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 Eastside will have light rail service for the first time, as East Link launches Saturday. The Urbanist has everything you need to know about this momentous occasion.
Seattle's draft transportation levy takes a big step back when it comes to public transit investments, only proposing two full corridor upgrades and allocating less overall funding to transit.
The new Redmond Technology Station pedestrian bridge opened Monday. It will significantly shorten multimodal trips in the Overlake area and provide a direct connection to the SR 520 Trail.
250 blocks of new sidewalks was a big win from the Move Seattle levy. Now it's seen as the new baseline, with the 27% of missing blocks citywide being put front and center in the levy debate.
Seattle's 2015 transportation levy committed to expanding the city's bike network by 110 miles. Its follow up doesn't include a specific target.
With the idea of creating space for people to bike on busy Bel-Red Road and Northup Way off the table, the only option left on the table is a project to create a new street in Bellevue's BelRed neighborhood sometime in the 2030s.
The Route 8 has long been a headache for riders due to traffic congestion on Denny Way. Seattle is advancing plans that could move the route onto a different street where transit would be prioritized.
Sound Transit is months away from selecting a final route for the West Seattle Link Extension project. One King County Councilmember is asking for additional options to be looked at that could reduce business displacement.