Parker Welch

When the bids are made public it should be obvious which contractor has won, but TXDOT will still need to check they have everything they want for regulatory compliance…etc. before the contract is actually awarded

A bit later the contract is executed, then pre-construction meetings will follow

So, to explain, there are two dates listed for ultimate construction downtown - September 2029 & January 2030

Neither of those are the actual start of construction. September is the advertisement date, when the contract is put out for bid. January is the letting date, when the bids are made public

That info is being slightly overshadowed by TXDOT trying to jam the city by moving up funding commitment deadlines for the freeway cap support structures, but rest assured this is good news

www.kxan.com/traffic/traf...

ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION (AC) •July 2026: University Advanced Letting •September 2026: Downtown Advanced Letting •TXDOT bridges, frontage roads, & minor utility relocations. ULTIMATE CONSTRUCTION •January 2029: University Ultimate Letting • January 2030: Downtown Ultimate Letting • TDOT highway suppression &major utility relocations. •City-funded roadway elements, cap decks, and East Ave Trail. Timeline Finishing FY (future start dates in parentheses): FY '24 FY '25 FY *26 MLK BRIDGE [IN CST] FY '27 FY '28 FY *29 DRAINAGE TUNNELS [IN CST] PUMP STATION [IN CST] POWER TO PUMP STATION (JULY 2026) FY *30 AUS WATER UTIL RELO IN CITY ROW (OCTOBER 2026) FY '31 UNIVERSITY AC (JULY 2026) DOWNTOWN AC (SEPTEMBER 2026) FY '32 FY *33 LBL (Holly St. to Ben White) [IN CST] UNIVERSITY (SEPTEMBER 2028) DOWNTOWN (SEPTEMBER 2029)

Construction on the main lanes of TXDOT’s I-35 expansion at UT Austin has been delayed 3 years to 2029, Downtown segment delayed to 2030

If you hear a low rumbling sound, that is probably everyone at ATP laughing their asses off

A ruling that was supposed to address one case has now become de facto policy for our entire city - without transparency, stakeholder input, or procedural guardrails.

It should be rescinded or formally reconsidered at Monday's BOA.

These are not abstract consequences

• Austin will see much more flat roofs
• Historic rooflines become FAR liabilities
• HVAC will have to live in fur-downs
and...
• MORE DEMOLITION OF EXISTING HOMES

Back to the case - By declaring attic voids to be floor area, the ruling effectively shrinks how much livable space a homeowner can build under FAR limits.

Not through Council, not through public process — but through a late-night reinterpretation of a word.

City of Austin Board of Appeals for 10/13/25 Item 2 - Public Hearings - New Interpretation case C15-2025-0035 205 E. 34th Street

On Oct 13, the Austin BOA accidentally rewrote the city’s housing rules late at night by declaring attic space over 6' high = floor area, even if it’s unfinished, uninhabitable, and literally just insulation + HVAC.

A late add-on motion. No study. No notice. Now citywide policy

A graph of year on year ridership growth in the 10 largest US transit agencies

Another month of US transit data is just in, & DC's WMATA remains the fastest-growing major US transit agency, with ridership up 10% compared to last year!

King County Metro (Seattle, +7%) & SEPTA (Philly, +5.3%) have performed well, while LA Metro & NJTransit have lost riders🧵

Environmental documents and preliminary designs for High-Speed Rail between Los Angeles and Anaheim are out. They call for electrifying two tracks owned by BNSF, proving freight railroads are no obstacle to a public agency with teeth. SoCal could chose to implement this early to #ElectrifyMetrolink

You could tell me this was part of the promotional campaign for Robots (2005) and I would believe you

Permits Filed for Transit Oriented Project at North Berkely BART Permits have been filed for the construction of new housing located at 1700 Sacramento Street in Berkeley. The site is currently part of...

I was 19 when I asked that my BART parking lot be turned into housing. It was a pipedream. @alfredtwu.com made a drawing of apartments here that caused a neighborhood freakout. I met @libbington.bsky.social and she organized the area pro-housers. At 29, it finally begins.
sfyimby.com/2025/12/perm...

This is a disgrace and it will cost lives.

Sec. Kennedy seems determined to rollback our progress fighting deadly diseases because he can’t look beyond his own ideological agenda.

He’s a threat to our health and must be fired immediately.

We are dealing with a cult whose only god is Death

Closed loop (Eavor) and enhanced geothermal (Fervo) technologies, both of which are now operating commercially, can expand geothermal from a gigawatt-scale resource available in just a few places to a terawatt-scale resource available practically everywhere! #Upshift

Image of Austin’s old compatibility buffers

Diagram of Austin’s current post-reform compatibility buffers last year, which ends at 75 feet from the property line and allows buildings up to 60’ in height within the zone between 50 and 75 feet from the property line, equal to the base zoning height of most multi-family/commercial districts

Any development here like only became viable after Austin reformed its outrageous “compatibility” buffers last year, which once extended 540’ from the property line of any single-family home

Oh you love to see it folks

The entire Roberts project is so confused about itself. Because it’s clear he jealously guards the power of the Court, but then at the same time he uses the Court to excavate all substance from the rule of law, which is the source of all the Court’s power! One would think the clue was in the name!

One way or another, the Trump era is obviously coming to an end

But the specter of tyranny will still be there, waiting for some other wicked man to wield, unless we make structural changes. We have to disempower the offices that have proven so tempting for would-be authoritarians.

Congress has to re-assert control over the Supreme Court & the Presidency or the only branch accountable to the people will be swallowed up entirely

We did it! After years of work, our Downtown for All zoning reform plan has passed the New Haven Board of Alders!

Our legislation significantly expands how much housing can be built in our city's core, and it will make a real difference for New Haven families.

🧵More details:

It's good Addison is staying in DART but it's insane it was debated at all considering the area around the new Silver Line has the 3rd highest employment cluster in the region after Downtown & the Medical District. It has better land use than almost all the light rail stations!

There is really nothing new under the sun

In 1900 a popular rationale for excluding concession food and drink in SF's Golden Gate Park was animus against immigrants - specifically Germans

> where beer shall foam... while pretzels shall tangle the teeth with thirst, where the mettwurst, the sauerkraut and the sausage lay claim.

Holy shit San Francisco!

60% of the city rezoned, most places exceeding (!!) SB 79. The most restrictive of these allows attached 4–8 story apt buildings with no cap on the # of homes inside, no parking mandates, and by-right streamlined approval.

Movement racking up the municipal wins today 🏆🏆🏆

Woohoo! Good job Addison and good job @ridewithdata.org

i'd say the midterm-level turnout for a special election is even more ominous than the swing

YouTube video by CorkSacredHarp 268 David's Lamentation - Second Ireland Sacred Harp Convention, 2012

youtu.be/LwcAs0wIrik?...

I hate that the exact words are from a video game, because I think it is profoundly true that “grief is the culmination of love”—it is, esp. if things go well, the intended outcome

A mother may grieve her son in two senses: at his death or at his shame. Both, I think, are born from & bear out love

It’s difficult to love an enemy who has to be defeated, even destroyed, to protect the innocent and uphold justice. How do you love someone you want to destroy, if that sentence is handed down? I don’t have a great answer. Maybe the commandment is only fulfilled in mourning who they might have been.