Mayor’s proposed budget shows strong support for bicycling -- action needed

Mayor Mike McGinn delivered his 2013-2014 Proposed Budget on Monday afternoon, which includes necessary support for bicycling.

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Photo courtesy of Seattle Mayor’s Office

Highlights in the budget include:

- critical funding for required planning to help complete the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman trail;

- an extra $1,256,000 over two years to plan and build neighborhood greenways that make it safe for our kids to walk and bike to school;

- funds to build a protected bikeway cycletrack along a segment of 7th Ave downtown and plan for an extension of the route;

- $150,000 to create a plan for world-class bikeways downtown;

- a study to examine building a bicycle-pedestrian-transit bridge across the Ship Canal between Ballard and Fremont; and

- $10 million over two years to repave city streets, making them safer for everyone.

These are exactly the kind of investments we need to make if we want Seattle to become a city where everyone has the freedom to safely bike to get where they need to go because our city is connected with a world-class network of bikeways.

Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the City Council will protect funding for these critical investments as they make their budget decisions over the next month.  And as we know, if we don’t make the necessary investments, Seattle will never become the city we know it should be.

But you can help!  Tell the City Council to protect bicycling in the budget.

If you prefer to tell the Council in person to protect funding for bicycling, please attend the City Council budget hearings on Thursday,  Oct. 4, and Thursday, Oct. 25. These hearings will take place at 5:30 p.m. (sign up at 5 p.m.) in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 600 4th Ave.