Marr Spends Day With USDOT Transportation Director

Senator Chris Marr, a Spokane Democrat and vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, spent Monday with U.S. Department of Transportation Director Ray LaHood.

They met for a lunch briefing at the University of Washington and held a news conference to discuss the stimulus funding provided for transportation projects in Washington. They then took a ferry to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the federally funded Bremerton Tunnel.

Here's a video where Marr discusses the message he left with LaHood regarding transportation on our side of the state.

Bamboo-Made Cars Run On Coconut Bio-Diesel

Taking a trip to the Philippines anytime soon? Yeah, me neither. But if you ever do, be sure to check out the newest taxis there. Two new taxis, named Eco 1 and Eco 2, have hit the streets of a town called Tabontabon.

They're made almost entirely of bamboo and powered by coconut bio-diesel! Both are made of 90% bamboo and almost fully covered in banig, a Filipino woven mat. They're spacious too, one can carry up to 20 people and the other eight people.

They're stylish too, being decorated with a variety of colors and designs. But the real question is, how fuel efficient are they? The blog 'Green Diary' has the answer.

Mini Farmers Market Helps Woman With Transportation Needs

There is a lady I met through work who never ceases to amaze me. Jenny Hoff has Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Jenny can no longer walk, is in a powerchair, and will eventually lose the use of her arms as well. The amazing thing is that she stays connected to her community and even volunteers.

She recently took part in a walking audit of Monroe Street with us to tell us how the pedestrian facilities function for people in wheelchairs.

Jenny has a special powerchair accesible van that she 'inherited' when a friend (also with ALS) died. At first she told me it was a Godsend because it let her maintain her independence, but now it is eating her out of house and home for gas. She doesn't drive it very often, mostly she uses the STA paratransit service as it can get her pretty much anywhere she needs to go. She does need the van to get to church on Sundays though and to visit her parents in Airway Heights, and therefore needs money to put gas in it.

She's earning that money through a 'mini-farmer's market' she does in front of her house. She guarantees that her prices are less than anywhere else. Here's what she has right now:

Walla Walla Sweet Onions:
5# bags for $5.00
10# bags for $9.00
25# bags for $18.00

Birdhouses (very cute, made by a friend and painted by Jenny) from $15-$25

Freshly made fruit pies every Friday. They range from $7-$10 depending on their filling, including rhubarb, huckleberry, and Apple.

You can find Jenny at 10010 E. Empire in Millwood or call ahead at 979-1883 to reserve items. Here's a chance to buy local and see your money helping someone out.

It's Christmas In July

If you're catching a bus or train at the downtown Spokane Intermodal Center today, you may want to arrive early. It's packed down here today, due to the visit of the Disney 'A Christmas Carol Train.'

The SRTC offices are in the Intermodal Center so Jeff Selle and I took the opportunity to tour the train. I know, this is a stretch for the blog, but it's a train so I'm calling it transportation-related.

The train is touring the country to promote Disney's new version of the movie 'A Christmas Carol.' So, the place is overrun with parents and children clamoring to see the show and the parking lot is packed. Personally, I wasn't that impressed and it took forever to get through the train, but the fake feast that Jeff photographed me with was so real looking it made me hungry for turkey and gravy.

New Product Allows You To Carry Fishing Gear On Bikes

Wow, I'm finding all kinds of fun stuff today. So say you like to ride your bike. And you also like to fish. But how do you combine these two hobbies, when it's hard to haul your fishing gear on your bicycle? With the new 'Bike Fisherman,' of course! This product is produced by a local couple who rode the Centennial Trail last year and kept seeing good fishing holes. So they took to the drawing board and this is what they came up with. Happy fishing everyone.

Enhanced Licenses Clogging Licensing Offices

Apparently the new Washington state enhanced driver's license is so popular that the Department of Licensing announced new procedures yesterday to unclog the offices that issue them.

Drivers have been waiting for hours to get the license that doubles as ID for getting into Canada. Part of the hold-up is because drivers must show up for an in-person interview and bring documents that prove their identity, U.S. citizenship, and Washington state residency.

Here's more from the Spokesman-Review.

Bleeding Billboards Warn Drivers

Ryan in our office sent me this item after seeing the zombie post below. Apparently when it rains in some parts of New Zealand, it really pours... blood, that is.

It's part of a safety campaign to slow down reckless drivers during the rainy season when roads become slick and dangerous. 'It' is a series of billboards showing pictures of children. When it rains, blood oozes from the billboards. And it's apparently very effective. Since the billboards were put in place, there hasn't been a single fatal accident in the area.

Here's video and a media report.. and a warning that it's kind of creepy.

Meet The City Of Spokane's New Bike/Ped Coordinator

The City of Spokane's new Bike and Pedestrian Coordinator has been making the rounds of local government meetings since starting his new job a couple weeks ago. I met him at our June Transportation Technical Committee (TTC) meeting. For those who haven't had a chance to meet Mr. Wencel,
the Inlander has this interview with him in this week's edition.

Slow: Zombie Xing

I've heard of roads being closed for construction, accidents, block parties, and parades but this is a new one. Three blocks of North 35th Street in Seattle's Fremont District was closed to traffic Friday night so that drivers wouldn't have to worry about plowing into thousands of the undead as they took part in the largest zombie march ever.

The 'Red, White, and Dead' event was held in honor of the 4th of July, and to make a run at the Guinness World Record for having the most zombies in one place at one time. 5,000 'zombies' showed up, including my friend and her undead daughter, seen above.

Here's an article from the Ballard News-Tribune on the event.

Statewide Aviation Recommendations Released

After almost two years of deliberations, the Washington Aviation Planning Council has released its final statewide aviation recommendations.

The Aviation Planning Council was appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in 2007 as part of the Long-Term Air Transportation Study (LATS). The Council’s purpose was to use LATS Phases I and II technical findings, and include public input, to determine:

- How best to meet commercial and general aviation capacity needs.
- Which regions of the state are in need of improvement regarding the matching of existing, or projected, airport facilities and the long-range capacity needs at airports within the region expected to reach capacity before 2030.
- Recommendations regarding the placement of future commercial or general aviation facilities to meet the need for improved aviation planning in the region.

Some highlights of the Council’s findings include:

- No immediate capacity constraint exists at any airport in Washington State today.
- Future capacity constraints will exist within the time frame of this study (2030), primarily in the Puget Sound Region.
- Washington’s aviation system is threatened by encroachment from land uses that are incompatible with aviation operations, and existing land use laws are inadequate.

Here's where to click to read the entire report, which includes the full list of recommendations.

Happy 20th Centennial Trail, But There's Still Work To Be Done

Work started on the Centennial Trail twenty years ago. Yet two decades later there are still disconnected gaps in the trail. And there are some places along the trail that have safety issues. Friends of the Centennial Trail Executive Director Kaye Turner sat down with the Spokesman-Review recently to talk about the future of the trail. Here's that interview.

37th Ave. Project Starts Tuesday

Get ready south hill residents, because another construction project will be firing up in your area soon.

The project to rehabilitate 37th Ave. from Perry to Regal streets begins next Tuesday, July 7.

The project includes installation of new curbs and sidewalks from Crestline to Mt. Vernon streets and replacing water transmission and distribution mains. Drivers will be detoured to 29th Ave. to Grand Blvd. and then onto Hatch Rd. to 57th Ave. and then to Regal St.

The nearly $2 million project is being funded by the 10-Year Street Bond, Water Department, and Spokane Transit Authority.

Pedestrian Count Results Are In

Thanks to Margie Hall from the City of Spokane's Planning Department. She was kind enough to compile the results of a pedestrian count we worked on in June. Margie and I take part in a Non-Motorized Transportation group that includes reprentatives from STA, SRTC, City of Spokane, the Lands Council, the Spokane Regional Health District, the Bicycle Advisory Board, the Commute Trip Reduction program, and several others.

In early June we did a walking audit of Monroe Street from Ide Street to Boone Ave. to identify barriers to walking, bicyling and using wheelchairs. And we found a lot of them. So that got us wondering how many people actually walk and ride on Monroe Street. We did a pedestrian count a couple days later (and have more planned) and were surprised by how many people do:

Site: REI, Boone to Mallon
3:30-4:40 p.m.
# pedestrians: 83
# bicyclists: 14
# illegal pedestrian crossings: 22
# illegal bike crossings: 1

Site: Monroe and Ide (north end of bridge to Broadway)
4:45-5:20 p.m.
# pedestrians: 66
# bicyclists: 9
# illegal pedestrian crossings: 14
# illegal bike crossings: 2

Site: Monroe and Broadway
3:45-4:45 p.m.
# pedestrians: 151 (3 in motorized wheelchairs)
# bicyclists: 33
# illegal pedestrian crossing: 27
# legal pedestrian crossings: 83

Truck-Pedestrian Collision Leaves Woman With Life-Threatening Injuries

First Avenue in downtown Spokane is reduced to one lane while police investigate a truck-pedestrian accident this morning. Post is blocked from Sprague to Second avenues.

A female pedestrian was hit by a truck in a crosswalk about 7:30 a.m. Police say her injuries are life-threatening and the driver could be charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian.

A pickup was turning left from First Avenue onto Post Street on a green light when it hit the woman, who had a walk signal.

This scares me because it happens to me ALL THE TIME downtown. I try to cross the street right in front of our building, always with the walk signal, and nine times out of ten I get cussed out by people waiting to turn right. I always yell at them, 'I've got the walk signal!!' but they usually yell back. Anyone else experiencing this on a fairly regular basis in Spokane?

Fuse Release 'Sizzle' and 'Fizzle' Award Winners

Thanks to Paul Kropp for forwarding this item:

The Washington state-based online advocacy group 'Fuse' just released their 'Sizzle Awards,' identifying what state leaders are great, and who's second rate, when it comes to progress.

According to their website, Fuse 'works to provide a cutting edge online organizing and communications hub for Washington and 'is focused primarily on securing major advances in progressive public policy for Washington State.'

Timm Ormsby is listed among the winners as a recipient of the 'Mother Jones' award but Mary Margaret Haugen and Judi Clibborn were given the not-so-prestigious 'Wrong Way' award and Governor Gregoire claimed the 'Pushmi-Pullyu' award.

You can check out more winners and losers, and what each award means, here.

Then let us know if you agree or disagree, or what awards you would give out given the chance.

Spokane County's Five Mile Project Starts Monday

For those of you who drive Five Mile Road, things are about to slow down even more. The County's reconstruction of 5 Mile and Strong Road starts on Monday, July 6.

Five Mile Road will be reconstructed from Berridae Road south to Strong, and Strong Road will be reconstructed from Rustle Road east to Five Mile.

Both streets will be open to local traffic only.

Bridge Projects Could Slow You Down

Spokane County's Engineering and Roads Department wants to alert you to two bridge projects that could increase your travel time this summer.

The Elder Road Bridge maintenance project has closed Elder Road from State Route 27 to Campbell Road until approximately August 15th. The east end of the bridge has experienced some settling. The project will restore the bridge and approach roadway to its original condition.

The Rutter Parkway Bridge will be closed beginning Monday, July 6 until about August 31. Drivers should plan to use alternate routes. The project will rehabilitate the concrete deck and overlay slab with concrete.

Council Okays Fish Lake Trail Stimulus Money

The Spokane City Council on Monday night voted to accept federal stimulus money for the Fish Lake Trail, meaning construction can now move forward.

The council voted unanimously to move ahead with the $1.7 million second phase of the project, which will connect a previously paved section to the start of the route in West Spokane. Here's the story.

Bike Commuting While Pregnant- Safe Or Risky?

Most people who know me know I'm pretty squeamish about pregnancy, so here's a topic I never expected to discuss on this blog: should pregnant women continue to bike commute? My first reaction was no, they should be hidden away out of the site of the non-pregnant public. I have to admit that's not fair though. This thread on the 'Bike Commute Tips Blog' by author Paul Dorn says bicycle commuting can be a particularly healthy activity for expectant mothers, even up to the week before giving birth.

He emphasizes that pregnancy is definetely a time when women need to use caution in their physical exertion, but says bicycling is among the best exercise a woman can choose because of it's smooth motion and it doesn't require lifting or jumping, and you can choose your level of exertion.

So read the article and let me know if you, your spouse, or a friend commuted by bike while pregnant.

Holiday Closures, Schedule Changes, Etc.

Because the Independence Day holiday falls on a Saturday this year, we've got some schedule changes in the works this week. Most government offices will be closed on Friday, July 3. Here's a roundup of what's going on:

- SRTC will be closed on Friday, July 3. We'll reopen at 8 a.m. on Monday, July 6.

- Most Washington State Department of Transportation construction work will be suspended by noon on Thursday, July 2 in anticipation of increased holiday traffic. Interstate 90 west of Spokane near the Cheney/Four Lakes Interchange will be reduced to one lane in each direction for a bridge deck repair. Interstate 90 just east of Downtown Spokane may have grooved pavement and abrupt lane edges.

- Spokane City Hall will be closed on Friday, July 3.

- Downtown Spokane parking meters don’t have to be plugged both Friday and Saturday, July 3 and 4.

- The Spokane City Council meeting for Monday, July 6, has been cancelled because of a lack of a quorum.

- Spokane County offices will be closed on Friday, July 3rd. The Spokane County Courthouse, Public Safety Building and Veterans Services will also be closed.