay for the streets. This is the entitled "roads are for cars" mentality.

19

u/bvdzag 10d ago

This guy would make so much money if bicycle weekends went as far north as his business haha. If there’s one thing both parents teaching their kids to bike and the road warriors getting their miles in both want, it’s a place with snacks and drinks on a hot day.

3

u/BrokeGuy808 10d ago

Least entitled small business owner 😐

They’re all about supporting “the community” until it threatens their bottom line. At the end of the day you are nothing but a customer to them.

2

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

This guy is also the great grandchild of the people who built the business. He didn't earn the job on merit. Car-dependency is deeply ingrained in our culture. It is easier to believe what seems to be true than to make the effort to find the truth. And those phone calls just confirm his bias.

Still, I like the store.

4

u/Z6LG32 10d ago

I would be surprised if any of his customers drive more than 10 minutes to get to his market.

1

u/zedquatro 7d ago

I've been "punish passed" on LWB for driving only 3-4 over the speed limit. It's pretty funny to speed up just as they're starting to do it when they have a narrow window to the next incoming car, so you force them to get back behind you. I was quite glad there was a steady stream of cars coming the other way after that, as he didn't get another chance and instead rode my bumper which made me slow down even more.

111

u/vaticRite 10d ago

I love how the Seattle Times is publicly crashing out over a tiny fraction of Seattle’s scenic roadways that are inaccessible to drivers for a small fraction of the time meanwhile every parking lot along that stretch is still open and and accessible to every driver.

Motornormativity is a such a fragile and teetering ideology.

39

u/thunderflies 10d ago

The whole city is for cars! Why can’t bikes have this one thing?

36

u/splanks 10d ago

the argument against bicycle weekends and just anti bike arguments in general are so fucking embarrassing.

-13

u/sdvneuro 10d ago

There are legit arguments against bike weekends wherein closing a couple miles for a few weekends doesn’t do much for making biking safer in the city. The whole “drive your car to these parking lots in order to ride your bike on a few miles of road on a few days” doesn’t really do it for me.

17

u/Suitable-Rhubarb2712 10d ago

The point of bicycle weekends is not to make biking in the city safer, it's to open a park to everyone outside of a car

-9

u/sdvneuro 10d ago

Which is useless when there isn’t a safe way to get there in the first place.

4

u/splanks 10d ago

no one is on "this makes biking safer for the whole city" side of the argument. but it certainly safer on LWB.

0

u/sdvneuro 10d ago

You seem to have missed how our city officials talk about the event.

1

u/splanks 10d ago edited 10d ago

i guess I haven't if that’s the argument.

-13

u/sea-kc 10d ago

How is ST crashing out? The article isn't an opinion piece, it's giving perspectives of all sides, and does so very thoroughly.

19

u/bopdadop 10d ago

There's been a handful of articles recently all trying to sensationalize what should be a pretty minor change in the grand scheme of things. Based on prior community outreach there's overwhelming support that exists for this, but in trying to be "balanced" the articles have lended outsized support to a small vocal cadre of car brains that recycle every tired, worn out argument to continue prioritizing cars above all else. So it seems a lot more controversial then it really is.

9

u/vaticRite 10d ago

Name one time the ST came out in support of taking space AWAY from drivers for people on bikes. I’ll also take taking space away from drivers for transit.

4

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

I agree. And they mentioned the fact that even when it is "closed," it in not completely off limits to cars:

And Wilson noted that, as always, local access is allowed and the boulevard’s beaches and parking lots will remain open.

39

u/redbirdRS 10d ago

Yes Please

26

u/Spa_5_Fitness_Camp 10d ago

You what's better than a scenic roadway? A scenic walking/bike bath that can actually be enjoyed.

14

u/Z6LG32 10d ago

Cancelling the planned improvements to Lake Washington Boulevard Park was the factor that changed my vote from the previous mayor to Mayor Wilson.

8

u/bvdzag 10d ago

Many people are saying.

5

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

I agree. That was a shitty thing for him to do. He gathered public input, the city made the plan, they started to implement the plan, and he unilaterally cancelled it, without even showing the citizens the respect of explaining himself. The citizens explained how they felt about that type of selfish authoritarian behavior in the election.

4

u/Mundane-Charge-1900 9d ago

There was no need to explain. His wealthy lake front property owner neighbors didn’t like it.

4

u/BoringBob84 9d ago

Exactly. The explanation couldn't stand the light of day (i.e., abusing power for personal gain at the expense of the public), so he didn't give it.

19

u/gonegirly444 10d ago

Please. Ban cars

6

u/Suitable-Rhubarb2712 10d ago

It's fun to see the author of the piece suggest a less sensationalist headline on social media: https://bsky.app/profile/nickdeshais.bsky.social/post/3mmhfp2vihs2v

4

u/Z6LG32 10d ago

The Seattle times front web page "Don't Miss" shows the caption to the photo is "Cars can't go on a scenic Seattle roadway this weekend. Could that become permanent?" The actual article is titled "Seattle Bicycle Weekends expands as the city slows lakeside traffic."

3

u/eithnegomez 10d ago

I hate paywalls

6

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

I hate paywalls, but I hate crappy, click-bait, low-quality free "journalism" even more.

1

u/zedquatro 7d ago

Seattle times is 3 of the 4, why would I pay for that?

1

u/BoringBob84 7d ago

I think that it is much higher quality journalism than what we can get for free. I want news stories from reporters who actually conduct interviews and who do research into the facts. I want opinion that is well-reasoned and that challenges what I believe. If it doesn't make me uncomfortable sometimes, then I am in an echo chamber.

1

u/ilikeonionsandolives 10d ago

anytime i see these articles i always think of those stickers around town to the effect of “hate sharing roads with bikes? you’re pro bike lane!”

these people are allies and they don’t even know it!

1

u/BigDeliciousSeaCow 10d ago

Betteridge's law of headlines