And THAT, my friends, is some good ol' Seattle urban planning. ELIZABETH LARA / GETTY IMAGES

Comments

3

Hannah dear, the history of the West Seattle Bridge is as sordid as a pulp novel (Bribery! Corruption! Drunkenness! Dismemberment!). It's amazing that it lasted as long as it did before there was trouble, but I'm glad it's coming back.

As for traffic stops: This is the 21st century. Unless a vehicle is an impending danger to those around it, there's no need for a stop. The officer should be able to enter the license number into a computer, and a bureaucratic functionary like me can send a ticket by mail - just like we do with traffic cams.

8

The sriracha shortage recalls the longshoreman's strike a few years ago when I couldn't get the quick udon that was my daily lunch (it was in the harbor, just not getting unloaded). We will survive...

9

This city is so fucking auto-centric. Even The Stranger ignores transit. The West Seattle buses have been running just fine on the lower bridge for quite some time now, but the focus is entirely on drivers, who have to "go around". Yet at the same time, they need a fucking light rail line? Ridiculous. The sad part is, most of the residents of that peninsula won't be better off. A lot will ignore transit, like they always do. The poor saps that take the bus every day will be forced to get off the bus and ride the train, right when the bus was about to get on the refurbished new freeway. Meanwhile, people in other, more densely populated areas (like the Central Area) are left with extremely popular buses that crawl through traffic at walking speed.

I guess it makes sense. If you focus only on the cars, then of course you are ignorant of how to expand and improve the transit system. Next thing you know, you build subway lines to Fife and Ash Way instead of First Hill.

10

Oh Lawd! Do I hasta get out the magnifying glass to read the captions now? Somebody cue up “Rock of Ages.”

Yes, as helpful as Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System was to national defense and commerce, it tore asunder many of our cities by splitting them in half (a la Robert Moses, I guess). Wish they would have figured out the bypass – which came later - before dynamiting neighborhoods. Most of you probably don’t remember the old US Highway System. The great majority of the roads were two lanes and pretty dangerous, although much more scenic than the monotone of an Interstate. Imagine a slow poke leading a caravan of six or more cars on an uphill and/or curvy road, and not being able to pass until it was clear and you were willing to risk gunning it past the several cars ahead of you and then returning to your lane before meeting a car coming in the opposite direction. Lots of head-on collisions and highway deaths not related to alcohol back then. So there’s that. Made travel easier, less map and sign dependent, safer, quicker (before the Interstate it would take all day to get through, say, Atlanta). Just wish they wouldn’t have messed up our cities. I-5 through Seattle is like a huge surgical scar.

Ms. Krieg, if you are tired of the rain, then please, please, please sent us some down here in LA. We would kiss your feet in thanks.

There probably is very little Rep. Liz Cheney and I will ever agree upon, but after her presence in last night’s hearing, I want to say that in thinking about her willingness to participate on this committee at probable cost to her political future, and for her dedication to her oath to our Constitution, my heart bows low for her bravery (something the Trump camp will never have or understand because there’s no money or power or self-promotion in it).

11

If the penalty for breaking a law is a fine, then the law is only for the lower classes.

12

Raindrop dear, what is it about "Unless a vehicle is an impending danger to those around it" that you don't understand?

Republicans, besides being horrible people, are horrible at reading comprehension.


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