Redmond and Bellevue, long synonymous with sprawling parking lots and endless highways, vertical spines of suburban hoity toity tasteless strip malls, are finally trying to shake off their addiction to the automobile. The new projects around 152nd Avenue NE, 156th Cycle Track, and Overlake Village Infrastructure are touted as the next big thing in making the area “livable”—because clearly, we’ve all been loving those car-infested corridors so much that it took decades to realize something was off. Here’s a look at the “ambitious” plans to reclaim some humanity from the asphalt wilderness.
152nd Avenue NE Main Street: The Quest for a Pedestrian’s Paradise in Car-Land
The 152nd Avenue NE Main Street project aims to turn a once soul-crushing stretch of road into something “pedestrian-friendly.” Imagine that: walking down a street where you’re not just waiting for a crosswalk signal like it’s an act of divine mercy. This project will roll out wider sidewalks, because, surprise, people do actually walk, and protected bike lanes, because it turns out bikes aren’t just a relic of the past. In addition, they intend to put in place an actual street grid like a real city!
The city planners are throwing in some landscaping and public art—likely to distract us from the decades of prioritizing cars over community. And yes, we’ll get street lighting that’s more than just the sad, dim bulbs that currently light up the vast emptiness of parking lots. It’s a bold move to try and inject some vibrancy into a street where, up until now, “scenic” meant looking at the back of someone’s SUV.
156th Cycle Track: Because Cyclists Deserve Better than Dodging Cars
For the brave souls who dare to bike in a city built for cars, the 156th Cycle Track is the beacon of hope we’ve been waiting for—or at least, it’s supposed to be. This project is designed to give cyclists a protected road of their own in this segment, so they no longer have to rely on sheer willpower and the kindness of strangers motoring around in their cages to avoid becoming roadkill.
The cycle track will connect the SR 520 Trail to Overlake Village, finally giving cyclists a direct route that doesn’t involve navigating a gauntlet of speeding vehicles and poorly timed traffic lights. It’s almost like the city realized that people might choose bikes over cars if they didn’t fear for their lives. What a concept.
Overlake Village Infrastructure Planning: Patching Up the Auto-Dependent Mess
And then there’s the Overlake Village Infrastructure Planning—an initiative that sounds like it’s about fixing the glaring oversights of a car-centric past. This grand plan includes stormwater management (because, who knew, we need to deal with rain too), better transit access (since our existing bus stops on the side of highways aren’t exactly welcoming), and—wait for it—parks and green spaces. Because after all that asphalt, we could use a little green, right?
This plan is also about encouraging “transit-oriented development,” which is urban planner speak for “we messed up by spreading everything too far apart.” They’re now trying to fix it by building closer to transit hubs, a move that might finally give some residents the option to not drive everywhere—because clearly, parking lots as the centerpiece of community life didn’t turn out so well.
The Grim Reality: A Half-Hearted Attempt to Undo the Car-Centric Damage
These projects, despite their promises, can’t quite hide the fact that they’re desperately trying to undo decades of car-centric planning. The efforts to add pedestrian paths, bike lanes, and transit-oriented development feel a bit like putting a band-aid on a gaping gunshot wound, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
If you’re in the area, why not check out these efforts to bring some life back into the auto-dependent wasteland that we’ve built? Take a walk down 152nd Avenue, if you dare, or brave the cycle track. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see the day when Redmond and Bellevue aren’t defined by their endless stretches of road, but by the vibrant, connected communities they’re trying so hard to become—one sidewalk and active transport corridor at a time!
Here are the key links to the projects mentioned in the blog post:
Riding the bus into Seattle for a day of coding via coffee shop. As always, via the 545 the seats that face inward give the stability needed to be able to type and code. However it’s still wretchedly difficult and the light rail can’t open soon enough.
On one of the turns leaving downtown Redmond, someone had used the overhead baggage areas on the bus, and a piece of luggage was about to plummet to the ground. I moved swiftly (which to others on the bus seemd like I was aggressively going after something) and pushed it back onto the luggage rack an densured it was placed correctly. It managed to wiggle around and almost fall again a few moments later because of the jarring movements of the bus, but this time someone else nearby saved it, having noticed after my rapid movements to stop it falling, was keeping an eye on it.
Meanwhile the person who put it up there hadn’t even noticed. People’s situational awareness for the loss. People are far too often a walking catastrophe and I’m amazed as many of us make it through each day that do.
As we pull into the Microsoft stop at 40th another odd occurrence. A guy with a face tattoo, which is always an immediate threat risk just walks on disregarding the driver. I’m all for people tattooing whatever the hell they want to but seriously, face tattoos point to some serious trauma and issues at this point in time. It’s not a mere “art piece” or some such, it’s an advertisement of being broken by something and trying to spite others around you.
Then we get rolling and the driver rolls up to a solid 75+ mph with the bus. A speed that is somewhat reckless on 520 and I’m not real sure how its possible with these buses. They’re not exactly setup for 75mph travel. After having already nearly thrown some passengers to the ground with his hard breaking and related driving behaviors this was concerning. It also made it even more difficult to get any work done or stay focused.
We’ve got the driver going speed crazy, tattoo threat guy skulking in the back seat, elderly folks holding their pain points from the hard braking and bumpiness, and I just want to be able to type up the rest of this post and make it to my destination. As we approach the mid-highway stops I’m fully expecting burning brakes as we go barreling into the stops.
This is, to say the least, disconcerting.
We make it into the first stop, and sure enough, one can smell the heated brake dust. IYKYK
We pull out, throttle planted in the floor with the bus – I’ll just call it twerking – from the throttle being planted. So between the two highway stops the driver manages to get up to speed again very rapidly, clearing around 65mph+. A little less shaky and sketch than 75mph but bothersome none the less. Around 50-55mph is about the top speed these bendy buses can take without becoming and utter shaky annoyance.
Anyway, as we have survived so far barreling across the 520 bridge I started to wrap this post up with a simple, “light rail can’t start soon enough, this bus ride quality sucks in comparison by a significant order of magnitude.”
But then… we blazed into the turn, we had a skip on the ramp that goes 520 to I-5 south and almost had a failure to maintain control incident. We made it though, and the driver did a superb job getting through traffic and to the first stop in downtown Seattle.
All went well and a few stops in we pulled under the Monorail as the 545 always does. I stepped off the bus and got a wiff. It was a wiff of delight and flavor I’d not smelled among the streets in a long time. You see, Seattle never really has food smells, usually other human smells which are not delightful in any way. On the better days you get the fragrance of the sea, which is nice for some folks. But today, this was different. It was seasonings and spice and everything nice. It couldn’t be though I presumed I must be dreaming or delusional or the fentanyl from some dying soul had affected me.
But no, no I was correct, after getting my chain back on I mounted my pannier on my bike and looked toward Westlake Square. Sure enough, NOLA dogs before me, I marched on immediately for some food! I strolled right up and ordered. Immediately I had to comment about NOLA and smelling andouille the moment I got of the bus being one of the most delightful entrances to Seattle in years! The proprietor and I chuckled at this fact and commenced to talk about crawfish boils, the horrors of Seattle’s food, and mitigating such things with our own home grown home cooked deliciousness.
First diversion of topic pondering!
Ok, so have you noticed Seattle has “squares” and all but they’re rarely squares? For example, Pioneer Square, but it’s a triangle within the intersection and confluence of several streets. Westlake Square, but it’s also a partial rectangle + triangle shaped park that is effectively a giant concrete and stone surfaced space in the middle of the city. Nothing real park like or square about it. There are numerous spaces like this throughout Seattle and I do get it, but we should just change the names to be more fitting.
Second diversion of topic pondering!
The violent shaking of the 545 inbound was so bad, for the first time ever, a bus had done – technically at least – damage to my bike! It had knocked the chain off of the bike because of the violent shaking! I was impressed, and would have been highly pissed, except that I could re-rail it back onto the derailer and crank easily. But it could have easily snagged or caught on something and been ripped from or damaged beyond repair. There is zero need for this type of driving, but in spite of any need, it does seem that more and more the express buses do get driven like someone is going to a fire. The recent brakes giving out (or whatever happened) on the 545 that caused it to crash into a building in downtown Seattle is a prime example of this. It’s not a good look for Sound Transit, and it’s not a good look for the drivers. It’s also not a good look for the passengers who are being thrown around like rag dolls.
But I digress, ponderings over and my NOLA Dog was ready! Absolutely delicious, if ya see those available in downtown under the tent, get ya one, they’re great!
After trading details and an invite to a proper crawfish boil, I made my way down to Zeitgeist for my first bout of coding and email reading for the day. I arrived and sat outside while the line quelled itself and pondered a bit more.
After the stint at Zeitgeist I embarked on a ride from there to Starbucks Reserve shop at their HQ. I realized two things:
The HQ is parallel, perfectly parallel, heading south via the Link Light Rail. Win!
The HQ also has a kind of, almost, not sure if it is designated as such – greenway that runs perfectly in front of the HQ.
The ride from Zeitgeist by the arenas (stadiums?) and down 1st was mostly pleasant even with the industrial feel. 1st avenue, unlike the trail that runs parallel to the light rail, has no tents or heroin ODs occurring. Mostly it’s just folks going to and from the HQ plus general business. I’m sure the city has focused on this specifically to some degree, because up on 2nd or 3rd or whatever the busway is called, is just kind of nasty at points. Not dangerous, just a bit nasty. But I digress, onwards.
After the visit to Starbucks Research @ the HQ I headed down to the waterfront to check out progress on all of that. I found one things extremely hilarious, auto traffic is so bad you can just walk among or bike among the cars and beat them from point to point. If you’re driving, just avoid – entirely – the waterfront. There is zero reason to go there unless you’re driving to the ferry. But if you’re trying to go anywhere in the city, the waterfront isn’t going to speed you up by any measure.
After riding a big pseudo loop through all of that I head back toward Pioneer Square area to board a 550 bus out of the city and back toward the east side. My plan was to take the 550 and transfer at south station to the Link on the east side. That way, I could minimize bus usage.
It paid off. The bus ride on the 550 was quick, albeit kind of insane but not as ridiculous as the 545 earlier in the morning. Transferred as planned and boarded the light rail.
The Horrors of the “Motorcycle E-Bike Things”
Ok, so these beasts are popping up all over the place now. Basically mini-bikes but people think, because they’re electric vs. gas powered they can just magically use them wherever and on whatever trails. These go like ~40 mph (or faster in some cases) and happen to have pedals but are anything *but* a bike or e-assist e-bike. It’s kind of insane, and the disregard, negligence, and recklessness of riding these in pedestrianized areas is tantamount to blazing down the same with a motorbike or worse, a car. The dissonance that some folks find in their mind that this ok to do is beyond me, and when the police all of a sudden find the requests for policing these increasing to unavoidable levels, they’re gonna be cracking down left and right.
But in the meantime, they’re a risk factor in most places they’re meandering about, especially where they’re specifically detailed to NOT meander about. I hate saying that, because I’m a fan of pretty much anything that gets folks out of cars, but the behavior surrounding these is the problem.
I am all for alt travel and massively reducing car dependency. But holy burnt hot dog on a stick these are going to just cause a massive diversion of effort from that when they start killing some folks with em’. Just one giant utter face palm of disgrace.
Ok, but so far on goes life. None of these shits with the dissonance of reason and logic have run into me yet. I made it all the way back to Redmond and after some very light editing, have no posted this glorious log of my trip to Seattle today.
Cheers! May your cycling be rewarding, awesome, and your transit riding and elimination of auto-dependency be as rewarding – or more so – than it has for me! 🤘🏻
Recently I was out running errands on my R & M Load 75. I’d stopped by my storage unit to drop off a few crates of things that didn’t need to be sitting around my garage. Then I’d headed over to Village Square Cafe for a diner like breakfast.
Then went about seeing if I could find a plugin somewhere to charge my bike, as my charge was low. I had my spare battery set just for good measure, but I was down to ~35% because I’d forgotten to charge the bike earlier the previous night. So I didn’t technically need a charge but I figured it would be nice to charge up if I could. Albeit, something I’m astutely aware of now, is that there are next to zero publicly accessible outlets in Redmond. Not really surprising, electricity isn’t cheap, but I was sure I’d seen a few I could *borrow* a charge from. 😬
In the end, that would be kind of stealing, but places also let you easily charge your laptop, albeit that’s negligible vs. two monster bike batteries. Still not charging an excessive multi-ton car, but substantially more than I presume most places to want to offer for free.
Anyway, I didn’t find one but I did go rolling into the Town Center and met Nina (Spelling?) as she walked right up to me and inquired about the R&M Load 75. After discussing for a few minutes I hope to see her riding about on a new Load 75 in the near future with her kiddo! It’d be great to have more company over here on the east side in the bakfiets community!
On that note, I’m going to finally get around to setting up a bakfiets meet here on the east side, stay tuned over @ https://bakfiets.bike/ to get that notification (i.e. subscribe for email and you’ll get notified in your inbox). So far this year has started off a bit nuts and with the closure of G&O a few months ago it really threw me off for starting the bakfiets meets!
Eastside Link Light Rail
One of the places I’ve started frequenting to work in, as it’s nice and large, plenty of seats, is the Dote at Redmond Technology Station. Two issues, which is kind of standard for Microsoft, is that they get places like this on campus but then don’t really truly open them up to the public. They don’t offer a public wifi but sometimes have the public Microsoft account that you can use. But that’s a bit sketch, to which hopefully Microsoft sorts that out with the private businesses that they invite onto campus to operate but then make them operate as pseudo private establishments. A coffee shop in this modern era has wifi, so come on Microsoft, let em’ have truly public usable wifi!
But I digress, wifi aside, it’s a really interesting location. Super chill to work there, however I am concerned it stays open over time considering the current state of light rail opening (it’s partially open).
The starter line, as it has been dubbed, runs from Redmond Technology Station to Bellevue South. The key population center it runs through is Bellevue, which provides some anchor to a degree, albeit very few people seem ready to use it in Bellevue and as many in the area know, Bellevue is about as auto-dependent and pedestrian friendly as a parking lot. There are parts of it that are nice but overall it isn’t really acclimate to walking or to using transit, sadly enough. It’ll get there one day, considering the transit center and routes, but overall the people here are a bit myopic about the whole situation – so far.
That’s it for today’s thoughts, back into introspection.
I’ve given myself another transit and biking mission in addition to the upcoming posts on the Pittsburgh “Record Recon” missions. Find and recon the record stores in the Seattle “metro” area (obviously right, because I live here!). That includes a lot of territory and I’ll break down with maps and logistics where each of these record stores are and in the coming weeks I’ll be producing a series of videos on each of these shops.
The “Eastside” of the Seattle “Metro”. (Click for larger viewable map)
Now if you’re more interested in just reading about my music collections, reactions to new music, reviews, and all that then check out Vicious Shred. Between that blog and this blog, I try to segment my music specific things from my transit, transportation, and traveling adventures. With that said let’s roll on the record recon!
The Eastside (Seattle “Metro Area”)
Bellevue, Redmond, and the east side in general. This includes the area in the giant pink area. One could generally say “the area between the two major lakes of the area and the wooded northwestern lands of Redmond and Woodinville”. Not that a lot of that area is relevant because the east side simply does NOT have many record stores. However, there are a few, as you can see, which we’ll dive into.
The three record stores (garages?) on the “Eastside”. (Click for larger viewable map)
If we zoom in on the available record stores for the east side they’re all in two places, one is in north Bellevue and the others are in the Totem Lake area. There are only two efficient ways to get to these two area: 1 drive to either of them or 2 bike to either of the locations. Neither are walkable without multiple hours of free time to get to and from them unless you’re located directly inside of these specific areas. Fortunately in *these* suburbs I’ve got some excellent bike route options to get to both locations.
The second option, “Frank’s Garage” is literally Frank’s garage located in a suburban single family home off of any commercial corridor. This is super cool, but also I’ve noted that Frank’s “store hours” are only 1-5pm on Sunday. So that might have to get nixed if I can’t make this trip on a Sunday.
A key bike route is along the Cross Kirkland Corridor, which perfectly maps to nearby locations of all three of the record stores! This means that I theoretically could visit each of the record stores in one trip, efficiently stringing them all together in one voyage! Note that time, I’m going to set myself some specific challenges for this voyage:
Ensure the trip time is less than 1 hour and 18 minutes. Think I can accomplish that? I’m pretty confident I can beat that.
Check out both “Vortex Movies & Music” and “Silver Platters“, and for this first voyage to Eastside record stores I’m going to skip Frank’s since I can’t make a Sunday trip.
With that, this I’ll dub “Mission 1: Seattle Metro Eastside Record Stores Voyage“. But with the Eastside locations covered, let’s move on to the *actual* Seattle record stores.
Seattle (The actual *city*)
18 Record Shops – That come back in a maps query. There could be more, and if I zoom in…
My first observation, is that there are none in West Seattle, which seems really odd. I’m finding it hard to believe there isn’t a record store over there, as I’m 100% positive that Easy Street Records & Cafe is over there. Which, I’ll get over there for a full review in the coming weeks as it is easily one of the best record shops in the country let alone Seattle.
I’ve done a secondary query and there is indeed multiple record shops that don’t show up in the above, with the addition of Easy Street Records & Cafe showing up in a query of just West Seattle. Then I did another deeper zoomed map query of University District and sure enough, several additional record shops showed up: Neptune Music, Hi Fi Lo Fi, and Al’s Music, Video, & Games in addition to the two shown on the map above.
This is going to be multiple missions compared to the Eastside, as there is no single route that would travel through all of the record stores as there are just too many of them. But with a bit of study and logistical prowess I’ve attained from years of cycling all over Seattle, I’ve got a few plans following a few strategies.
With those extra queries, the 18 record stores in the map turn into 22 stores in Seattle proper! Clearly, if you’re into vinyl and live in Seattle you’d never have to leave the city, it appears Seattle has record store coverage almost everywhere! With 18 stores I’m going to guess I can maybe drop into 3-6 stores per trip, but it could very well be just 2 or more depending on which ones I’m aiming for. Based on routes and clusters of record stores here is the first two that I’ve deemed a priority.
Mission 2
Mission 2 record reconnaissance will be into the University District of Seattle with a goal to visit 4 stores: Neptune Music, Hi Fi Lo Fi, Seattle Records and Innervisions Posters, and Al’s Music, Video, & Games. There is another store that has theoretically opened at 6215 Roosevelt Way NE called Satisfaction Records & CDs that I’ll roll into this mission. It was in Ballard, but as I searched through the characteristics of that mission I had to back track and add it to this mission! Thus, it’s very likely this will be a recon mission with 5 stores!
Mission 3
Mission 3 record reconnaissance will be into a trio of neighborhood areas: Wallingford, Fremont, and Ballard. This is extremely familiar territory since not long ago I lived in Ballard and also long ago I lived in Ballard. This reconnaissance run will be the hardest to date at this point with 6 record stores to visit! Will resources be enough? Will time be available? Will the store open hours be enough? It could be tricky but I think I can pull off 6 stores in one trip!
Overall, this mission holds a special place in my heart and mind as it’s in old stomping grounds of 2022 and before! In many ways I do miss Ballard and wish we could have stayed in the neighborhood but alas, to the east we went. But just before we left, one of the old well known record stores closed, which this trip will be a hats off homage to the long years of service of said store – if you know you know. But either way, this trip is gonna be fun to record and fun to log the visits afterwards.
Mission 4
Mission 4 is going to be intense, and I might have to split it in two considering the 9 record stores to recon! I like to spend at minimum 15 minutes checking them out which would put just the time in store at 135 minutes minimum, but likely will be more if even one of. the stores has a great selection that I need to recon more intensely. My personal estimate with that many stores, it would add at least 3 hours or more to the entire recon mission just based on in store time.
Mission 5
This mission will include a nice trip, albeit long at 3 hours and 7 minutes, it’ll be beautiful ride and an absolute shit ride. This recon trip includes three record stores. One being the Silver Platters SODO location should be pretty good. Then followed with what I understand (and know) to be two of the coolest parts of the city with two a respective awesome record store in each neighborhood.
Tacoma (Not Seattle, but I had to include it!)
Mission 6
Mission 6 could be so intense from a trip distance, I might just need to interject a train into the mix! After all, trains leave from downtown Seattle and go straight into Tacoma, which would make this trip exponentially easier! But when the mission is on the calendar I’ll narrow it down and confirm the logistics.
Mission 7
Seattle “Metro Area” North is a string areas north of Seattle and south of Everett. I’d go into detail but it’s unnecessarily complicated. Suffice it to say, this trip is going to be long at a suggested 2 hours and 9 minutes, with a significant amount of the trip via trails, amazing. There is still about 15-25% that is on roadway “bike infrastructure” which, in this area, translates to shitty car sewer stroads. But I’ll make due, this is going to be a very interesting recon trip. It’ll also be really interesting if the record stores will validate the trip effort! Hopefully there is a jackpot or two to find among the two.
The other thing that isn’t immediately noticeable in this trip is how much of the trip is actually dedicated trails! There are of course some roadways but significant portion of the trip is extensive trail routes! I’m really looking forward to that aspect of the trip.
Mission 8
In mission 8 the route is about 50% trail and 50% car sewers so that is going to be a bit of a challenge. Either or though, at some point I intend to complete this mission! These two stores seem fascinating and could be interesting collections unto themselves.
☑️ Mission 1: Seattle Metro Eastside Record Stores Record Recon
I asked a few things, and Chat GPT had some interesting answers.
Question “What are some good foods to bring on the bus when commuting?“
GPT Answer “When choosing foods to bring on the bus while commuting, it’s important to consider how the food will hold up during your trip. Here are some good options:
Portable, non-perishable snacks like trail mix, granola bars, or dried fruit
A sandwich or wrap made with hearty bread or a tortilla to prevent it from getting soggy
Fresh fruits or vegetables that are easy to eat and won’t make a mess, such as apples, carrots, or cherry tomatoes
Single-serving packages of crackers or chips
Bottled water or a reusable water bottle
It’s also a good idea to avoid foods that are messy, smelly, or likely to spoil quickly, as they may not be well-received by your fellow passengers.”
Question “On cold weather days, with ice and snow, what are considerations to take into account when taking the bus?“
GPT Answer “When taking the bus in cold weather, there are a few important things to consider to stay safe and comfortable:
Dress in layers to stay warm. Wear a base layer of moisture-wicking fabric to keep your skin dry, a middle layer for insulation, and a outer layer that is wind- and water-resistant.
Wear warm socks, gloves, and a hat to protect your extremities from the cold.
Keep your phone, keys, and other important items in a bag or pocket that is easy to access while wearing gloves.
Watch for ice and snow on the ground, and take extra care when walking to and from the bus stop.
Be prepared for delays, as inclement weather can sometimes cause buses to run behind schedule.
If you’re feeling cold on the bus, try to move to a seat near the front where the heat may be stronger.”
Question “Why are light rail transit options superior to bus transit options?“
GPT Answers “Light rail transit (LRT) is generally considered to be superior to bus transit for a few reasons. First, LRT vehicles are larger and can carry more passengers, which can make them more efficient for transporting large numbers of people. Second, LRT systems are typically more reliable and have a fixed route, which can make them more convenient for passengers. Third, LRT systems are often more energy-efficient and have lower operating costs than bus systems. Finally, LRT systems can have a positive impact on the surrounding community, as they can encourage transit-oriented development and help to reduce traffic congestion.”
Question “Why are bus transit options superior to light rail transit options?“
GPT Answer “While light rail transit (LRT) has many benefits, there are also some situations where bus transit may be superior. One advantage of buses is that they are more flexible and can easily be rerouted to serve changing travel patterns or unexpected events. Buses are also generally less expensive to implement and operate than LRT systems, which can make them a more cost-effective option for some communities. Additionally, buses can access areas that may be difficult for LRT vehicles to reach, such as narrow streets or steep hills. Finally, buses are often more accessible than LRT systems, as they can be equipped with ramps or lifts for passengers who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids.”
Our entire transit questions and arguments will be replaced by the machines in the very near future!
Transit Sleuth 