Ryan Packer
Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
The unanimous vote follows a similar moratorium in SeaTac, with Burien, Renton, and Seattle expected to follow suit. As an epicenter of ICE activity in Puget Sound, Tukwila had unique reason to believe a detention center could be coming to their city.
The $2 billion in new bonding in the Senate's transportation budget would help bolster the state's highway and bridge maintenance spending, which has lagged due to longstanding prioritization of new highway projects. But the debt load could create problems for future budget writers.
The service boost will come in part from the restoration of 80,000 service hours that have been suspended since 2020. With the new network, Metro takes a big step toward a more frequent, all-day network in South King County.
The City of Seattle is planning 21 on-street bike corrals in place of illegal parking spots abutting intersections. But a debate over the aesthetic impact on Pioneer Square could overshadow the proposal's benefits and derail the project.
Hoping to avoid simply delaying projects or shortening lines, Sound Transit has been looking high and low for potential cost savings. Those options are set to be contemplated at a March 18 board retreat that will set the stage for major decisions in the months ahead.
The 41-7 vote in the Washington State Senate advances a proposal that would allow builders more flexibility to install smaller elevators in smaller apartment buildings, a small step toward bringing U.S. elevator costs more in line with the rest of the world.
The proposal to empower local governments across Puget Sound to set up their own passenger ferry districts fell short in the Senate after passing the House last year. Its sponsor is pushing even harder this year, seeking to bolster the precarious state ferry system.
SDOT's plan for adding barricades ahead of this summer's World Cup leans heavily on planters and movable barricades. While the infrastructure could ultimately form a template for longer-term upgrades, these changes look to be quick and dirty and aimed at protecting pedestrians as Seattle opens itself to the world stage.