Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Seattle

Washington Republicans: Put Seattle’s Highway-Borer Out of Its Misery

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 30, 2015 | No Comments

If nothing else, the politics of Seattle’s deep-bore highway tunnel fiasco keep getting more interesting. With Bertha the tunnel-boring machine stuck underground and “rescue” efforts literally destabilizing city neighborhoods, a pair of Republicans in the Washington State Senate introduced a bill to scrap the project before any more money is wasted. While putting a halt to […]

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Can Seattle Stop Its Highway Tunnel Boondoggle Before It’s Too Late?

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 5, 2015 | No Comments

It’s been one year since the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, “Bertha,” got stuck 120 feet beneath Seattle. Before it broke down, the colossal machine had excavated just 1,000 feet of the two-mile tube that’s supposed to house a new, $3.1 billion underground highway to replace an aging elevated road called the Alaskan Way Viaduct. […]

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Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct: King of the Highway Boondoggles

By Phineas Baxandall and Jeff Inglis | Sep 26, 2014 | No Comments

A recent report by U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group, “Highway Boondoggles: Wasted Money and America’s Transportation Future,” examines 11 of the most wasteful, least justifiable road projects underway in America right now. Here’s the latest installment in our series profiling the various bad decisions that funnel so much money to infrastructure that does no good. Seattle’s aging Alaskan Way Viaduct is […]

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Seattle Opens Up Neighborhood Streets for Kids to Play

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 5, 2014 | No Comments

At St. Terese Academy in Seattle last week, students held relay races on 35th Avenue. It was field day at the Madrona neighborhood school, and thanks to a new initiative from the city of Seattle, the kids had some extra space to stretch their legs. The elementary school was the first to take part in Seattle’s new […]

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Traffic Plummets on the Highway Seattle Is Spending a Fortune to Replace

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 21, 2014 | No Comments

For months now, the largest tunnel boring machine in the United States has been broken down under the city of Seattle. Meanwhile, traffic on the highway that the tunnel is supposed to replace has plummeted, raising more questions about whether the project is worth the enormous expense. The state of Washington intends to spend $3.1 […]

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Setbacks and Victories For Urbanism in Yesterday’s Mayoral Races

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 6, 2013 | No Comments

Mayoral elections broke both ways for livability in American cities yesterday: The results of some may slow progress on transit and street safety, while one-midsized city elected an executive who campaigned strongly on light rail expansion and bikeability. The biggest story was Cincinnati’s mayoral race, where Queen City voters backed Democrat John Cranley by a […]

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