‘Tactical urbanism’ led to bike lanes, crosswalks on dangerous Bellingham street
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Residents used tactical urbanism to prompt city action on traffic safety fixes.
- Bellingham installed crosswalks and bike lanes after 2023 community advocacy.
- City survey shows 30% uptick in walking and biking after lane additions.
One weekend three years ago, Columbia neighbors stopped traffic and drew crosswalks in multi-colored colored chalk, marking them with flower pots and traffic cones — a guerrilla effort to protect people walking and biking along Eldridge Avenue.
A city of Bellingham Public Works crew removed the cones and scrubbed away the chalk.
Undeterred, the neighbors did it again. Then they appealed to the City Council for quick action to slow traffic on a stretch of road that was the scene of frequent speeding and several DUI crashes, including one that severed the legs of a gardener.
On Saturday, neighbors celebrated at a nearby park, toasting the city’s acceptance of a permanent traffic solution that includes bike lanes and crosswalks with flashing lights.
Jamin Agosti of Walk and Roll Bellingham said the project was success because it encouraged more people to walk and ride their bikes along Eldridge Avenue, a street that sees 6,800 cars and trucks daily passing through on their way to and from downtown.
“Cities where people can safely walk and bike and get around with dignity outside of a car are healthy, vibrant and equitable places,” Agosti told about 30 neighbors at Carl Lobe Park.
City surveys show there was a 30% increase in both pedestrian and bicycle use after the bike lanes and crosswalks were installed in 2023, even though drivers routinely go faster than the 25 mph speed limit. Nearly half go more than 30 mph.
Agosti said the project was a “tiny little boring nibble” at car dependency, but it paid off.
“It’s a few lines of paint, it’s some flex posts, it’s some concrete, it’s some flashing lights that came out of a box. But for the parent who wants to take their kid safely around town, for someone with disabilities who just wants to be able to cross the street, for the person who thought it was nice out today and wanted to bike to work and realized that the flex posts make them feel safer and now they bike to work every day — for those people, it’s a really transformative project,” he said.
Bike lanes for Eldridge Avenue were on the city’s list of future projects, but resident Beth Hartsoch said neighbors used “tactical urbanism” to goose the project ahead.
“Let’s just build that crosswalk. If the city is not gonna act, let’s take action ourselves,” Hartsoch told about 30 neighbors and city officials.
City Council members are expected to vote June 23 on whether to make the crosswalks and bike lanes permanent, according to the project information page on Engage Bellingham.
To add the bike lanes in 2023, the city removed street parking along both sides of Eldridge Avenue from Broadway Street to Nequalicum Avenue.
Not everyone was happy about that.
Several Eldridge Avenue residents told the council on Oct. 24, 2024, that they have little or no off-street parking and they feared that delivery drivers, service technicians and visitors would have no place to park.
“Change is hard, and I feel like that’s one of the biggest obstacles that we face as policy-makers,” City Council member Hannah Stone, whose Ward 1 includes the Columbia neighborhood, told those in attendance. “Sort of, ‘Omigosh I don’t know what that would be like if I can’t park in front of my house, how I would navigate life?’”
On Saturday, those who drove to the event found more than adequate parking on side streets.
