King County Bike Map on the Web

Looks like all the cool kids can now check out the miles of bike trails, bike lanes, and steep hills of King County, Washington via their cellies.

KC Bike Map



A KC staffer announced:
"We are happy to announce that new King County Bicycling Guidemaps have been printed and are available free of charge at all King County Libraries. The new Bicycling Guidemap content has also been posted on the internet and is available publicly at www.kingcounty.gov/bike . The new online map allows users to pan and zoom into their area of interest and print."

*content snipped*

"If you wish to receive hard copies of our map, please send me your mailing address, and I will mail them to you directly."

And the magic snail mail address is as follows:
King County Department of Transportation
Roads Services Division, CIP and Planning Section
201 South Jackson Street MS: KSC-TR-0317
Seattle, WA 98104-3856

Don't overlook the disclaimer, however, at the bottom of the map...
"Disclaimer: This map is intended to aid bicyclists in choosing routes between locations. This map is not in any way warranty or guarantee as to the stability of roadway conditions or the fitness of listed routes for bicycling. Many of the routes identified on this map cross or run along public roads which are exposed to wear and tear and degradation due to weather, traffic, and other environmental concerns. Riders should remain alert as routes may contain pavement rutting, cracks, bumps, expansion joints, natural or other debris on pavement surfaces, and vegetation which may encroach on routes or portions thereof. Riders should also remain alert for areas of visual impairment and other irregularities that may impact rider and motorist ability to see each other or potential road hazards. The chance that one may come into an area of visual impairment or a route irregularity warrants special care on the part of route users.

Government resources limit the capacity to address conditions and irregularities like those described above. Accordingly, route users should maintain a vigilant lookout for these conditions and irregularities. Route users should always ride with care for their own safety and that of other users. King County does not assume liability for bicyclists travelling upon routes shown in this map. Safe route selection includes consideration of motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic and roadway or route conditions".

I am sure this is a direct result of the Totten case which settled for $3.5 million rather than the $20 million sought.

Google Maps and bike routes

I am sure anyone who's familiar with Google Maps has now figured out or heard they have added bicycle routing to their functionality. For those who are not familiar with Google Maps, it offers a variety of geographic capabilities via the web including but not limited to finding addresses, trip routing, and Street View, which allows the user to see what they would find if they were viewing the address location and vicinity from the street - a virtual drive-by, if you will.

I checked it out this morning. I would concur with some of other reviewers' commentaries. Or this one, including readers' comments.

In specific, the trial route I plotted was shorter than what I would have instinctively chosen, however, it was on much heavier-traveled roads which have much higher speeds, roads you do not want to have any sort of mechanical failure on. Also, one stretch in specific does not have any bicycle facilities, such as a bike lane, it even lacks a wide shoulder.

Google appears accepting of the fact this feature has its kinks and encourages people to contact them to help amend their first attempt at providing bicycle routing functionality, and for taking this bold step, I give them kudos.