Seattle Fire just responded to a driver hitting someone walking at 35th Ave S and S Alaska Street in Columbia City. The person who was hit was transported to the hospital.
Pedestrian Reporting at The Urbanist as Contributing Editor Transportation advocate Puget Sound is my home Probably covering a random public meeting (they-them) https://www.patreon.com/typewriteralley
9,871 followers 403 following 5,759 posts
view profile on Bluesky
Seattle Fire just responded to a driver hitting someone walking at 35th Ave S and S Alaska Street in Columbia City. The person who was hit was transported to the hospital.
I love the bus. I don't love waiting for the bus on a freeway on-ramp.
The urbanist event of the season, no question. See you there!
There was an interim director...who had been the mayor's policy aide.
oregon senate convenes in a few minutes to take up HB 3991, the governor’s transportation bandaid bill, after the joint transportation committee stripped 80% of the transit funding from the bill and it passed through the house earlier today
It's part of Waterfront Park, but it's possible. The roles were only codified in 2023.
What my reporting actually showed is some staffers being in favor of bold change and others having a justification to oppose it. That's where leadership makes a difference.
The Alaskan Way median is SDOT's jurisdiction and looks like this.
I join you all in wondering how far Seattle Center is going to let this go.
I could be wrong but I think the hotel tax in Downtown Seattle is similar to the BIA that funds the MID, but it's separate and funds Visit Seattle.
Ratepayer boards are usually set up with rules like this one, for the U District.
Furthermore, the share of the vote on the decision to form a BIA is based on square footage, so a large business like a hospital can essentially decide to force nearby business owners to become part of a BIA. www.capitolhillseattle.com/2021/08/15th...
One day we will all find out which planner hurt @pushtheneedle.bsky.social to make them like this
Seattle is getting really good at inducing demand to use public spaces downtown, we should try deploying the same thing citywide.
unclear that two years of insufficient temporary funding will make any difference to transit agencies considering cuts because they have a long term budget imbalance. democratic leadership just cut the legs out from a fix that could have held us over until the next long session
Oregon's Democratic-majority legislature, in the middle of a special session to raise emergency transportation funding, just added a transit funding sunset, creating another likely fiscal cliff just a few years down the road.
A driver killed a shopper in a Kirkland grocery store. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Your city is not full.
This amendment takes advantage of a loophole in @jessdbateman.bsky.social's SB 5571, which says cities can't regulate any exterior cladding materials that are otherwise in compliance with state building code...except in historic districts.
Arson has been a problem in Seattle this summer. Two trash cans outside the Central Library were burned yesterday morning, and the book drop was burned this morning. A sad and distressing trend.
Seattle Transportation Plan April 23 2024—August 28 2025
You really can't go home again.
Most of our city wading pools close in *mid-August*.
Good illustration of how the waterfront we ordered ten years ago just got delivered.
It's actually kind of funny how little blame gets placed on the state legislature when it comes to how Alaskan Way looks.
We're one week away from the big grand opening celebration for the new Seattle waterfront, so I'm having fun going back through the original conceptual renderings presented to the public in 2012.
Very true. This post is about the people who are MAD about it.
"Car light Pike Place will NEVER WORK because of emergency access" Actual Seattle Fire Department: "Who wants stickers?"
Salute to the visitors silently powering through (with breaks) as opposed to getting all indignant.
My favorite iteration of Seattle tourist is the "we weren't told there'd be hills here" variety.
This was from this week's Sound Transit board meeting, where he got pushback on an amendment that other board members saw as potentially favoring Seattle by prioritizing regional growth centers. It ended up passing by two votes.
A lot of the jokes that Bruce Harrell makes in public are on the theme of "I'm a bully and everyone kinda knows that."
Final weekend for Trailhead Direct in 2025. 😢
A little harder to do that when it's tied up in two separate appeals.
bsky.app/profile/type...
bsky.app/profile/type...
A Sara Nelson campaign email asserts that she is "pushing to get millions in unused housing funds off the shelf and into actual homes", which is news to me as a city hall reporter. Nelson has actually proposed borrowing against Office of Housing dollars to fill other budget holes.
After a busy week of covering Sound Transit, I ended up using every type of transportation the agency offers today. It's great to have the regional transit connections that we do. Also Sounder should run all day.
Had a lovely trip to Tacoma today to visit the excellent Tacoma Art Museum and its Nirvana photography exhibit, which closes on Sunday.
On the agenda for next week. www.seattle.gov/neighborhood...
As mentioned, the Pioneer Square preservation board.
Clark/Barnes architecture is heading to the Pioneer Square preservation board next week with a proposal to fully retrofit the Grand Central, City Loan, and Buttnick buildings next to Occidental Park, with a new addition to accommodate a spa and hotel.
SDOT: Denny Way can't support an additional bus lane because congestion. Also SDOT: We're fine letting buses on 2nd Ave sit in congestion through the middle of the day to retain curbside parking.
So there's this cool event that doesn't happen enough on Lake Washington Boulevard called Bicycle Weekends
Looking at this is going to prompt some tough conversations. The question is, how many other board members would even think to bring up this issue?
"The Wallingford Community Council (WCC) was astonished to discover Amendment 34" "...the news has sent shockwaves through the neighborhood" See, this is why you always read @theurbanist.org www.theurbanist.org/2025/08/01/r...
The Wallingford Community Council is whipping up opposition to Alexis Mercedes Rinck's amendment restoring the Gas Works Park neighborhood center to the Seattle Comp Plan, calling it a "last minute" change that was "denied ten months of public engagement opportunities."
This is the most overt example yet of a slow move toward providing district councilmembers special privileges. www.theurbanist.org/2025/07/21/s...
Please look up "Subarea Equity."
Next week the Seattle Council's transportation committee will discuss a resolution standing up the $1 million per year "District Project Fund." It's explicit in excluding Seattle's two citywide elected councilmembers from submitting potential transportation improvements using this special pot of $.
SPD's account of what happened: "Police determined that the woman walked across the train tracks, westbound, and a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), going south on MLK, struck her. A sedan then crashed into the SUV from behind, creating a two-vehicle collision." spdblotter.seattle.gov/2025/08/29/d...
At 5am this morning, Seattle Fire responded to a driver who had hit someone walking near 9840 MLK Jr Way S, s of S Norfolk Street. The person who was hit was found dead, on the light rail tracks. At least one other vehicle was involved in the crash, but not a light rail train.
If "left NIMBYs don't exist" then how exactly do you explain Bainbridge Island.
I wasn't exactly wrong, huh.
Will it
When we're touting the "second longest light rail line in the country" and we haven't even started on the extensions to Tacoma and Everett it might actually be time for some introspection. I can't say I actually expect that.
Here it is, the Sound Transit story of the year. Sound Transit plans major program reset in face of $30 to $40 billion shortfall www.theurbanist.org/2025/08/28/s...
This man has been in elected office in Washington since three years after Forward Thrust failed
IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH... Sound Transit expects to receive $4 to $5 billion less in revenue than originally expected to over the life of its financial plan, which includes a decline in sales tax revenue. And the agency can't just pass a gas tax increase like the legislature.
There's also an extra $5 billion that Sound Transit says it needs to maintain existing service. This includes escalating labor and maintenance costs, but also costs related to new light rail vehicles. There's also some resilience expenditures here, including downtown crossover tracks.
Happy Federal Way Link opening announcement day everyone
The impact to Sound Transit's capital program is expected to be up to $20 billion in today's dollars, or $30 billion in year-of-expenditure dollars. This should provide additional context on CM Balducci's request to look at bedrock assumptions like the second downtown tunnel.
HAPPENING NOW: the Sound Transit board is getting new details of the full long-term financial deficit impacting the agency over the long term. CEO Dow Constantine just told board members that the agency faces a 20-25% funding shortfall through 2046, a gap that translates to $30-$40 billion dollars.
And yet, a new lane will solve congestion immediately
"I mean sure, that didn't happen when we closed a lane for construction. But this is DIFFERENT."
The second downtown tunnel will be built as part of Ballard Link, but is being funded jointly by the entire region as a way to increase capacity for the entire network. The existing tunnel currently has significant capacity constraints, especially during disruptions.
The context is the adoption of principles for an agency-wide program reset. Balducci notes significant benefits that could come from figuring out how to achieve the frequencies we need in the existing downtown tunnel, including the resolution of the issue of where to site a new station in the CID.
At a Sound Transit board meeting right now, King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci is currently broaching the subject of whether the agency needs to fund a second light rail tunnel under downtown Seattle as a part of building out the full ST3 network.
Cool story Greg
Denny Way repaving without bus lanes was approved during Spotts' tenure.
And you didn't call me?
In 2019, during the EIS process for the new arena, traffic volumes were expected to increase by 20-33% on Denny Way, which is why we absolutely had to spend millions on updated signals. Except that was clearly made up too, because Denny Way was already gridlock. BUILD THE FUTURE WE KNOW WE NEED.
The board meeting starts at 1:30. This morning's announcement was focused on Federal Way.
SDOT is essentially taking any new Denny Way bus lane off the table here, due to concerns over general purpose congestion that stem from traffic modeling.
Yes. I almost added that caveat, sorry.
Feeder bus service is the jurisdiction of King County Metro.
We can hand-wring about this while at the same time acknowledging that it only would have changed the location of a single station, at Star Lake.
Confused about this, because it's not International Boulevard. It's Pacific Highway.
Almost certainly
Asking Metro.
Being the only transit rider at a transit related press event continues to be incredibly demoralizing when I wish it was embarrassing for the transit agency involved.
The station isn't open yet?
Federal Way Link will open on... December 6.
At Kent Des Moines Station this morning for the big announcement on a Federal Way Link Extension opening date. Will it be before Thanksgiving?
Getting to light rail stations before they're actually open is always a learning experience. RapidRide A stops across the street from Kent Des Moines Station, but it's a ten minute walk thanks to Pac Highway. And then the signal across the highway didn't even change for me. Lots of parking though
Big day ahead for Sound Transit news.
I love Bruce Harrell's Downtown Activation Plan
2021 www.theurbanist.org/2021/10/13/s...
In fact very few of the 20 miles referenced were from projects that started under the Harrell Administration. That includes all the Hot Bike Summer projects. www.theurbanist.org/2025/08/11/s...
Not mentioned today: E Marginal went out to bid under Harrell, but originated as a project with a study funded by Mike McGinn and reached full funding under Jenny Durkan.
SDOT held a walking tour of E Marginal Way this morning, as the city wraps up work on the $40M rebuild of the street that added bike facilities and freight upgrades. Deputy Mayor Farrell & SDOT Director Emery both touted the 20 miles of new bike facilities the city's built with Harrell as Mayor.
Within the next few years, King County Metro figures out how to avert a fiscal cliff, Sound Transit undergoes an agency-wide program reset, and Seattle renews its transit funding measure. I don't think it's an overstatement to say we're standing at a generational moment for transit in Puget Sound.
The best case for replacing the Magnolia bridge?
To remove the bridge entirely.
A ground level trail. www.theurbanist.org/2023/09/13/p...
No, they mean the affordable housing project in Bainbridge would be like an elevated highway as an eyesore
A man who just testified against the 625 Winslow Way project, who says he's seen Bainbridge Island get more "crowded" since he moved there, compared looking at an affordable housing project next to the ferry terminal to the now-demolished Alaskan Way Viaduct on the Seattle Waterfront.
There's also some project opponents testifying tonight, including council candidates Sarah Blossom and Lara Lant asking for alternative sites to be considered. I can't help but notice no one is testifying in support of the 70-unit proposal, which was supposed to be a compromise.
Right now a gym owner is recounting their past struggles with housing insecurity, noting how the doors they used in the past are now "firmly closed." Earlier, testimony was read from employees at Bainbridge grocery stores describing how they were only able to find housing in Silverdale or Bremerton.
A week after the Bainbridge Island council voted to downsize a planned affordable housing project planned by LIHI near the state ferry terminal, supporters of the project have shown up in force to tonight's council meeting to push for retaining the full project. www.theurbanist.org/2025/08/22/b...