The University of Washington Center for Human Rights reports a “powerful surge” in immigration enforcement in the region. Local officials are accelerating efforts to block federal detention center expansions.
Washington and Oregon will focus on replacing I-5's twin Columbia River bridges with a new freeway bridge ready to carry light rail to Downtown Vancouver, Governor Bob Ferguson announced Wednesday. The project is still facing a budget gap that could stretch into the billions.
Claudia Balducci leads with strong urbanist values, and is a key voice on transit, housing, and environmental issues. The Urbanist Elections Committee heartily recommends retaining her as District 6's King County Councilmember.
The $350 million contract with Hoffman Construction, expected to be approved later this month, sets up a major piece of Sound Transit's system expansion puzzle. "OMF South" will be the agency's third train base.
To speed up transit, King County Metro is officially allowing all-door boarding on buses systemwide starting Saturday, March 28, coinciding with the spring bus service change and Sound Transit's big crosslake 2 Line launch
The pressure to invest in degrading state highways pushed legislators to turn to $1.3 billion in bonding, a move necessary due to so many dollars being tied up in highway expansion projects like the North Spokane Corridor and the Puget Sound Gateway.
Pierce County is set to consider an ordinance on March 24 that would prohibit a new ICE detention facility within its unincorporated areas. On March 3, King County passed just such an emergency ordinance. Advocates hope officials can do more to block illegal detentions.
Earlier this week, Governor Bob Ferguson signed the Seattle Social Housing Developer's priority bill, granting new powers to collaborate with state and local government and receive access to public land.
State lawmakers declined to unlock a financial tool that Sound Transit sought to get through a coming financial crunch, and approved a tax package that is expected to bring the agency a big revenue hit.
Thanks to newly revealed cost-saving measures, the cost to bring rail to Alaska Junction is now just $700 million to $1.1 billion over the amount baked into Sound Transit's financial plan, a major change compared to where things stood just 18 months ago.