Ryan Packer

With the 1 Line extension to Federal Way open, all eyes are now on the 2 Line and Crosslake Connection!

With the major milestone of pre-revenue operations around the corner, here’s an update of all the things we’ve been working on.

#1Line #2Line

So the Sound Transit board's exec committee is discussing the second downtown tunnel tomorrow morning.

It seems like board chair Dave Somers wants to get all discussion of dropping the tunnel out of the way before potential ST3 realignment scenarios start to get put forward early next year.

Not the best day for a walk on steep hillside trails

Sounds like this is in the upper area of the park accessed via 85th

Seattle Fire is currently responding to someone at Golden Gardens Park who was walking on a trail that has fully washed out due to flooding. Luckily, it sounds like they weren't trapped by the landslide.

Update: per SPD, the person who was hit may have been riding a bike.

Location on a map

A little over an hour ago, Seattle Fire responded to a driver hitting someone walking at 3rd Ave W and W Raye Street, near David Rogers Park in Queen Anne.

The 25 year old woman who was hit was transported to the hospital with significant injuries.

Attention: many parts of the Duwamish and Green River Trail are closed to access this morning due to flooding concerns

Despite Sidewalk Funding Boost, Some Seattle Neighborhoods Still Feel Shortchanged » The Urbanist # Seattle is missing thousands of blocks of sidewalks. But the lower-cost sidewalk alternatives being advanced by the Seattle Department of Transportation don't always live up to what's expected in ne...

Seattle's new transportation levy includes a record amount of funding for sidewalks. But residents along 21st Ave S in Beacon Hill are feeling shortchanged by the city's plan for their area, which involves a lower cost "pathway" instead of a concrete sidewalk.
www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/10/d...

My heart is full.

Location on a map

About 45 minutes ago, Seattle Fire responded to a driver hitting a 14 year old child at Rainier Ave S and S Oregon Street, near Rainier Playfield.

The child was transported to Harborview with significant injuries.

Final vote on SPOG contract:

Yes: Kettle, Rivera, Strauss, Hollingsworth, Juarez, Nelson
No: Lin, Rinck, Saka

The SPOG contract passes on a 6-3 vote.

County council meetings are always fascinating. I tuned in to hear a discussion of Sound Transit board appointments and end up learning more about how King County is involved in the biomethane industry.

"We are indeed in a pickle," Claudia Balducci said a few minutes ago, speaking more broadly about the ST board appointments. "It's not uncommon for us to get into pickles, but this is a particularly large pickle."

Trying to not read too much into McLeod directly referencing West Seattle and Ballard there before Pete von Reichbauer directly referenced McLeod's perceived commitment to "the spine."

Anyway, McLeod was just confirmed.

The King County Council is considering the latest slate of Sound Transit board appointments, with Tukwila Mayor Tom McLeod is up now: "Everything needs to be on the table for board consideration; ultimately, choices in Ballard and West Seattle will ripple across the entire financial plan," he says.

Angle Lake signage at Westlake when everything else says Federal Way and Downtown Redmond

Tourist arriving in Seattle for the first time today and heading to Westlake Station: "What's an Angle Lake?"

Girmay Zahilay presenting a 20 years of service award to a link light rail supervisor

Girmay Zahilay is directly handing out 20 years of service awards to King County Metro employees right now at today's county council meeting right now and it is honestly warming my heart.

Not if the alternative is no elevator at all.

It is the Cascadia Innovation Corridor/Challenge Seattle

I expected to livepost this but, there's just nothing of substance really being put on the table. Yes, we aren't building enough housing. Yes, it's good to plan transportation improvements at the same time as housing. But no one is addressing why planning needs to be "corridor based."

Item 4: 10:45 Corridor Urbanism Successes, Challenges and Opportunities Presenters: Dave Anderson, Managing Director, Growth Management Services, Washington State Department of Commerce Ruth Steiner, Professor, Urban Design, University of Florida Andrew Fremier, Executive Director, Association of Bay Area Governments and Metropolitan Transportation Commission “Corridor urbanism” focuses on the development of housing, services, and commercial development along major arterials to create safer and more walkable, transit-friendly communities. This panel will discuss several examples of corridor urbanism from Florida, California and Washington.

Washington's Transportation Commission is holding a work session on "corridor urbanism" this morning, something that continues to circulate around state level planning after being promoted by Chris Gregoire's think-tank.

Location on a map

Just after 12:30am last night, Seattle Fire responded to a driver hitting someone walking at Rainier Ave S and S Charles Street.

The person who was hit, a 50 year old man, was transported to Harborview with significant injuries.

They're set to be legal within most reasonable parameters, but IMO there's an ocean of regulatory barriers standing between "legal" and "actually feasible" on top of current market forces the city has little control over.

I think OPCD will have its hands full even without opening it back up. They're short staffed as it is!

The Comp Plan says we should allow midrise apartment buildings along transit corridors. The limiting factor for a Wilson Administration isn't the plan, it's the amount of environmental review that's already been done. Let sleeping Comp Plans lie.

I don't think Katie Wilson should "reopen" the Comp Plan. It's actually a really big gift that she doesn't have to touch the Comp Plan update, which was a dead weight around the Harrell Administration's leg. She can make zoning changes without fully reopening everything.

Making this trip on transit doesn't seem terrible on paper, but that last 15 minutes on foot looks really quite unpleasant.

Heck yeah indeed

That was a nice 10 days between finally confirming who won this year's elections and starting to cover who is running in next year's elections.