This is great. We also need to get rid of metal dumpsters
07.03.2026 07:03
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This is great. We also need to get rid of metal dumpsters
The Senate wants to ban new passenger ferries built outside the state while the state is purchasing three new state ferries from Florida.
The Senate wants to require all new passenger ferries to be zero emission when the alternative is driving your car onto a ferry.
These are wild demands.
He’s not exactly beating the allegations here
Seattle will finally be able to tow drivers who park on streetcar tracks. HB 2495 is heading to the Governor's desk.
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...
Near side traffic lights too
Car crossing the crosswalk at MLK & Edmonds while the Walk signal is on.
Another day, another close call on MLK Way. This driver accelerated through the red light and narrowly avoided the crowd that had started to cross.
Raised crosswalks at Link stations would have prevented this incident.
WA's elevator bill passed the House last night 93 - 1 !!!
Once signed by the Gov, it will be the nation's first state legislation for elevator code reform.
Yes, it would have been a bigger win if the global standards intent language had not been amended out. @sightline.org will keep pushing!
Gerry Pollet "has long advocated for increasing density in Seattle and the 46th district" like I've long advocated for the Dodgers to beat the Giants.
In fact, Pollet has been a notable NIMBY, voting against key housing bills and even being stripped of a key committee chair by his colleagues.
The WA House just approved a bill streamlining permit requirements for Sound Transit projects, after defeating a number of Republican amendments watering down the bill.
The vote was 56-38.
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/04/o...
I'm listening into this meeting and am quite frustrated by what I'm hearing from callers; "why punish the 95% of good drivers by making them drive slower?"
People have died here numerous times.
WSDOT finally has a plan to tackle the highway ramps that swirl around Seattle's next light rail station, a concept that includes the demolition of an off-ramp that mars a Seattle city park.
But transportation advocates are pushing the state to think bolder.
www.theurbanist.org/2026/03/04/w...
Comparison between FEIS Alternative 5, where additional "Corridor" place type blobs were clearly visible near entrances to Carkeek, Magnuson, Discovery, Seward, and more. Yet they are completely gone without a trace in 2026 Corridors legislation. Additional caption on the figure read: "Why did you eliminate more housing near large parks? Do renters not deserve to live near parks?"
Final EIS January 2025, section 1-7 Place Types definitions Corridors are areas near frequent transit ***and large parks*** that allow a wide range of housing types in areas currently zoned primarily for detached homes (within a 10-minute walk from a light rail station and a five- minute walk from frequent bus transit service and ***entrances to large parks***). Corridors also include areas already zoned for multifamily and commercial use and could have small increases in height.
@ricoque-opcd.bsky.social Q5: In all Environmental Impact Statements, you define Corridors as "areas near frequent transit AND LARGE PARKS". Yet dense housing near large parks were all eliminated from your plan.
Do you think renters of affordable & social housing do not deserve to live near parks?
Location on a map
Seattle Fire is currently responding to a driver hitting someone on a bike at 12th Ave S and S Charles Street in North Beacon Hill.
I recently talked to a rider in south Delridge who said they stopped taking the bus on Wednesdays because it would add an easy 30-60 minutes if they didn't time it right
Number of vehicular bridges built by decade in King County, with most of the ones built between 1910 and 1960 past their useful life
Looking just at the county, there are 73 bridges that are now older than their intended useful life.
Keeping the state system siloed off doesn't match how the transportation system actually works, especially not when the state is in full control of the revenue tools available to fix this.
At last week's Seattle planning commission meeting, Rico Quirindongo confirmed that these parts of 10th Ave W were removed from the current plan for upzoning because of the existence of a "historic boulevard."
Here's one for the housing nerds! @houseourneighbors.bsky.social and @mayorofseattle.bsky.social hard work to pass HB 1687 paid off -- the Senate approved the bill and including Social Housing Developers in the Housing Cooperation law is off to the Governor's desk!!! #waleg
Oh fun! Rico Quirindongo, the director of @seattleopcd.bsky.social followed me!
Director @ricoque-opcd.bsky.social: I don't know if you'll reply, but I will ask you ONE QUESTION A DAY until YOUR planning dept stops putting affordable & social housing ONLY on hazardous, polluted, and noisy roads.
I remember living in a state that cared about climate change.
What's even more damning? The vast majority of areas cut are considered "low displacement risk" by @seattleopcd.bsky.social themselves.
And yet when wealthy, exclusive, and disproportionally white neighborhoods didn't want to see renters & social housing, OPCD obliged them. bsky.app/profile/anal...
mayor harrell preferred alternative map
frequent transit corridor: 1572 acres, 91% reduction from Alternative 5
(I know, the colors changed.) In this new map, you're now looking for orange and brown areas that would newly permit dense social housing.
First: look at how much was cut! Where Corridors used to cover 17,736(!) acres, @seattleopcd.bsky.social cut it down to 1,572 (a 91% area loss).
Glad to see WSDOT going with what’s obviously the best option here.
wsdotblog.blogspot.com/2026/02/judk...
Alternative 5 exhibit 2.4-22 map of Seattle. most of it is covered with various place type colors. The most dominant area is Corridor, which is highlighted in red
Table of acres by place type. "Corridor" was supposed to cover 17,736 acres
Pay attention in this map to the purple "Corridor" place type. Notice just how much of the city would have allowed for more dense housing with these new Corridors.
The table here shows Corridors were supposed cover 17,736(!!) acres. That could have unlocked almost the whole city for social housing!
OPCD Director Rico Quirindongo is telling the Seattle Planning Commission that they intend to advance upzones within two full blocks of all frequent transit routes as part of Phase 4 of the Comp Plan.
He says they "legally cannot" advance that work earlier because of decisions in the Harrell Admin.
More farce. Seattle Ethics Director Wayne Barnett *dismisses* the complaint w/out investigation or even a letter to McIntyre to not violate the law. This is a mockery of Seattle Ethics law. Needless to say I'm appealing & lodging an ethics complaint against Barnett for violating city ethics laws.
Besides it being a backtracking trip between Seattle to Issaquah, anyone who has been to East Main and South Bellevue can tell you one of them is easily and clearly a transfer station and one of them is not.
I understand the cost implications but missing this connection would just be so dumb
Maintaining this in the bill would balloon King County Metro's projected funding deficit from $1.75 billion to $2.1 billion by 2035.
It would also dig Sound Transit's financial hole even deeper.
Slide showing that the repeal of SB 5814 would result in a $157 million loss biennially across all funds including Metro transit
The sales tax cut that was included in the Millionaire's Tax right before it passed off the Senate floor would result in a $157 million hit to King County in its first two years, hitting Metro and other departments including housing and mental health programs.
BTW, my adopted home of Washington State? We get back just $0.59 per federal tax dollar paid. Only Delaware and New Jersey get back less.
Map of the proposed 4 Line with a line drawn through the Mercer Slough
Maybe I'm wrong, but I've been interpreting Issaquah's request to Sound Transit as oriented around making a direct connection to South Bellevue instead of at East Main. The connection between Wilburton and South Kirkland would still be completely separate.
The Mercer Slough is a big hurdle though.