Midweek Roundup: bill comes due

New post on Page 2: Renton's Transit Center Moves Toward I-405. If you're a reader and interested in lending your perspective on transit and land use in the region, contact us.

• WSDOT has taken another step toward revamping access to I-90 from Rainier Ave South, with the project team recommending Alternative 2" for preliminary design (WSDOT Blog).
• Issaquah city leaders have some ideas how to build the 4 Line faster and cheaper (The Urbanist)
• The freeway bill comes due: WA State Senate wants to issue $2 billion in bonds to fund highway and bridge maintenance after years of raising regressive taxes to fund major freeway expansions (The Urbanist). The House's proposed budget is more conservative. Transit and ferries get the short straw. Additional coverage from The Seattle Times ($).
• King County is set to finally adopt a revamped bus network around the Federal Way Link Extension including a 72% boost to weekend bus service (The Urbanist). Additional updates direct from Metro (Metro Matters).
• Sound Transit wants transit riders to consider it the backbone of a synchronized, regional system (The Platform). The spine, if you will.
• Washington State Ferries will start charging a 3% credit card fee on March 1 (The Seattle Times, $)
• Seattle's Social Housing Developer is boosting staffing and looking to start buying property after first-year tax revenues were confirmed at $115M (The Urbanist).
• A discussion of the problems that arise when buses are free but subway trains are not (Pedestrian Observations)
• Washington is about to become the first state in the nation to have a comprehensive inventory of all of the sidewalks and pedestrian paths within its borders (Streetsblog USA)
• One-way streets help funnel commuters in and out of congested downtowns, but at the cost of killing pedestrians, street-level businesses, and the environment (Jalopnik).

This is an Open Thread.