Transportation

Senate Bill 5184 would put a cap on out-of-control parking mandates. It passed out of the Washington State Senate's Housing Committee on Wednesday, clearing its first hurdle.

State lawmakers are signaling intent to improve Amtrak Cascades service with legislation setting a goal of cutting the trip time from Seattle to Portland to 2.5 hours and boosting service to 14 daily trips with 88% on-time performance by 2035. If lawmakers pass the bill, the goal for trip time service north to Vancouver would be 2.75 hours.

High-speed rail as in investment in Cascadia remains a popular policy idea, but Reece Martin of RMTransit makes the case for prioritizing higher-speed rail upgrades to Amtrak Cascades.

The 3.4-mile light rail extension will add a station at Marymoor Village, near King County's largest park, and in the heart of Downtown Redmond. The May 10 opening sets the stage for the full extension of the 2 Line across Lake Washington later this year.

With housing advocates and the Port of Seattle divided on the issue of allowing housing near Seattle's sports stadiums, councilmembers are being forced to pick sides, after Sara Nelson reintroduced the proposal earlier this month.

Raised crosswalks and flashing beacons are set to be installed this summer at Judkins Park's I-90 ramps, which are steps from the forthcoming light rail station.

Jason Slaughter of Not Just Bikes compares Utrecht, Netherlands and London, Ontario, showing how both cities became car-oriented in the mid-century era. However, Utrecht uniquely undid the damage, becoming a city highly oriented around pedestrian, bike, and transit infrastructure.

Emery previously served as the head of SDOT's traffic operations division, spearheading work on the Transportation Equity Framework and leading on the installation of adaptive signal technology on Mercer Street.