This past Saturday morning, The Urbanist held a walking tour focusing on the central topics around transportation and the public realm involved in the One Center City mobility plan. In addition to interested members of the public, we were lucky to have a number of advocacy groups that are involved in One Center City, including Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Seattle Bike Blog, Seattle Subway, the First Hill Improvement Association.

Additionally, all four government agencies involved in One Center City, the Seattle Department of Transportation, Sound Transit, King County Metro, and the Office of Planning and Community Development at the City of Seattle,  and the Downtown Seattle Association, sent representatives to be on hand and contribute to the conversations. The result was a set of intense conversations that delved into the nitty gritty of what the challenges are that Downtown Seattle is facing in the next few years in particular.

Mafara Hobson of the Seattle Department of Transportation broadcast many of the conversations on their Twitter account, expanding the audience for our walking tour considerably and allowing you to check it out if you weren’t able to join us on Saturday.

Part 1: What does an additional North South bike lane through downtown on 4th Avenue look like?

Featuring Tom Fucoloro of Seattle Bike Blog, James Sido of the DSA, Victor Obeso, Duputy General Manager at King County Metro, Brie Gyncild of Seattle Central Greenways, and Ryan Packer of the Urbanist

Part 2: Thinking about transit capacity and space allocation Downtown

Featuring Keith Kyle of Seattle Subway

Part 3: Options for transit and bikes on 5th Avenue

Featuring Ryan Packer, Tom Fuculuro, Scott Kubly, director at SDOT.

Part 4: Two-way 6th Avenue and how to prioritize different modes

Featuring Ryan Packer and Keith Kyle

Part 5: Transit priority on 3rd Ave, and Pike/Pine bike lanes.

Featuring Keith Kyle and Ryan Packer

Part 5: Seattle’s exceptional circumstances

Featuring Scott Kubly

Part 6: Washington State Convention Center’s expansion plans and public benefits

Featuring Alex Hudson, executive director of the First Hill Improvement Association

 

Article Author
Ryan Packer
Website

Ryan Packer lives in the Summit Slope neighborhood of Capitol Hill and has been writing for the The Urbanist since 2015. They report on multimodal transportation issues, #VisionZero, preservation, and local politics. They believe in using Seattle's history to help attain the vibrant, diverse city that we all wish to inhabit. Ryan's writing has appeared in Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, Bike Portland, and Seattle Bike Blog, where they also did a four-month stint as temporary editor.