17 days until the Downtown Redmond Link Extension opens on May 10. Opening day details.

Local Transit & Streets:

• Someone hacked crosswalk buttons to play a fake message from Jeff Bezos saying “This crosswalk is sponsored by Amazon Prime… please don’t tax the rich” (KUOW).
• Major utility work is finally prompting Pike Place Market to test closing Pike Place to general traffic (The Urbanist)
• Seattle City Council and SDOT are planning a major expansion of traffic cameras (The Urbanist)
• With its car ferries often behind schedule, WSDOT is running a 10-week test of supplemental passenger-only service between the San Juans (The Seattle Times, $). Meanwhile, the State Legislature is considering cutting funding for “foot ferries” as it tries to pass a transportation budget with minimal tax increases despite massive basic cost increases (The Urbanist).
• Metro’s new all-electric bus base in Tukwila is almost finished (Metro Matters)

Other Transportation:

• A look a urban rail in Africa (Reece Martin)
• An interactive tour of the NYC subway system’s century-old controls (New York Times, gift link)
• Congestion pricing is doing even better than advocates dreamed (Curbed NYC)
• “Culdesac Tempe” promises car-free living in suburban Arizona, and residents actually like it (New York Times, gift link)
• Caltrain’s switch to all-electric operations immediately cut its air pollution by 89% (Interesting Engineering)
• Lawsuits in Arizona, Tennessee, and Texas are challenging voter-approved transit expansions (States Newsroom)
• A history of New Orleans’ Streetcars (Big Easy Magazine)

Land Use & Housing:

• The history of Montlake from 1850 to today shows how it became a “suburb in the middle of Seattle” (The Seattle Times, $)
• Mapping out missed opportunities in Seattle’s new Comprehensive Plan (The Urbanist)

Commentary & Miscellaneous:

• The National Resource Defense Council says all 50 State DOTs need do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation (Streetsblog USA)
• “The Populus” in Denver claims to be ‘Carbon Positive’ – is it just hype? (New York Times, gift link)
• Pedestrian deaths are skyrocketing – is it dangerous drivers, bad roads, or something else? (Governing)

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