Missing Link debate still lingers, appeal hearing on Friday

Meghan Walker Ballard

Despite plans to break ground in early 2019, there’s still a chance the Burke-Gilman Missing Link could be blocked by a group of Ballard businesses.

The hearing will be on Friday, Dec. 7 at the King County Courthouse (516 3rd Ave) from 9 to 10am. The Cascade Bicycle Club will be defending the appeal, which is being brought by the Ballard Coalition.

In January, the city ruled in favor of a Shilshole Ave NW trail alignment, which is at odds with what the Coalition wants. They say their Leary Ave alignment proposal is much safer — away from the industrial traffic along Shilshole, and with fewer lost parking spots.

“This route, compared to the City’s proposal, provides connections to major biking ‘arterials’, 8th Ave NW and 24th Ave NW, will be part of an area-wide system of bike routes and neighborhood greenways, and provides a safe, separated bike trail,” the Coalition explains on their website about their proposed alternative.

The city’s planned alignment calls for the trail to run from the Ballard Locks along the south side of NW 54th St and NW Market St to 24th Ave NW, where it turns onto Shilshole Ave NW. It would then travel along the south side of Shilshole Ave NW to NW 45th St, and then down the south side of NW 45th St to 11th Ave NW.

From the Cascade Bicycle Club’s announcement of the hearing:

You know the story. The community has fought hard to complete the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail for decades. Now, on December 7th, Cascade and the Seattle City Attorney are defending an appeal from a few Ballard businesses seeking to block to completion of the Burke Gilman “Missing Link.”

The public hearing is scheduled to start at 9am in Courtroom W-1060.

127 thoughts to “Missing Link debate still lingers, appeal hearing on Friday”

        1. No hobos on the trial this morning, or yesterday morning, or any morning of the past few decades.

          Not that you would know as that requires leaving your mother’s basement.

        2. No hobos on the trial this morning, or yesterday morning, or any morning of the past few decades.

          Not that you would know as that requires leaving your mother’s basement.

  2. I REALLY hope Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel goes out of business.

    They’ve obstructed this waay too long. You can only keep the city hostage for 25 years apparently.

    Just leave already and take your stupid trucks with you

      1. Hey look out Brett you’re gonna upset all the Barney Rubbles and Fred Flintstones who spend all day at the rock quarry so developers can have materials to build condos only the affluent can afford. It’s a real working class town, Ballard.

      3. Dave — The path won’t interrupt the company at all. In Vancouver, BC on Granville Island (not really an island anymore, and in the middle of the city) there is an 80 year old cement company. They operate exactly like Salmon Bay – where material is brought in on barge, and cement trucks leave by road. Vancouver’s busiest bike path intersects the only road in and out of Granville.

        Will the trucks have to stop sometimes because there is a jogger or a bicyclist — yes. Every single time? not likely. How long would a cement truck have to wait? Maybe 1 full minute.

        How would adding 1 minute to even 50% of the cement truck runs — put Salmon Bay out of business?

        I also know from first hand experience that adding a path will in no way change their insurance rate. If they start hitting mom’s with jogger strollers once a year, sure. Otherwise, this is a change to a public street. Not at all a change to SBSG’s property, or a change to the vehicles they insure.

        About a decade ago, this stopped being about what the actual effects the trail project would have, and moved into a old working ballard vs new seattle fight, when in reality it just won’t be a big deal once it’s done — except that it will be safer.

    2. And where will they get the concrete from for your aPodments? That’s right, from suppliers who are based outside the city, meaning their trucks will have to drive even farther, creating more traffic and pollution. I’m sure the bicyclists will make up for that when they’re out doing their weekend hobby.

      1. you do realize there are hundreds, of people who commute on this path every day to get to their jobs…don’t you? would you rather they drive cars? and create more pollution? and cause your commute times to get even worse? and cause more stress and obesity? would you consider driving you car or riding the bus a weekend hobby?

    3. So Brett, do you work for SDOT? You know, the agency that puts bicycles ahead of all other things and jams costly bad ideas down the throats of hard working people who bring value to this community – you know jobs in the trades that bring diversity to this city that is so concerned about it. How much tax revenue do you think the City would lose if Salmon Bay S&G went out of business and some of the other valueable industrial businesses that have been here for many, many decades? -That means property tax, B&O, vehicle regis., sales tax on all that they sell? Some of you folks are so bicycle-centric, and tightass lib who could give a rip about businesses it boggles the mind. Anything for a bicycle and a number of selfish a$$es that ride them.

      1. These trucks were long here before Amazon
        so was this city, the people who don’t care seem to be those who just moved here and are apathetic about Seattle’s changing culture because this is all they have ever seen but I’ll have you know this city was much better off before rich people rampantly driving expensive cars and buying overpriced housing driving the old Seattle people to elsewhere places. Just a sad cycle, will it end?

        1. what would be an ideal solution to you? would you like the city to create some law stating a company over a certain size should not be here? should they implement rent control? should they only allow cars that cost under $40k? look i think there are a lot of things the city can do to improve, but your comments seem not to be based in reality.

    4. Alright then, open a business in the neighborhood that employs the same or more people and generates the same or more tax revenue. Or shut the hell up.

      This is an industrial waterfront. Learn to live with it, not push your selfish version of it on long established businesses.

      1. The gravel co does generate a little but of tax revenue but that is nothing compared to what they have cost us taxpayers.. They have cost the city millions in legal fees, redundant environmental studies all while delaying a much needed city amenity.
        Also this is the same company that was caught and fined for dumping in the canal.

        1. “…They have cost the city millions in legal fees,…”

          Not a penny of which would have been lost if the city hadn’t tried to put them out of business by shoving a bike lane down their throats. Doubt me? The former policy guy for Cascade Bicycle Club said in an email he wanted to put them out of business so he could get his goddamn bike lane.

          5. Yep, having to stop for a pedestrian happens nowhere else in the city for a cement truck driver does it.

      2. so, nothing is changing for the businesses or their property. it’s a public street. do these businesses own the street? absolutely not. they should not be allowed to take hostage the project that will keep many people safe.

  3. It is curious to look over the city’s 95% complete construction documents (BGT_95GraphicPlans_2018-0323.pdf) and compare that to what “The Coalition” puts out on their own documents. I wish I could show a side-by-side comparison, but to say the least, the business coalition has an extraordinary amount of errors or omissions on their documentation.

    Example, the coalition shows an image of the area in front of CSR Marine, saying: “SDOT plans to build a trail with no trees and no amenities and instead has concrete barriers and metal fencing or no protection at all. ”

    However, directly on the city’s submitted plans, it shows a 5-foot separation of the trail from the street, and quite a bit of landscaping/bushes/trees along the way.

    1. CORRECTION:
      A few HUNDRED parking spaces!
      Cars searching for parking are a source of traffic congestion and concomitant air pollution. SDOT knows this and acknowledges it when setting paid parking rates.
      What would this do to parking rates? What (who) will be deterred by higher parking costs? Not only Shilshole Avenue industrial employers!

      1. …and they’re all DRUNK too because people come to Ballard at night to drink – or car prowl if they’re one of O’Brien’s Kids ™.

        1. Well, those folks need parking for shopping, week-end markets, and then there is the need for parking of employees who work in businesses in the area (and who may live in places from which they can’t take a bus).

          1. this is a great point. people do need parking. cyclists also need a safe place to ride. in fact, the need for parking goes down somewhat when the infrastructure improves for cyclists. some people won’t ride on dangerous places like shilshole now but will absolutely ride with a proper bike path. that said…it would be nice if the city would see parking infrastructure as an obligation it should provide, rather than relying solely on private investors. infrastructure is provided by government to drive cars, infrastructure should also be provided to park those cars. they go hand in hand. as the city grows, streets are needed more and more for moving people, rather than parking vehicles. obviously parking lots can be very expensive, but you can get a lot more cars parked into a parking tower. would love to see the city embrace these, especially when they are allowing large apartment buildings without parking to go up, without proper public transportation infrastructure. we have to pay for it one way or another. currently we are paying for it by arguing incessantly.

      2. That’s over the whole length, with more than 50% of the parking being lost is either west of 24th, or east of the bridge.

        Along shilshole, RV’s already take up about 1/3 of the parking,

        1. Beater RV’s can be moved, and should have been long ago. Whose fault is that? Surely not the businesses along Shilshole. We can thank Mike O’Brien for not allowing SDOT and police to enforce parking rules. That is a harsh truth.

          1. A tually, you can thank the ‘Homestead Act’ as well as common decency.

      1. Whoa, watch out, the Sockpuppet is angry about something that confuses him. Prepare for an onslaught of blaming the soyboys, cucks, librarians, dog owners, etc…

        1. So I’m a sockpuppet for pointing out the truth that we’re building these bike lanes for a relative handful of users? Very well, dont listen to Mr Sockpuppet; SDOT’s been saying that more people will bike if we just build more bike lanes. Surely they’d have figures to back up that assertion, right?

          Wrong:
          “Bicycle volumes are down. Ridership decreased from 3.5 percent in 2016, to 2.8 percent in 2017. But let’s remember ridership is influenced, at least in part, by weather. Last year, we saw 48 inches of rain (our average is 37.5) 😱 and colder than average temps, too.”

          1. So I’m a sockpuppet for pointing out the truth that we’re building these bike lanes for a relative handful of users?

            No, you’re a sockpuppet because you post under many different handles on a blog comment section.

            You aren’t pointing out any “truth”. You are using indefinite adjectives to steer the debate in your direction. What the hell is a handful? The Fremont Bridge bike counter broke a million for the first time in history. Is a million a handful? Based on your (flawed, we’ll get to that later) 2.8% cyclist number, that would be upwards of 20,000 daily cyclists in the City. Is 20,000+ a handful?

            Your numbers are based on a study that has been noted as flawed, even by your favorite MyNorthwest opinion blog, as participants are only allowed to select only one mode of transportation for work commuting. The bike counters around the City are actually showing record numbers for 2018, but let’s not let statistics get in the way, shall we?

            Let’s play your game and assume the 2.8% number is accurate. Based on SDOT’s proposed 2018 budget of $560 million, close to $16 million should have been spent on bicycle only facilities. They haven’t spent anywhere near that.

      2. handful? my guess is there are at a very minimum twenty times as many cyclists everyday as there are individuals who park their cars along shilshole. would love to see some source on your “handful” comment.

  6. Boycott the businesses in the Ballard Coalition. Click on the link in the article for the list.

    Signed,
    Working class union member

    1. Oh please do, we will feel the heat and see things your way. Good god man wake up, you morons don’t use or even know what we do, so please boycott us you’ll make such a difference.

      1. Hmm, The Loft is on that list of supporters. I won’t be taking my team there any longer. And honestly, a bike path will drive zero of those industrial businesses out. I do imagine some will eventually sell off their land for big money and jet off into retirement, while putting out the false narrative that the trail drove them out of business.

  7. Up until Seattle drivers learning to be more courteous on the road there will be a push for mass transit and more bicycle lanes! The more and more people we squeeze into this small city the more it calls for alternative transportation. The road isn’t just for you and you solely so drive and bike like you actually share the road with others because ultimately they are helping you pay for these roads so you can keep your car and bike on them.. So, tell me, why not invest more alternative infrastructure that right now like we didn’t in the 60s and 70s? Why not prepare for a bigger population here in the future. Yes bikers are jerks but so are people in their heated moving box. I bike and drive.

    Leary is used as a giant parking lot for the businesses on market mostly and there is a lot of industry. The hipness is encroaching!

  8. Hi My Ballard – worth correcting a few slight omissions and misconstrued statements in your article. Not sure if your information came from the trail opponents…

    First – the trail opponents are appealing the ruling by a Hearing Examiner of the city’s final EIS , which was a nearly 2 yr, $1.5 million analysis of all route segments, and the impacts on traffic, parking, business access, etc. The unanimous decision of the HA was that the City had done a thorough and complete analysis. The opponents can argue that the analysis was ‘inadequate’, but not the route or alignment.

    Second – the City is the primary defendant of the legal challenge, not Cascade. Many years ago, when trail opponents first appealed an initial draft EIS, Cascade signed on as a ‘friend of the court’ more or less, to help with the legal appeals. But the City of Seattle (us taxpayers) will be the ones defending the analysis and ultimately bearing the brunt of the costs (as we have been during the past 12 years of appeals by trail opponents)

    Not mentioned in your article, but pertinent to what the opponents are proposing as an alternative (which was rejected by the vast majority of those who commented publicly during the EIS process, and ultimately rejected by the City as unsafe), is not a completion of the Burke-Gilman trail but a ‘bicycle trail’

    And it’s worth mentioning again, from late 1998-99, when Ballard residents who developed our neighborhood plan first identified completion of the Missing Link along the rail corridor as one of their top priorities, through Mayors Schell, Nickels, McGinn, and now Durkan, all analyses have concluded that the ‘rail corridor’ route is the safest, simplest, and most connected option. It’s a shame that one individual (with very deep pockets, apparently) has been able to thwart the efforts of us Ballardites/Seattleites and successive mayors to get this dang thing done.

    The good news is the City is moving forward with defending their plan, and within a few weeks a contractor should be announced for the 24th NW to the Locks section of trail, with construction slated to start early 2019.

  9. Huh.

    Hard to pick a side here. One the one hand you have the pro-bike infrastructure leftist retards who are ok with Seattle turning into a literal junkie shithole (including the precious bike trails) and on the other hand you have a regressive gravel business and a few other pro-car retards who apparently never traveled anywhere that isn’t stuck in the 1970’s. Hey yeah they have these cool things called subways and bikeways in many cities now, and NOW GET THIS in these places they often ENFORCE THE LAW so you don’t have thousands of degenerate squatters making everyone’s lives a living hell.

    This is why, sadly, we can’t have nice things. Seattle, you might think you’re in shape but I look around and maybe getting on a bicycle a teeny little bit might stave off the inevitable diabetes. Healthy at any size is a bigger scam than the Gulf War, Ladies.

    Also, does anybody think CRAMMING A HOCKEY TEAM into the Mercer Mess is a good idea? The hits just keep on coming from the City Hall. I guess I’m marginally pro bike trail here, but only because the pro car retards really seem to love their gridlock and people in Seattle drive like texting autistic dyslexic stroke victims.

    1. I have always supported the Leary option. Safer, flatter, preserves parking and when less than a few percent of the folks use bikes then slam dunk for Leary.

      1. Yes, but this Shilshole fight is about so much more than a bike lane, it’s a chance for a gravel business to pretend it’s some kind of bastion of blue collar Ballard, and for the Cascade Bike Club to pose as champions of progress and ecology. That train that only goes 2 miles when the owners are drunk is pretty cool, and the junkie felon tents are nice with the dead rats and the trash and the, well, CRIME.

        Lots of love for both sides here from me!

      2. First off, Leary is not flatter, there is a decent grade going northbound. Shilshole only has a grade for the very last block right by the light at 24th. Second, what do you do when Leary hits Market at 22nd? That intersection is a mess with several bus routes and dedicated guide lines.

  11. Leary Way is the safest and sanest location. Cascade bike goons are really trying to take over the ship canal and turn it into condos and a promenade. Seen the artists renderings. Also, Nickerson St. Tavern has been granted a special permit to construct housing on this site which many see as the beginning of the end of the industrial business’s along the canal. As a bike rider I wouldn’t begin to consider biking along Shilshole when other roads are much safer, BGT or not. And as far as riding along in the middle of the road while holding up traffic is not only dangerous it’s extremely selfish.

    2. The industrial businesses are free to move to somewhere more appropriate. Tacoma or Everettfor example. Those employees probably can’t afford to live in Seattle anyway. They aren’t making THAT much money.

      1. What a stupid comment, no doubt from a cyclist. The industries here predate the spandex crowd, and yes a number of employees do not live in Seattle. They own property and/or work here. Just like the folks in the tall buildings downtown. Seattle itself is becoming statistically just youngsters in high tech and their pet street junkies. The middle class folks in SF homes still here are asked to pay more than their fare share for junkie services with increased property taxes.

        1. No, not a cyclist. Just a middle class home owner who would like to walk the trail safely. Those businesses have co-opted the public right of way in an increasingly more populated neighborhood for long enough. If no longer being able to monopolize those streets for their own use breaks their business model than its their own fault that they failed. They took those streets for free and now there’s a cost. There is a big upside for them to move. It’s only getting more crowded around here.

          1. Why do need to walk on Shilshole. Leary to Market then back to the BG trail is safe. And you can even grab a drink and do some window shopping along the way.

          2. Because the BG upon completion will be more direct for me and a more pleasant walk than Leary. People treat Leary like a freeway. Now if they put Leary on a road diet, added more crosswalks with lights and slowed it way down then you’re on to something. In fact, how about a tree lined boulevard?

          3. A walk thru what will still be a noisy industrial area, with ingress and egress by service vehicles crossing the trail, and still a busy street with traffic on adjacent Shilshole, likely still faster than on Leary. Well, OK then, that pretty much says it all for risk assessment skills. We sure don’t want anybody to be indirect on their route, now do we?

          4. According to you completing the BG thru the industrial zone will put them out of business so should be more quiet than you say eventually. Plus it will all be rezoned once it gets sold off to the highest bidder so plenty of new restaurants coming too!

          5. Shilshole has never been faster than Leary, and you know it. Those ingress and egress service vehicles will now have FORMAL crossings they have to abide by to increase safety. The separations are becoming formal, and those individuals will be forced to pay more attention to cyclists instead of their usual texting and driving dump trucks.

        2. What a stupid comment, no doubt from a driver. The cyclists here predate the overalls crowd, and yes a number of cyclists do live in Ballard and support many local businesses. They own property, they rent property. Seattle itself is statistically eradicating hate speech and citizens who do not care about anyone but themselves. All classes here are asked to pay their fair share for themselves and the infrastructure. Increased property taxes go right along with increased property values. Goodbye Uff da, your hate speech belongs in the past.

          1. ” Seattle itself is statistically eradicating hate speech and citizens who do not care about anyone but themselves. All classes here are asked to pay their fair share for themselves and the infrastructure. Increased property taxes go right along with increased property values. Goodbye Uff da, your hate speech belongs in the past.”

            Ah wow! This must be a Certified Social Justice Warrior ™ by the looks of this.
            Gather around everyone and get a good look. They’re so “unselfish” they enjoy “disrupting” age old customs, classic neighborhoods, and timeless rituals and holidays for social media approval and the occasional nod from a feminist.

            They don’t reproduce and enjoy cucking out their “ecosystems” to hostile invaders so they won’t be around after one generation. We should get this guy his own wildlife preserve before he ends up an Uber casualty at 2 a.m. in Sao Paulo.

      2. You’d be surprised at what a highly trained tradesmen makes and it is THAT MUCH money. Factor in OT and bonuses and you are north of $100K, but you probably don’t consider six figures “THAT MUCH MONEY”. Another uninformed statement from an over educated, over privileged Seattle princess complaining about industry that was here before she was born.

  12. Oh there is so much more than SBS&G driving this, there is a coalition of tax paying business that have been here long before the bikes, educate yourselves before you spew your uninformed BS. Frankly the morons blasting through Ballard on their e-bikes have damn near run me down a time or two with there blatant disregard for pedestrians and vehicles. I could care less how many of them get mowed down on Leary or Shilshole due to their own stupidity.

    2. I hate the e-bikes too, but hoping someone gets severely injured or killed is bit harsh. Pedestrians get hit by cars probably 1000 times more frequently than cyclists hit pedestrians, so spare us your nonsense. You get hit by a car you aren’t going to be writing an outraged comment, you’ll be in a hospital bed with likely life-changing injuries.

      Fun fact: the most dangerous place for kids is in their own driveways at home or in the street in front of the house. Please drive safely and remember to put away your phone and stop at red lights. Thanks!

      https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/full-frontal-psychology/why-kids-get-hit-by-cars.html

      “Getting hit by a car is the third leading cause of death for kids 5- to 9-years-old, and kids up to age 15 make up a disproportionate number of pedestrian casualties worldwide. “

      1. Please re-read A.L., nowhere in my rant did I say “I HOPE” because I do not HOPE! I said, “I Could Care Less” Do you see how you twisted what I said into what you believe I said. The hate spewed on this website is in fact mind boggling.

        1. I’m not seeing this “hate” you describe. Please don’t text and drive, and please share the road with your cyclist neighbors. We all work and pay taxes, too.

  13. If you live in Ballard and pay property taxes you should be livid. The “Ballard Coalition” and it’s previous iterations have cost you — as a taxpayer, about $7,000,000 if you add up all the legal expenses, environmental reviews, planning costs, over the past 30 years.

    The thing is going to be built – eventually – it’s a shame 2 or 3 rich old white guys make all of our taxes go up by their frivolous lawsuits.

    1. I think you have your analysis all wrong. It is SDOT and those who propose this expensive project that have cost taxpayers so much money. All the City staff time spent planning, lobbying, trying to justify (and defending legal challenges/EIS costs), and ultimately the ridiculous cost of building this, while increasing operating costs of businesses in the area, who by the way pay property taxes, and have had out of pocket costs trying to stop the construction. It is not just a couple rich guys. It is the business community in South Ballard, which has been here a hell of a lot longer than the spandex carpetbaggers and their SDOT shills.

  14. Truthfully, I think it would be far better to put a bike lane on Ballard Ave and tie into the trail near the bridge….less traveled and less costly to implement.

  15. How about an environmental impact study on all of the industrial businesses along the canal in Ballard. I bet they pollute more than peds or bikes.

    1. How about an environmental impact study on all of the meth RV’s that dump their sewage into the street, in peoples’ yards, and into the ship canal? Does that make your spandex feel uncomfortable?

      A solution here is to use the funds for the missing link to build a new police station/precinct in downtown Ballard. That is really what our community needs…not all of this bike lane bs.

      1. Better yet, how about a homeless shelter with a soup kitchen, needle exchange and free healthcare including mental health services? Pay for that by finishing the missing link and redirecting the money saved by burying these costly appeals once and for all. And I don’t wear spandex. I prefer Smartwool or Ibix.

        1. Fun fact: 90% of heroin addicts relapse. So you’re talking about throwing money at people who will return to the drug EVEN IF they mange to attempt sobriety. Uh okay.
          Yes I am aware of the vile decision to defund the mental health facilities back in the 80’s but even taking that into account, Seattle has become a mecca for drifter junkie lunatics from all across the West and the problem here far surpasses anything in any other comparably sized city.

          Free services do not mean the criminal sociopaths will use them, the EXCEPTION BEING FOOD FROM PLACES LIKE ST LUKE’S. If you could eat and camp wherever and do your drugs bought from stolen merchandise easily found in affluent Ballard, why would you suddenly become an upright citizen because some granola liberals think taxes are a solution? They won’t change. Look at SF or LA.

          A moderately mentally ill person will continue to camp wherever, and a barking mad insane person will not be coherent enough to “seek treatment”. They need to be forced into facilities, but that is currently illegal without some kind of elaborate court order even if there was the will to do that kind of thing in a place as weepy as Seattle.

          So here we are: the ones with severe personality disorders are incapable of holding employment or keeping a roof over their heads OR they are simply felons who want to stay off the databases. This idea that there is some kind of “funding shortage” is absurd.

          We’re largely talking about people who do not want to change much of anything about their behaviors and addictions. Yes, the banks are rotten and housing too expensive etc but this idea that these people are “Dust Bowl” down-on-their-luck types is simply incorrect. Forcing your neighbors to pay for them, endure their vandalism, theft, harassment, and sometimes violence is, well, sadly the OTHER SORT OF RAMPANT INSANITY in this part of the world. We’ve attracted thousands of dysfunctional people and don’t have the resources to police the city AS IT IS.

          1. So we shouldn’t do anything to treat or help the mentally ill or drug addicts, because you think they can’t or won’t change? No mentally ill person has every been cured and no drug addict has been successfully rehabilitated in the history of ever? Am I getting that right?

            I mean, I guess if you truly believe that, I can see why continually post your delusional rantings on neighborhood blogs day in and day out.

            Meanwhile, it turns out that something can be done and has been done. Look at Portugal and their success at curing themselves of a drug epidemic. They did a national push, which included *gasp* decriminalization of drug use and provided easy to access drug treatment centers, including what was essentially a proto-safe injection site. Contrary to your shitposts, a vast majority of addicts want to get clean. Turns out that opiates are extremely addictive and near impossible to get rehabilitated without help.

            And if a national undertaking, including rolling back tax cuts on the wealthy to pay for it, triggers you, we can always start with the low hanging fruit: start holding drug companies accountable for flooding the markets with easy to access opiates and doctors who over-prescribe opiates for pain. But regulations are bad, we wouldn’t want to inconvenience the cash cow of the billion dollar pharmaceutical companies, right Mr. Sockpuppet?

            In the end, you’ll ignore this post, call me a soyboy librarian or something, and go on shitposting your false claims how Seattle is a dystopian nightmare (why do you still live here, bro?) and how all solutions to the problem is bad and only your “solution” is the right one. You may not have caused the opiate epidemic, but you are certainly perpetuating it.

          2. I don’t see a single local solution there, Truth, and certainly not anything that can be done by calling everyone who isn’t blinded by 90’s Democrat ideology a “sockpuppet” or “Harley Lever”. The heroin COMES FROM MEXICO, while you guys take pride in the West Coast being a big border-free sanctuary.

            I live here, Sis, because I work here and have lived here for over 2 decades. And to the extent that entire state is suffering from the terminal cancer called Seattle Social Justice ™ it makes little difference to relocate without leaving the state entirely.

            Not only do you MORONS oppose any reasonable law enforcement, you PUNISH citizens for defending themselves and make it harder for them to USE TO THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to own and carry a firearm EVEN WHILE THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF COPS ON DUTY IN THE NORTH PRECINCT AFTER 3PM.

            Yes, I would call it “dystopian” that criminals walk free while citizens are told warrants “haven’t been issued yet” or that biz owners should not post signs saying “under video surveillance” because that puts them at risk from a lawsuit from a domestic violence victim who might rely and the camera footage (!) in some wild hypothetical situation.

            I would call it “dystopian” that a formerly safe, clean neighborhood is now turf for addicts and thieves and sex offenders SUBSIDIZED by their own very victims.

            Your politics have effectively made Seattle MORE UNSAFE for women, on top of all the other shitpiles we have to step over. Pathetic, wrong headed, and mired in dead ideologies as always, TRUTH.

          3. I don’t see a single local solution there, Truth, and certainly not anything that can be done by calling everyone who isn’t blinded by 90’s Democrat ideology a “sockpuppet” or “Harley Lever”.

            We’ve brushed upon local solutions before sweetheart. You not only reject them all, you get triggered and mass shitpost on neighborhood blog comment sections. It’s not my fault that if you truly aren’t Harley Lever, you act exactly like him. You’ve done nothing to prove you aren’t. Like him, your actions are preventing anything from getting done to solve the homeless crisis. Even down to his “blame everyone else but me” attitude.

            The heroin COMES FROM MEXICO,

            Yeah, and? How do you think people become addicted to opiates in the first place? Despite your backassward thinking, nobody ups and decides one day to become addicted to heroin, living on the street. A lot of heroin addicts started off being over-prescribed opiates for pain. It’s happening all over the country: urban, suburban and rural. People only started paying attention when their kids were the ones dying.

            Mexico just provides a cheap, convenient substitute once you can’t get your doctor to prescribe more pills.

            I live here, Sis, because I work here and have lived here for over 2 decades. And to the extent that entire state is suffering from the terminal cancer called Seattle Social Justice ™ it makes little difference to relocate without leaving the state entirely.

            Then leave already, Seattle is not going to change in your bizarre direction anytime soon. If it’s so bad with social justice and junkies, sell your home for a huge profit and go live in some nice, dark red state, where the only time you hear about “social justice” is when Fox News is ranting about the communist hellhole that Seattle is. You won’t be able to escape the junkies. In fact, they are probably worse out in the red states.

            Not only do you MORONS oppose any reasonable law enforcement, you PUNISH citizens for defending themselves and make it harder for them to USE TO THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to own and carry a firearm EVEN WHILE THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF COPS ON DUTY IN THE NORTH PRECINCT AFTER 3PM.

            Whoa there grandpa, that’s a lot of CAPITAL WORDS, so I can tell you mean business! But I’ll try to dissect this, despite it having nothing to do with the Missing Link (what this article is about) or drug addiction (what you’ve steered the conversation towards).

            To start off, who is opposed to reasonable law enforcement? It’s like you’re built some imaginary straw man and are blaming him to make a point.

            Next, how is it difficult to purchase and carry a firearm? There’s no law on the books to prevent either. It wouldn’t last a day in court if there was. Again, a highly irrelevant and incorrect rant trying to draw away from the real argument.

            Finally, there’s that term “handful” again. What does that mean? Are there 2 officers or 200 officers after 3 PM? Do you have an actual number? If so, post it with a source. Otherwise, you’re using indefinite adjectives to try to make your argument valid.

            Your politics have effectively made Seattle MORE UNSAFE for women, on top of all the other shitpiles we have to step over. Pathetic, wrong headed, and mired in dead ideologies as always, TRUTH.

            Oh geez, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize that my politics(?) have made Seattle MORE UNSAFE for women. I’ll change my ways immediately!.

            You forgot to add WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN! That would have really rounded out your sensationalist accusation.

            Good luck to you sir. I hope you get the mental counseling you sorely need and are one day able to actually enjoy life rather than seeing it only for the problems.

          5. Here we go. An article about bike lanes turns into people off their meds complaining about addicts and homeless. Sure hope you get back on track, la la. It must be hell in your head.

          6. The sockHarley can’t help itself. Refills are expensive and he has lots of Facebook ads to buy for his rinkydink “community group.”

          7. The sockHarley can’t help itself. Refills are expensive and he has lots of Facebook ads to buy for his rinkydink “community group.”

            Ah yes, the true sign of victory, when the Sockpuppet sockpuppets you! Nothing left to say, no arguments to make, just impersonate me, poorly, as a last gasp.

            Hope you get that help you need!

          8. ACKSHUALLY ROBBY, i was responding to Bleeding Heart Bennet who was doing the usual “we should provide services” canard:

            “Better yet, how about a homeless shelter with a soup kitchen, needle exchange and free healthcare including mental health services? Pay for that by finishing the missing link and redirecting the money saved by burying these costly appeals once and for all. And I don’t wear spandex. I prefer Smartwool or Ibix.”

      3. what does that have to do with what’s at hand here? are you one of those slightly off-their-meds folks who forgot what a mirror was long ago and chooses one issue to rant and rave about?

    2. Perhaps you should do some research and possibly a FOIA and see who the polluters are and you can boycott them. What you will see is that these businesses comply and invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment and regulatory fees to NOT pollute or face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and penalties. This is 2018 genius, the days of lead paint and PCB’s are long gone, you truly have no clue do you?

  17. When will Spandex nation get serious and mandate license plates on bikes? The CBC always surfaces during these times, screaming and jumping up + down, saying look at us over here. I bet the individuals all vote their desires, so why do we need the pit Yorkie’s at the CBC bitching? Your constituents pretend they’re really automobiles much of the time, yet STILL have no license plates/fees. How the hell are we recognizing them when running red lights or breaking laws? Why is it less than 1% of our population is so damn special?? Between cyclists and junkies it’s a toss-up on who IS more special. PAY FOR PLAY

    2. Seattle drivers are, according to every survey, poll and study THE VERY WORST in the USA. You guys can’t be bothered to look up from your phones long enough to stop for a red light. Shut up already you’re embarrassing yourself. Remember, AVOID LEFT TURNS.

    3. When will text and drive nation get serious and stop subsidizing our car industry? Free roads for cars, free parking for cars, subsidies to put the fuel in our cars. PAY FOR PLAY! If you want to park, pay for it. If you want to drive, pay the full price. Did you know that it would actually cost MORE to require licenses for bikes when you consider the amount of staff time that would go into it vs the return? Are you trying to solve a problem or are your panties just in a wad and you want to blame somebody other than your sad, sorry self?

  19. Because I had nothing else to do I just re-read the 90-some posts by the sockpuppet (and no one else, I am willing to bet) who hammers furiously away in his mother’s basement, posting on a neighborhood blog.

    Stupid. Willfully so. You have to really want to be that stupid and God knows Harley is that stupid.

    Kill yourselves!

  20. The “Missing Link” in question is really the Paleolithic remnants wandering around the BG Trail fashioning crude tools from found objects and demanding money and food, demonstrating high time preference and lacking the ability of forethought and impulse control.

    Darwin was right after all. Why do liberals hate science?

  22. i support the local businesses. The so-called community is not from Ballard. They are the yuppie city-wide bicycle lobby.

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