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 final piece of the decades-long replacement of the SR 520 bridge will move forward thanks to funding authorized this year, but Washington State's overall transportation budget is on rockier ground.
The new Swift Orange Line brings 10-minute bus service on weekdays, improving options for riders trying to get across Snohomish County. It runs from Edmonds College to McCollum Park, connecting destinations like Lynnwood City Center and Mill Creek Town Center on the way.
The current attempt to reshape how Aurora Avenue operates represents a phenomenal test for the City of Seattle. Is its pledge to end traffic deaths real or just for show?
By being crystal clear that most councilmembers don't support reallocating existing street space to create new bike corridors, the Bellevue City Council effectively rejected the network its transportation department created.
Recent initiatives at both Sound Transit and the City of Seattle have put the issue of safety along the at-grade segment of light rail tracks in the Rainier Valley back in the spotlight.
The federal programs are aimed at repairing past harms from transportation infrastructure, but the two long-planned Stride stations leave much unrepaired.
Sound Transit has...
The Seattle Planning Commission has given the proposed One Seattle Comprehensive Plan a once-over. The reviews are not good.
Small but mighty Port Townsend appears to be the first city in Washington State to have fully ditched its off-street parking requirements.