Koslov Hammers, Goldstein Floats over Mud Mountain in Enumclaw

Bicycle Route Network Project
Or How to Connect 84 Cities in Four Counties
By Taryn
Fagerness
Bicycle Paper
Intern
Local bicyclists are spinning a
web - a web of bicycle routes that
will connect 84 cities in four
counties for a total of 1,516 miles
to become what Dennis Neuzil,
project chair with Cascade Bicycle
Club (Cascade), calls a “bicycle
interstate.” This ambitious project began
November 2001, led by Cascade in association
with other central Puget Sound bicycle organizations.
The project not only maps routes to
seamlessly connect the cities of King, Kitsap,
Pierce, and Snohomish counties, but emphasizes
road improvement and identifies needs
like bike lanes, wider curb lanes and paved
shoulders. The project seeks to enable bicycliing
and create a sustainable environment for all
travelers. While still in the first stages Cascade
hopes to bring the network to an “interim or
better level of improvement by 2010,” says
Neuzil.
The Regional Bicycle Route System strives to
use “the minimal number of routes to connect
the most places,” explains Neuzil. “This is the
route you’ll take to get somewhere directly.” The
routes were identified with the help of extensive
field reconnaissance studies conducted by
Cascade, and city’s and local volunteers’
recommendations. According to Mark Keller, a
volunteer with the Regional Route System, the
project also tries “to use established facilities
and tie existing plans together.” Route criteria
include continuity, connectivity, safety, distance,
minimizing hills and attractiveness. The current
map is only a proposal. Cascade is still working
to fine-tune the routes, and the map is not yet
intended as a guide, but rather a concept.
To create this concept Neuzil started with the
largest on the list of the area’s 84 cities and
began working down, talking with communities,
and transportation agencies, checking their
response to a bicycle system and collecting
ideas for routes. Michael Ingram, city of
Bellevue Associate Planner, supports the
Regional Route Project. “The routes largely
correspond with our plans,” claims Ingram.
Jennifer Shiu, Urban Planner for the city of
Tacoma also found the Regional Route proposal
largely coincides with the city’s existing plans.
“It’s a great project,” says Shiu. “We’ll most likely
include the recommendations in our nonmotorized
plan.” And this is what Cascade
hopes for - cities that already have bicycle plans
4 Bicycle Paper June 2003
with which the Regional Route Project can meld.
“We’re still missing some cities; it’s not the most
important thing in a lot of communities,”
acknowledges Neuzil, “but we hope to bring it to
a higher level of importance.”
Part of creating a safe and efficient bicycling
system is improvement of existing roads, and
the Regional Route Project identifies what
Cascade calls High-Priority Improvement Needs
(HPIN). “We’re not only drawing lines on a map,
but we’re looking at what are the really serious
deficient locations that need to be concentrated
on. We’re trying to flag those locations,” explains
Neuzil. The current draft of the Regional Route
System designates 402 miles as HPIN. Neuzil
hopes transportation agencies will incorporate
these needs into their transportation plans. Most
transportation plans stretch over 20-30 years,
but bicycle groups are determined to have the
system in place with at least interim improvements
in 10 years.
Funding for this project is as varied as the
cities and counties involved. Depending on the
location and nature of the improvements, money
could come from city funds, Washington
Department of Transportation or a number of
other organizations involved with transportation,
such as port districts and transit agencies. One
thing Neuzil is certain of: “Bikes must take their
place in the public funding scheme.”
Thus far Cascade is not seeking any endorsement
of the Regional Route Project, Keller
explains. That will be the next big step. “We
need to outreach to decision makers, get them
to say ‘yes,’ we want to do this,’” says Keller.
For now the Cascade Bicycle Club and other
bicycle organizations such as the Tacoma
Wheelman, BIKES, Edmonds Bicycle Group
and the Kent Bicycle Advisory Board, are
introducing the Regional Bicycle Route System
idea and continuing to gain feedback from
interested groups. The 25 Regional Route
committee members also help spread the word.
“Every chance I get I pull out my map and
lobby,” enthuses Neuzil. Volunteer advocates
are needed to help encourage the many entities
involved with the Regional Bicycle Route
Project.
For more information or to participate in this
effort contact project chair Dennis Neuzil at 425-
455-1419, dennisneuzil@foxinternet.com or the
Cascade Bicycle Club at 206-522-3222,
info@cascade.org, www.cascade.org.
FEATURE
PLEASE NOTE:
This map includes route links that need
bicycle facility improvements as well as
those which are currently adequate for
bicycling, i.e., the map depicts a route
network concept and is not intended as a
navigation aid.