John’s Ramblings

I see a lot of entries on the local bike boards, websites, and newspapers about municipalities not addressing the needs of cyclists. This is a story that runs contrary to that theme.

I live on a hill, the western edge of the Kent/Auburn valley formed by glacial action and the Green River. The Green River and Interurban Trails lie in this valley, as are many of my local cycling destinations and routes. Getting from the hill to the valley is a bit of a dicey proposition: There are only so many options for getting up and down the hill when cycling. The nearest hill is frequented by many cyclists because of it’s location, and the fact that it’s not as steep as some of the other options. The drawback to this route is that there is zero shoulder on this two-lane road, and the twists and turns make it hard to see cyclists from an automobile.

I fired off an email last week to the roads department of King County, asking what it would take to get bicycle warning signs posted at the top and bottom of this twisty stretch of hill. My expectation was that I’d get no response, or that I’d be presented with a bureaucratic process for getting signage added that would require traffic counts, an environmental impact study, act of congress, or divine intervention.

Instead, I got a phone call yesterday from a very nice woman from King County. She had apparently already gone and looked at the roadway in question, had picked the locations for the signs at the bottom and top of the hill, and had ordered same to be installed in the next two weeks.

This is my third such response from the County. I used the same email to report a pothole forming on the same hill, and I’ve also emailed the animal control department regarding roadkill on the very same climb, both inquiries were met with immediate response!

So I guess the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t assume that the local agencies won’t respond. Take action!

Road Maintenance Issues in Unincorporated King County

Road Kill/King County Animal Services

Kudos to King County for being so responsive to my inquiries regarding the roads in my little part of unincorporated King County. Now if the municipalities within the County could only be as responsive to the needs of cyclists…

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.