We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, whether they are rich or poor, black or white, young or old, and that we are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
- We the people recognize that the ownership or use of a private vehicle does not imply the sole ownership of the public Right-of-Way.
- We recognize that there is no such thing as free parking, and that our collective community pays to subsidize free car storage on our public Right-of-Way.
- We recognize the rights of people, in particular our most vulnerable elders and children, to freely walk on and across our public Right-of-Way without fear of injury or death by people in moving vehicles.
- We recognize that when separated sidewalks are provided as part of the Right-of-Way, they must be wide, uncluttered by street poles and furnishings, and minimally punctuated by driveways in order to be functional for people who walk.
- We recognize that people riding bicycles have the right of way on our streets, and that the movement of people on bikes, particularly families riding bikes, shall not be limited on our Right-of-Ways unless their movements represent a danger or obstruction to people walking.
- We recognize every public Right-of-Way that does not provide separated sidewalks and protected bike lanes is a place where “cars are guests” and where people who drive should go no faster than three times average walking speed (ten miles per hour).
- We recognize the highest and best use we can have for our vehicles, our Rights-of-Way, and our fossil fuels, that are all subsidized by our common wealth, is to move our goods, provide emergency services, and provide transport for our most vulnerable people.
- We recognize that our public Rights-of-Way are maintained through extraordinary investments of our collective energy and capital.
- We recognize we have built more public Right-of-Way than we will be able to maintain in the future.
- We recognize that we live on a finite planet with limited resources and that the fuels and battery energy needed to power our vehicles is heavily subsidized with our collective money.
- We recognize we are at the start of a centuries long climate crisis, and that every opportunity to maximize tree planting on the forty percent of our city land that is currently paved is an investment that future generations will thank us for.
- We recognize the potential for beauty, gathering space, and places for people in our public Right-of-Way.
A version of this originally appeared on the Seattle Neighborhood Greenways blog.
Article Author
Cathy Tuttle (Guest Contributor)
Article Author
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is a grassroots, people-powered movement working to make our city safer, healthier, and more equitable for all. Our coalition of volunteer groups organizes and mobilizes people to make every neighborhood in Seattle a great place to walk, bike, and live.