Open Thread 45

Countdowns: East Link Starter Line (April 27, 11am), Lynnwood Link (August 30).

Transit Updates:

SDOT is closing the Spokane Street Swing Bridge (low bridge) for 10 days starting Friday, April 19 (planned reopening on Sunday, April 28). SDOT is offering free rides on Metro or the Water Taxi for impacted users.

Systems Integration Testing will begin soon on the Downtown Redmond extension of the 2 Line.

Local News:

Erica C Barnett (PubliCola) reports on broad-base advocacy for a more ambitious Transportation Levy. Public feedback on the proposed Levy is open until April 26.

Ryan Packer (The Urbanist) reports on King County Councilmember Mosqueda's efforts to refine the Preferred Alignment for the West Seattle Link Extension to save businesses in North Delridge that are currently slated to be demolished. The owner of one such business, Matt Larson (The Skylark Cafe), has penned a letter questioning whether ST followed its own property acquisitions and relocation procedures appropriately. Erin Rubin, the owner of neighboring Mode Music Studios, has also starting asking for help to prepare for relocation.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz writes in The Urbanist about how the Department of Natural Resources is now looking to lease State-owned land to affordable housing developers to help solve the housing affordability crisis.

Opinion/Miscellaneous:

Meet Andre Bacon, the Seattle Central College student who drives the Seattle Monorail (Seattle Collegian)

Tom Fuculoro (author/editor Seattle Bike Blog), parent of a former attendee of Pike Market Preschool, calls for a car-free Pike Place (Seattle Bike Blog). The piece has a neat history of the various changes to vehicle/pedestrian access to Pike Place Market over the decades.

The Seattle Times ($) reviews close.city, the website that lets you build your own walkability map for any city in the USA based on open data.

Reece Martin writes about how many transit plans are stuffed with priority vanity projects, but building transit on a plan that you can actually follow is powerful.

The Urbanist began a deep-dive series on proposed projects in the draft Seattle Transportation Levy, starting with the multi-modal Corridor projects.

Ferries make a comeback nationally. ($) Kitsap Transit ferry funding is extended but funding for the Electric Fast Foil Ferry | Kitsap Transit is on hold KT secures increased ferry funding; plans to change bus routes underway | Kitsap Daily News

How DC's transit agency invested in operations and recovered 83% of pre-covid ridership, and got Saturday to 17% above and Sunday 28% above pre-pandemic levels. It includes a history of federal transit grant policies since Carter.

The Seattle Times ($) wants to hear from tech workers across the Eastside about their commute and whether they plan to change it with the opening of the East Link Starter Line. No mention of interest in non-tech commuter opinions.

Videos

Trolley trucks in Germany (0:26), the electric highway controversy, and the failure of electric freight rail in England. (Sabine Hossenfelder video)

Mountlake Terrace Station testing (Eastside Transit; 0:49)

Upcoming Events:

April 15, 4pm: Stride Station Naming Workshop (Bothell Library).

April 16, 6pm: One Seattle Plan Open House (Garfield Community Center).

April 25, 6pm: One Seattle Plan Open House (Eckstein Middle School)