What you missed: February membership meeting  

Feb 9, 2024 | Meeting and Events, SRA Events

We were happy to be joined by Mary Catherine Snyder and Katherine Rice from the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Curbspace Management division who shared a presentation on how goods deliveries could change in the city. 

Here are a few resources and highlights from the presentation: 

  • The city of Seattle is studying the benefits of the use of e-cargo bikes. E-cargo bikes are electric bikes that have the capability to make larger scale goods deliveries to homes and businesses. 
  • The city of Seattle is planning an e-cargo bike lending library so people and businesses can take advantage of their use. 
  • Other cities in the world have experimented with their use and they are shown to have the possibility to decrease congestion and lower carbon emissions when used more frequently than delivery vans for short trips. 
  • If you have thoughts on how the expansion of e-cargo bikes could impact your business, please reach out to Katherine Rice at katherine.rice@seattle.gov.  

We had a great conversation with Derrell Bulmer from SDOT and Michael Wells from the Seattle Office of Economic Development on issues restaurants commonly face when there is construction near their business. 

Here are a few highlights from the discussion: 

  • City and private construction can often be very detrimental to businesses. Parking can be blocked for customers and employees, entrances can be cut off and utilities can be shut off, often at the most inconvenient times. 
  • Many restaurant owners and operators highlighted that the largest hardship was lack of notification. While projects can be years in planning, businesses can change quickly and there is little to no notification during many stages of the process. 
  • While many of these issues discussed require policy changes from city council and the mayor, Bulmer and Wells will share the conversation with the heads of their departments so policy change can be worked towards in the future. 
  • If you have any questions about city construction, contact Derrell Bulmer at Darrell.Bulmer@seattle.gov or Michael Wells at michael.wells@seattle.gov.

Many thanks to Café Flora for hosting the Seattle Restaurant Alliance February meeting.  

Next SRA Meeting: 

The next meeting will be March 6 at Matador Ballard, 5410 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107.