In Seattle, the notorious Nickerson Way appears to be on the way to becoming safer — and a “complete street.” Council member Tom Rasmussen, head of the City Council’s Transportation Committee, is said by The Seattle Times to be giving the Nickerson “road diet” a green light after previously suffering “indigestion” over the project. Apparently the Cascade Bicycle Club’s campaign to send “Tums for Tom” helped ease the cycling Council member’s innards.
The cycling community, catalyzed by Rasmussen’s ambivalence, showed that the mobilization efforts it put together to help elect cycling Mayor Mike McGinn weren’t a fluke. Several of us leafletted (we distributed more than 500 leaflets at various businesses, to commuting cyclists, and at the weekend Green Festival in the downtown convention center), sent mass emails, contacted Council and legislative representatives and otherwise contributed what we could to getting information out about the project.
Cyclists were joined by a number of sustainability and streets coalitions. The campaign was a great example of grass roots activism coming together for a worthy cause.
We weren’t able to be at the Council committee meeting, but Josh Cohen of Publicola was. So was the Queen Anne View.