Are Seattle's bike lanes bigoted?

SEATTLE -- Seattle's bike lanes are often heralded by local politicians.

But as a story released in Thursday's Crosscut points out, the city's bike lanes still have mighty flaws.

Since 2007 when then-mayor Greg Nickles announced a 10-year plan to make "Seattle the best community in the United States" for biking, its plan for expansion and its current infrastructure has been riddled with problems. Most of the city's bike lanes are shared with cars --called a sharrow -- and lack protection. Important infrastructure such as neighborhood greenways and specific bike ways is mostly nonexistent, and Seattle has dropped to 10th on Bicycling Magazine's list of top 10 cities.

Finally, Seattle's Biking Master Plan has focused most of its efforts on North Seattle, leaving the just-as-needy-but-less-wealthy neighborhoods in south Seattle to fend for themselves.

For more on this Crosscut story, click here.