Category Archives: Permanent Change

by Bill Gobie

Union Hill Road in Redmond is closed from July 31 to August 27, 2017 for replacement of a culvert. The closure is squarely in the middle of the climb between 238th Ave NE and 208th Ave NE. You can detour on NE Redmond-Fall City Rd (WA-202) or NE Novelty Hill Rd.

Map of the closure: http://gismaps.kingcounty.gov/mycommute/default.aspx?clid=915

Routes which may be affected include:

by Bill Gobie

Every year two summer festivals close roads or trails in Seattle. Please keep these in mind when planning rides.

• The Seafair hydroplane races close a section of Lake Washington Blvd at Genesee Park in late July or early August, typically Friday through Sunday. This year the dates are August 4-6.
• The I-90 floating bridge closes during the Seafair air shows.
• Hempfest closes the bike trail in Myrtle Edwards park for several days in August. This year the dates are August 18-20. Setup and teardown may obstruct the trail for several days on either side of the event.

Other towns have summer festivals which include street closures or parades. For example, Covington Days July 15 & 16 this year.

by Bill Gobie

The Tolt Hill Rd Bridge over the Snoqualmie River is closed indefinitely. This bridge is southwest of Carnation. Many of our permanent routes cross it en route to Snoqualmie River Rd. The King County website for the bridge closure is here.

Fortunately for bicyclists, it is easy to detour across the nearby suspension footbridge in Tolt-McDonald Park. Please walk your bike across the bridge — besides being narrow, the bridge sways and bobs as people move on it.

To reach the footbridge when riding south in Carnation, turn left on NE 40th St.

When riding north on W Snoqualmie River Rd, continue straight across Tolt Hill Rd. Go around the gate to enter the park.

Eastbound on Tolt Hill Rd, turn left opposite W River Rd. Go around the gate to enter the park.

Ride with GPS map.

by Bill Gobie

Summer is coming and what does that mean? Road repair!

When planning to ride a permanent you should consult the relevant counties’ road conditions website. Regardless of closures you have to reach all the controls. You might want to ride a different route than you had in mind, or perhaps with some planning you will be able to map a reasonable detour. Links for King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Thurston Counties are listed on SIR’s Detours page at http://permanents.seattlerando.org/p/known-current-detours.html.

You can often find road closures on Google Maps by turning on the Traffic layer. Closures on secondary roads do not become visible until you have zoomed in several steps.

Some prominent restrictions and closures in King County affect:

• Issaquah-Fall City Road: Single-lane traffic at various locations for repaving. During June 12-21 a portion of the road will be closed to all traffic for culvert replacement. (Thanks to Gary Prince for alerting me.)
  
• May Valley Road: A segment is currently closed through June 16.

by Bill Gobie

1801 Club Car Populaire

2596 Luck O’ the Drawbridges

The first portion of the UW Arboretum Trail opened in the last week of March. The trail parallels Lake Washington Blvd from E Madison St to Arboretum Drive. The two permanents listed above have been moved onto the trail. Southbound in particular, the trail allows riders to avoid the steep climb to E Madison St on Lake Washington Blvd. This location often carries heavy car traffic.

Currently the south end of the trail near E Madison St is not safely connected to Madison or Lake Washington Blvd. The maps below illustrate ways to access the trail. (Note the trail is not mapped yet in Google Maps.)

Accessing the trail when northbound on Lake Washington Blvd is relatively easy. Immediately after crossing E Madison St take the “soft right” onto 31st Ave E. Then turn left onto the trail. Be cautious of cars making the free right from Madison.

Southbound is a little more complicated. Turning left from 31st Ave E onto Lake Washington Blvd is difficult because of the free right from Madison and often heavy traffic on Lake Washington Blvd. The following method has been tested and works well:

From the trail cross 31st Ave E and go left through the gas station. Go to the farthest driveway. Turn right on E Madison St. To go south on Lake Washington Blvd immediately get into the left turn lane.

by Bill Gobie

[This is a new series of posts called Permanent Change which will describe significant changes to a permanent route. The first post in the series is about the popular, and reversible, route connecting Seattle, Olympia and Portland.]

0918 Seattle to Portland (reversible)

1124 Olympia to Portland (reversible)

The new route in Portland finishes near many places to control, eat and drink.

These permanent routes recently received a makeover at the Portland end. Susan Otcenas pointed out the old routes had several drawbacks: The numerous railroad crossings on NW Front Ave, and the unappealing atmosphere and lack of services at the terminus, Union Station (Amtrak). Susan suggested moving the terminus to somewhere in the Pearl District.

Portland’s Pearl District is infested with trolley tracks and confounded by one-way streets, making bicycle routing challenging, particularly remotely from Seattle! With input from Theo Roffe, the terminus has been moved to the Safeway at NW Lovejoy St & NW 13th Ave. Within one block of the Safeway there are several coffee shops, restaurants, and a brewpub, providing choices for riders wishing to take advantage of the open control. The Amtrak station is an easy 0.8 km from the Safeway on trolley-free streets. The route sheets are supplemented with directions to the station.

Also with Theo’s advice, a route to Highway 30 was laid out that avoids streets with parallel trolley tracks.

James Walsh rode revised the Portland to Olympia route in January 2017 and pronounced it great!
Theo rode the Seattle to Portland route in February 2017, so both directions have been checked.