Transportation

In May 17th grand depart, 138 people attempted a 700-mile mountain bike route from La Push to Tekoa, Washington, dubbed the Cross-Washington or XWA bikepacking race.

On Wednesday, Bremerton ditched parking mandates, letting builders choose housing over excessive parking. Following in the footsteps of cities like Spokane, Port Townsend, and Bellingham, the move sets Bremerton up to prioritize housing needs and improving multimodal travel options.

Rather than jumping through new hoops to submit permit applications, Sound Transit will instead simply need to submit a report laying out the public outreach it conducted. The change should allow the original intent of the bill to streamline permitting to be maintained.

The proposal for a 0.1% sale tax hike comes in response to structural issues with King County's budget, and would generate around $100 million annually. Half would fund maintenance on unincorporated roads, and the other half is likely to go to safety upgrades at Metro.

Sound Transit's newly announced "enterprise initiative" is needed to respond to financial pressures expected to impact system expansion plans. But the work is expected to be broader than past financial restructures, where project delay was the most noticeable outcome.

Councilmember Maritza Rivera's last-minute proposal would require additional public outreach and documentation for light rail permit applications. The underlying bill had been intended to cut red rape. After pushback from Councilmembers Rinck and Strauss, the vote was delayed a week.

The impending start of construction of the 12.5-acre bus base in Canyon Park marks a significant milestone for the Sound Transit Stride bus rapid transit network, expected to open in phases between 2028 and 2029.

Peak-only bus lanes will be converted to all-day operation between Fremont and N 115th Street as soon as next week. The move was initially planned in response to major construction work on I-5, which has mostly been delayed to 2026 and 2027.