improving lives through bicycling
5-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN p. 5-8
October 2016 / Vol. 47 No. 9
cascade.org
Let’s Go program launches in the Puget Sound region By Clarissa Allen, School-based Programs Manager
Lawton Elementary School students help Cascade Fleet Coordinator Stephen Rowley (right) unload the 30 new bikes for their school.
This school year, more Washington school children than ever before will have the chance to experience the joy of bicycling for three weeks in their physical education class. September 9 marked the launch of Cascade’s new in-school bicycle and pedestrian safety program, Let’s Go. The creation of this three-week, in-school
bike and pedestrian safety program for third through fifth graders was a collaborative effort between bicycle and pedestrian safety educators, transportation professionals, neighborhood safe street advocates, curriculum specialists, teachers, adapted physical education specialists and school administrators. Building on the success of Cascade’s previous in-school program, Basics of Bicycling, Let’s Go is a revised
curriculum that now incorporates pedestrian safety content and mapping to the new Washington state Physical Education standards. The program focuses on the skills and knowledge necessary to prevent the most common causes of collisions and errors of the upper-elementary age group as they navigate the built environment. As students learn to safely navigate as walkers and rollers, Let’s Go is an invitation for students to be healthy and active in their daily lives. Let’s Go is also a call to action, encouraging students to power themselves to their destinations and providing the foundation of skills and knowledge to walk and roll safely through the built environment and show respect for others. “I am excited to teach my students ways to independently travel around their neighborhoods safely,” said Shirley Briones, who teaches physical education at Cascadia Elementary School. “Having community partners like Cascade is extremely important to my job as a P.E. teacher to make my students’ lives better and their learning stronger.” So, just how big of a feat is it to serve this many students? It will take:
A win on Westlake PRSRT STD US Postage Paid Seattle, WA PERMIT No. 2172
By Kelsey Mesher, Puget Sound Policy Manager
Are you interested in supporting the Let’s Go program through delivery assistance or bicycle maintenance? Check out current opportunities at cascade.org/ volunteerportal.
Thanks to our sponsor
If you want to see more kids on bikes and safer streets for all, please consider returning a year-end gift in the enclosed envelope. Thanks for your support!
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
TIME DATED MATERIAL
7787 62nd Ave. NE Seattle, WA 98115 www.cascade.org
• 100 P.E. teachers committed to bringing Let’s Go to their students • 400 bicycles and helmets • 50 delivery days (moving bikes from school to school) • 300 volunteer hours dedicated to bike maintenance Volunteers play a huge role in Cascade’s successful implementation of this program, doing everything from bike maintenance to grading tests to helping deliver bikes to schools. Thank you to our volunteers — we couldn’t do this without you! In addition to offering Let’s Go in every Seattle Public Elementary School this year, Cascade will continue to serve many schools in the Highline, Edmonds and Lake Washington school districts, and hopes to expand the program into even more schools in 2017-18. The joy of bicycling is waiting... so Let’s Go!
With the Westlake protected bike lane officially open, people bicycling, walking and driving can enjoy their own dedicated space on the street.
More than 200 people came out on a sunny September afternoon to celebrate the official opening of the 1.2-mile Westlake protected bike lane in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. “It took 11 years, but it’s a better bike lane than the one I first
envisioned,” said Councilmember Mike O’Brian. Westlake used to be a chaotic mess. A typical bicycle ride on Westlake meant dodging cars backing up and turning into the parking lot, or navigating slowly on the narrow sidewalk weaving in and out of
groups of people walking. The protected bike lane is a dramatic improvement — for everyone who travels on Westlake. At the opening celebration, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray praised advocates, community members and businesses for finding common ground and coming together to build a new Westlake Avenue, resulting in an improved street for all users. “We built a cycle track,” said Mayor Murray, “but we also straightened things out for people walking and we straightened things out for people driving.” Though parties did collaborate, for people who bike, this vital new connection was hard fought. In the face of obstacles and attempts to Continued on page 2