Month: January 2014

• Seattle Council considering actually reducing allowed density in lowrise zones.
• Delivery date for new Water Taxis slips to 2015.
• Seattle looking at a bicycle/pedestrian second Montlake bridge; WSDOT will decide.
• Area rents drop in the 4th quarter ($), report predicts more drops in 2014.
• There are about 100 attacks on Metro drivers per year.
• Auburn putting in 200 apartments and 10,000 sq. ft. of retail next to the Sounder station.
• Westwood Village residents try to find somewhere else to layover buses.
• New Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell will look for federal funding to get light rail.
• Apodments come to Delridge.
• Beacon Hill gets its greenway.
• Jarrett Walker dismantles a skewed road lobby report.
• Wouldn’t it be weird if we funded food stamps through a special tax on restaurants and grocery stores?
• LAPD going after jaywalkers ($).

This is an open thread.

• RapidRide E and F, which were supposed to launch in 2013, slipped to 2014.  We can now expect RR E in February and RR F in June.
• The First Hill Streetcar will open in the Spring
• 2014 is also the year in which the 6-year Metro budget drama is scheduled to come to a head via drastic service cuts, although it appears that there will be a King County ballot initiative (the so-called “Plan B”) to go it alone, perhaps in the Spring.
• As it gears up for major construction and expansion in 2015-16, Sound Transit service is largely unchanged in 2014.  This might be the quietest year ST’s had since its inception in terms of introducing new service.
• The Center City Connector, connecting the First Hill and South Lake Union Streetcars, will likely get funding.
• On a related note, 2014 will be the inaugural year for Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. We’ll be watching closely to see what, if any, changes occur on his watch.
• Down South in Pierce County, two new routes to Olympia will begin paid service in January.
• Even further South, expect better Cascades service to Eugene.
• Finally, with any luck we’ll find out what’s blocking Bertha