2005 State of Mobility Report - City of Bellevue

CHAPTER 11: Bicycle System
Bicycle System Completion
Downtown bike rack by Transit Center
Map 11-B illustrates the overall status of the
Bellevue bicycle system by route type, including
the 2005 projects from Table 11-A that completed
or improved a segment of a planned bicycle route.
11-C. Bicycle Route Classification
Route Type
Primary Routes
Secondary routes
Tertiary routes
Description
Provide connections
between major activity
centers and provide
corridors for moving eastwest
and north-south across
the city. Key considerations:
directness and moderate
grades.
Useful for bicycle movement
and provide alternative
routes between destinations.
Generally more local in
nature; they provide access
to neighborhoods or offer
through routes that are
more circuitous or involve
more grades than primary
and secondary routes.
The Comprehensive Plan encourages designation
of “minimal energy paths,” defined as the route
between two given points requiring the least
amount of energy for a bicyclist to traverse (See
Comprehensive Plan policy TR-79). Route type
classifications used by the City are based on this
concept and consider factors such as directness of
the connection and changes in topography along
the bicycle route. Table 11-C describes the three
bicycle route types: primary, secondary, and tertiary.
The Ped/Bike Plan calls for the completed bicycle
system to be 819,394 linear feet — approximately 155
miles of bicycle facilities throughout Bellevue. In
2005, projects added 79,493 feet (about 12 miles) of
bicycle facilities, bringing the completed system to 37
percent (303,056 feet or 57.4 miles) of the total plan.
The Comprehensive Plan establishes system
completion targets for each of the Mobility
Management Areas in the City (except for
Overlake, Factoria, and Newport Hills). Table 11-D
summarizes how the projects in Table 11-A added
to the system in each MMA and compares progress
toward the associated targets as of December 2005
versus the completion status as of December 2002.
Expectations For The Future
Substantial work is needed to enhance the bicycle
system and to best define its measurement because
the bicycle system is the least complete part of the
planned transportation system as shown by Table
11-D. During 2006-2007, the following efforts will
be completed:
• Wayfinding projects, especially those in
Downtown and along SR 520 and I-90
• A Ped/Bike Plan update to include a review of
the bicycle system, evaluation of Bicycle Level of
Service, and new targets for system completion
to be proposed during the next Comprehensive
Plan Update.
2005 State of Mobility Report Chapter 11 85