Midweek Roundup: yet again

New post on Page Two: Reader Jack Valko proposes The Burke-Gilman Subway

Monthly maintenance continues on the Eastside: Buses replace Link2Line trains between South Bellevue and Overlake Villagestations after ~10pm tonight and tomorrow.

Local News:

• ST Board Chair Somers wants to finish the Spine at all costs (The Urbanist).
• Seattle CM Rob Saka wants to audit" vision zero to an unclear end (The Urbanist).
• The embattled KCRHA is facing calls for dissolution after a scathing forensic audit (PubliCola). Regional leaders appear to nearing consensus on winding down" the agency.
• Broken steel closes lanes of aging Tacoma Narrows Bridge (The Seattle Times, $).
• ST is expanding its paid parking permit program (Sound Transit)
• Crucial Ballard Link Deadline Pushed Back Yet Again by Feds (The Urbanist)
• Everett Transit and Community Transit Restart Annexation Talks (The Urbanist)
• Crosslake Explained: tracking wind and wave conditions on a floating bridge (The Platform)
• Pioneer Square to be walkable pedestrian zone for 6 FIFA matches (SDOT Blog)
• A rare rave" review of Link from a Seattle Times reader ($).

Further Afield:

• Next year, Oregon will start taxing all electric cars about $0.02/mile driven as it adopts road use charge (Streetsblog USA). The tax is set at 5% of the fuel tax rate.
• Economic data since the 1800s indicates U.S. construction costs rarely fall (Construction Physics)
• Trump's USDOT is launching the Freedom to Drive" initiative, fast-tracking congestion projects instead of transit projects (USDOT).
• Cities in the US and Canada could consider aspiring to be like Sao Paulo (Next Metro, soft $)
• The death of the affordable car is stranding residents of car-dependent neighborhoods (The New York Times, gift link)
• How TransLink (Vancouver, BC) fit longer trains onto its short platforms (The Buzzer)

This is an Open Thread. Uncivil comments will be moderated.