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 Washington legislature just approved a broad set of changes expanding the authority of cities and counties to use automatic cameras.
As a $930 million transportation levy winds down, its oversight body has made it clear that a simple renewal this year won't be enough to address Seattle's transportation issues. The group is pushing Mayor Harrell to go big.
A bill pushed by Bothell Rep. Davina Duerr and approved by the Washington legislature this week would prioritize trees when retention policies come into conflict with local parking mandates.
April 1 is the launch date for Pierce Transit's newest offering, the Stream Community Line. A peak-hour service that will shadow existing service on the Route 1 between Tacoma Dome Station and Spanaway, the Community Line will run every 20 minutes from 5:30am to 7:30am and from 4pm to 7pm, only stopping at the most frequently-used stops along Pacific Avenue and Mountain Highway.
The idea of how the Sound Transit board can reset with a greater emphasis on making decisions through a regional lens was one of the primary topics at this week's Sound Transit board retreat.
The Seattle Transportation Plan, shows a lofty vision for the next two decades of city investment in transportation. The hard part comes next with funding it and effectively implementing it — plus, aligning it with a delayed comprehensive plan for land use.
Large highway signs that prompted pushback from nearby residents when they were installed last year around SR 520 in Montlake are getting a second look. The state has $750,000 in tweaks planned that would scale back the size of new road signage.
$3.1 million for additional water taxi runs between Downtown Seattle and Vashon Island is set to be allocated by the legislature to make up for lost state ferry service to Fauntleroy.