Transportation

With right turns set to be prohibited from Westlake Avenue onto Denny Way, streetcar vehicles and buses will no longer be stuck behind turning car traffic. The change will also benefit the high numbers of pedestrians who use this major intersection.

This week, Sound Transit broke ground on a $274 million base in Bothell vital to the region's Stride bus rapid transit plans. The base will support battery electric buses for the S1, S2, and S3 lines, which together compose 45 miles of service spanning from Lynnwood to Burien.

More than 300,000 riders used the 2 Line in July, a 47% increase over June. Averaging more than 10,000 daily riders, the 10-station line rivals the busiest King County Metro routes in terms of usage.

Railroad giants like BNSF have often deferred maintenance on their tracks and pressured government to pay for it. This had led some officials to consider taking over ownership, like Washington State did with the Palouse River & Coulee City (PCC) Railroad. Collin Reid lays out the case for greater government intervention in freight rail.

Shoreline becomes the largest city in King County to let builders decide how much parking makes sense within the specifics of a site, rather than requiring an arbitrary number. The 6-0 city council vote follows a watershed state bill tackling parking earlier this year.

Five major bike safety projects are all opening within a few months of each other, filling in critical gaps in Seattle's network. But most of the credit for ensuring that Hot Bike Summer happened in the first place goes to previous city leaders.

With monthly ridership now exceeding 200,000 on the 2 Line, Downtown Redmond Link has clearly kicked things into a higher gear. Having a light rail station so well integrated into a growing urban neighborhood is likely part of the recipe for success.

Only three of 15 high schools analyzed in King County have carpooling incentives: Issaquah, Redmond, and Interlake high schools. Expanding carpooling incentives would allow schools to encourage greener commutes while getting more utility out of limited parking spaces.