The city of Seattle's Bicycle Master Plan includes an extension of the Burke Gilman Trail, scheduled to start this summer, and construction of several miles of bike lanes in Ballard during the next 10 years.

The completion of the popular trail, better access to the Ballard and Fremont bridges and improved east/west routes between Ballard and Fremont were identified by the community as the most critical bicycle facility issues in Ballard.

The city hopes the plan will increase all trip uses of bicycling in Seattle and improve the safety of riding a bike with traffic. The goal is to reduce the rate of bicycle crashes by one-third.

On a typical weekday, about 6,000 people commute by bike in Seattle, about three times the national average. The city expects to triple that number in the next 10 years, said Gregg Hirakawa, spokesperson for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Some of the first projects in the next two years include 53 miles of pavement markings to encourage cars and bikes to share the road, 37 miles of new bike lanes and two miles of trails.

Bicycle facility recommendations for the Ballard area include:

Sharrows (pavement arrows urging bikes and cars to share a road lane):

- East/west on Northwest 85th Street from 24th Northwest to 32nd Northwest.

- North/south on 32nd Northwest from 85th to 65th.

- East/west from 32nd Northwest 3rd Northwest.

Bicycle lanes:

- North/south on 24th Northwest from Northwest 85th to Northwest 57th and from 65th to Ballard Avenue on 20th Northwest.

- On 14th Northwest from Northwest 65th to the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

- Extensions of existing bike lanes on 8th and 3rd Avenues Northwest.

Climbing lanes (a five-foot bicycle lane on uphill side of the roadway and a shared lane pavement marking on the other side of the road; allows slower moving, uphill bicyclists their own space and motorists to pass more easily):

- On 32nd south of Northwest 65th and the north end of 3rd Avenue Northwest.

Shared roadways (typically low-traffic volume streets without any designated bicycle facilities):

- East/west from 32nd Avenue Northwest on Northwest 77th to Green Lake.

- East/west from Seaview Avenue Northwest on Northwest 57th Street to Greenwood Avenue North.

Bicycle boulevard (typically on non-arterial streets designed to allow consistent bicycle travel with traffic calming treatments like traffic circles and median islands):

- North/south on 17th Avenue Northwest from about Northwest 90th Street to the planned Burke Gilman Trail extension.

Road diets (where a four-lane street shrinks to two lanes plus a left-turn lane and bike lanes):

- This has been discussed for parts of 24th Avenue Northwest and is planned at Stone Way North.

New pavement markings and signs along these streets should help prevent cyclists from getting hit by car doors in the right-side parking lanes, said Hirakawa.

The city has earmarked $27 million for these projects and many others across the city from the $365 million, nine-year "Bridging the Gap" property-tax levy for transportation that voters approved last fall.

The bike plan calls for more than $240 million in projects, but most of them will be built from existing city road funds, when streets are repaved or widened, Hirakawa said.

Longtime rider and bicycle driver instructor David Smith criticized the city's plan as "one-dimensional," because it's based on false perceptions that segregated bike lanes are safer than riding with traffic.

The plan at least shows the city is taking cycling more seriously, he said, but it's mostly a "feel good solution" that ignores the alternative of training cyclists to ride with traffic to overcome their fears.

"The bike lane is a powerful symbol," Smith said. "It sends a message to bikers that they don't belong on the street. It's based on an idea that you can't get along with the other person."

The plan is designed to accommodate all types of bicyclists, from experienced to inexperienced, said Marybeth Turner with the department of transportation. It includes a range of facilities for those who prefer to ride in regular lanes with traffic and separate lanes for cyclists that feel safest on paths.

There are also still plenty of arterial streets that have no facilities planned where bicyclists can ride with traffic, she added.

Sunset Hill resident and bicycle commuter Kevin Carrabine, supports the plans' mix of bike lanes, shared roadways and sharrows.

For many novice bikers traveling in traffic lanes can cause great "trepidation," and segregated lanes "can make all the difference," he said.

"To a biker it says 'consider yourself safe - this is my space,'" Carrabine said. "I think people are saying, we have all these roads for cars but it has to be safe for me (bicyclists) too."

But Smith said the city should have first studied cyclists who ride with traffic and compare the results to cyclists who rely only on segregated facilities to see which is actually safest.

"I just see a gaping hole in the plan," he said. "What's missing is training."

Smith also disagrees with the city's "safety in numbers" notion that if more bicyclists are on the roadway motorists will learn to expect and avoid them.

"To me it's just a fantastic excuse," he said. "But that's what they are telling everyone."

Also, some industrial business owners have expressed concern about potential conflicts between bicycle and industrial traffic when bike lanes and trails are planned too closely to industrial businesses. Road diets on truck routes can slow down freight traffic, too, some say.

The planned extension of the Burke Gilman Trail through Ballard has been a contentious issue, especially the so-called missing link from the Ballard Bridge to the Ballard Locks. Business owners said bikers could be injured or killed by trucks and trains lumbering through the industrial corner of Ballard along Shilshole Avenue.

A $4 million extension of the trail from Northwest 60th Street to Golden Gardens Park is set to start this summer.

"We think everyone can live and work together with bike facilities and freight traffic," Hirakawa said.

To review the city's entire bike master plan, visit http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikemaster.htm.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com