Yacht company throws kink in South Lake Union bike lane project

Months of work on protected bike lanes in Westlake came to a screeching halt when a Seattle yacht company filed a lawsuit against the city.

Nautical Landing filed a lawsuit June 16 in King County Superior Court, alleging the city did not complete a needed environmental review for 1.2 miles of bike lanes in city-owned parking lots.

“The [Notice of Action] has prejudiced [Nautical Landing] by avoiding any [environmental review] for the 1.2 mile long Cycle Track,” the lawsuit states.

That could put the Westlake Avenue Cycle Track Project on hold until things can be worked through. The project calls for just over a mile of bike lanes that would help connect South Lake Union neighborhoods and the Fremont Bridge. The proposed design calls for bike lanes to be placed between the sidewalk and parking lots.

“Nautical Landings’ lawsuit brings delay to this much-needed project,” a press release from the Cascade Bicycle Club states. “With over a million trips across the Fremont Bridge in 2014, people who bike want a safe, flat route into and out of downtown. Whether it’s someone biking to work or a parent and child riding bikes, they will continue to face the danger and chaos of the Westlake parking lot until the protected bike lane is built.”

The project would reduce the amount of parking available along the stretch of Westlake. Parking and traffic patterns will be reconfigured, eliminating 15 to 20 percent of existing parking on the east side of the road, the lawsuit alleges.

“The [bike lanes] will create unsafe conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists, and commercial business traffic,” the lawsuit states.

Construction is set to begin near the end of 2015. However, the lawsuit may push plans back. A trial date has been set for June 2016.

The project has an available budget of $3.6 million, according to the city. Funding includes a $1.7 million Puget Sound Regional Council grant, local funds, and bonds. Along with removal and replacement of asphalt for 1.2 miles, new storm water drainage facilities will be built, new lighting added, and landscaping replaced.

“Nautical Landings’ lawsuit puts grant funding for this project at risk, delays the hard work of the DAC at achieving compromise and delays necessary safety improvements for the thousands of people who want to safely bike downtown,” according to the Cascade Bicycle Club.

The lawsuit follows three public meetings, 11 Design Advisory Committee meetings, five community and parking “roundtables” and “dozens” of community briefings, according to the city.