Weekend Roundup: Ballard Bridge Closure

Historic Postcard, circa 1920's. Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #9901_01_008.

Ballard Bridge will be closed tonight (9/27, 7 pm) to Monday (9/30, 5 am). SDOT has advice on how to get around.

Transit News:

• My Ballard: Temporary lane restrictions and sidewalk repairs continue for Route 40 upgrades
• Capitol Hill Seattle: With G humming on Madison, SDOT completes work on Route 48 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor Project, the 23rd Ave RapidRide route that never was
• Cascade PBS: Proposal for WA ferry engineers, oilers falls short of pay parity
• King Count Metro Matters: Double the excellence: King County Metro celebrates Operators of the Year
• Community Transit: Coming from Whidbey Island to the mainland? We've got something new, just for you
• Washington State Standard: Conversion of Washington ferry to hybrid-electric power is delayed
• Mass Transit: King County Metro to begin next phase of multi-year infrastructure improvement program
• Posting later today: King County Metro Weekend Update.

Land Use News:

• The Urbanist: Seattle Council Streamlines Development Downtown with 3-Year Design Review Bypass; the temporary exemption applies to new developments Downtown, First Hill, South Lake Union, and Uptown.
• The Urbanist: Seattle's Low-Pollution Neighborhood Pledge Remains in Planning Mode, Seven Years In
• South Seattle Emerald: Habitat for Humanity Breaks Ground on Its Largest-Ever Multifamily Project, Located in Columbia City
• Seattle City Council Blog: Council creates new music venue parking permit to support musicians and live music venues

Seattle Budget Coverage:

• SDOT Blog: Mayor Harrell's 2025-2026 Proposed Budget for SDOT
• The Seattle Times: Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell unveils 2025 budget plan at City Hall
• The Urbanist: Harrell Swipes Affordable Housing Dollars to Backfill Budget, Reduce Service Cuts
• PubliCola: Harrell's Budget Plan Uses Affordable-Housing Tax to Fund Police, Jails, Sweeps-and Downtown Beautification

Opinions and Further Afield:

• South Seattle Emerald: Op-Ed - What Does It Mean to Live in a City?
• Los Angeles (CA) Metro: Our popular Throne restroom program has expanded. Can we get some public restrooms, too?
• City of Santa Monica (CA): Clean & Safe: TAP-to-Exit Program to enhance security at downtown Santa Monica E Line station; as ST abandons tap-offs in favor of flat fares, LA Metro (with its $1.75 flat fare across all services) is piloting tap-to-exit" in the name of security
• The Conversation: Big lithium plans for Imperial Valley, one of California's poorest regions, raise a bigger question: Who should benefit?; if everything is going to run on rechargeable batteries, we're going to need a lot of fancy metals.
• Urban Land: The Intersection of Design and Engineering in Resilient Development in Nashville
• Bloomberg CityLab: Unlocking the Hidden Power of Zoning, for Good or Bad

This is an Open Thread.