WA Roads Closed Due To Flooding, Landslides and Rain

Flooding in Cosmopolis on theWashington Coast just off Hwy. 101

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, rain, flooding and landslides have blocked the following roads as of 10:30 a.m. today:

• SR 101, from milepost 53.5 to 29
• SR 538, from mp 5 to 3
• SR 109, mp 1.8
• Hwy 12 mp 28.1
• SR 101 mp 89 AND mp 91.2
• Hwy 12, mp 1
• SR 105, mp 10 to 4.5
• SR 4, mp 0 to 4

Motorcycle Deaths Drop Sharply

Good news for motorcyclists and an overall victory- motorcycle fatalities on U.S. roadways dropped dramatically in 2013 for the first time since 2009.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey said 4,668 motorcyclists lost their lives on U.S. roads in 2013, down from 4,986 in 2012. That's a 6.4 percent decrease.

That compares with a 3.1 percent decrease in all U.S. traffic fatalities.

Where riders died depended on state laws. The Yakima Herald has more on this and the age group where motorcycle deaths decreased the most.

City Looks At Options For Post Street Bridge- Again

The city of Spokane is taking a new look at the question of what to do with the aging Post Street Bridge. The bridge is old and has had weight restrictions on it for many years. The question is though, would it be a better idea to rehabilitate it or replace it?

The Spokesman-Review's "Getting There" column has information on a plan to do a study on the bridge.

Top 10 Automobile Innovations of 2014

What were some of your favorite auto innovations in 2014? Self-driving cars? "Smart" cars that talk
to each other? A bus powered by human waste? Flying cars? Wait, did I just say flying cars? Well, maybe not flying but hovering.

ETAuto.com lists there top ten favorite automobile innovations for 2014.

SRTC Board Meeting January 8

There's no coasting the first few weeks of the year in our office! The first meeting of SRTC's Board is next Thursday, Jan. 8 and it's a busy agenda with lots of interesting stuff. You can see the agenda here. If anything interests you, feel free to attend. All Board meetings are open to the public. We're located at 221 W. 1st Ave., Suite 310 in Spokane.

Sullivan Road Resurfacing Public Open House

Sullivan Road will be resurfaced this upcoming summer between Sprague and Mission.

You're invited to a presentation on this project next Thursday, January 8 starting at 5:30 p.m. at Valley Assembly Church,15618 E. Broadway Avenue.

An overview of the project plans will be presented at 5:45 pm, followed by an opportunity for community members to share questions, comments, and concerns.

America's Best New Bike Lanes of 2014

It's the end of the year, so you know what that means. It's time for a countdown. So without further ado, I present to you America's 10 Best New Bike Lanes of 2014.

As "People for Bikes" rounds up their favorites of the past year, they point out that the nice bike lanes are no longer just concentrated in a few cities. And some of the ones on the list are in cities you really wouldn't expect to have great bicycling infrastructure. Three of the lanes mentioned are in northwest cities. Also worth noting, in 2014 protected bike lanes grew twice as fast as in 2013.

More Holiday Closures For This Week

So it's that weird stretch between the holidays when you're never sure which government offices are
open and which aren't. Well here's what's happening locally this week:

• All government offices (including SRTC) will be closed Thursday, Jan. 1 for the New Year's Day Holiday
• Spokane City Hall will be closed at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 31, and all day Thursday, Jan.1.
• Parking meters don’t have to be plugged on Jan. 1.  

IPads Are Replacing Waiters At Airport Restaurants

You need to kill time in the airport so how do you go about it? Often you find a restaurant and get a
drink or something to eat. At many airports, you will soon be doing your ordering and paying through an IPad rather than a waiter. Then, while you wait for your order to arrive, you can kill more time surfing the web on the IPad.

It's all part of a movement towards improving airport services and updating facilities.
DigitalTrends has more on this movement.

WSDOT Suggests Safety Improvements to Highway 2

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has some ideas to make the stretch of U.S. Highway 2 from Mt. Spokane Park Drive north to Day-Mt. Spokane Road safer.


Development in that area has increased the amount of traffic and the number of accidents. Some suggested improvements include a roundabout, flashing lights, bike lanes, narrower lanes, speed reductions and more.

Here's more on this project and a timeline for it.

Six Things Learned From Riding In A Self-Driving Car

Most people are familiar with the cartoonist The Oatmeal by now. I was given his book "How to Tell if Your Cat is Trying to Kill You" for Christmas. And it was an eye opener, let me tell you. Another eye opener was his serious, yet funny, take on self-driving cars. The cartoonist got the chance to try one out recently and did a blog post about it.

While I'm used to The Oatmeal's content being snarky most of the time, he took this opportunity to point out some things about self-driving cars that many people haven't realized. Such as the huge opportunities they will present to elderly people and those with disabilities.

He also calls the cars "Skynet Marshmallow Bumper Bots" and shares some theories on why they're so darn cute.

Here's the full article, from The Oatmeal.

Drilling Under Seattle Suspected of Causing Building Damage

Bertha can't get a break. From spending overruns to climate change, Bertha's being blamed for it.

Bertha is the giant drill that has been parked under Seattle for almost a year now. It was brought in to drill a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct so traffic can go under the city, instead of across it's scenic waterfront on a crumbling, aging structure.

Trouble is, Bertha broke down almost a year ago and efforts to fix her have been fraught with problems. In the meantime, there have been outcries about the expense, the delay, and now the cracks caused by the drill. Bertha is being blamed for damage to the foundation of several historic buildings in Pioneer Square. And for the viaduct sinking. No big deal right?

Well, here's the story from the Spokesman-Review.

More Vehicles Being Deemed "Safer" by The Institute for Highway Safety

Despite stricter requirements, more vehicles are earning top marks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In 2014, 71 vehicles earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick awards compared to 39 last year.

The Insurance Institute, a private group financed by auto insurers, puts vehicles through various crash tests to measure how well they protect occupants. So which cars are getting these awards?
Here's a report on it.

Amtrak Back To Normal Schedule Starting In January

A while back, I posted an article on how Amtrak trains have been regularly running late because
they're getting bumped from the tracks by an increase in other kinds of trains. Because Amtrak contracts with the railroads for rail space, they kind of have to take what they can get, when they can get it.

Today, I was forwarded a news release from Amtrak that says they will resume operating the passenger train Empire Builder on it's regular schedule starting January 12 and that Burlington Norther-Santa Fee is doing $1 billion in construction that will add capacity on the tracks and improve future service for all trains using the rails. The release also says BNSF is committed to work to improve the performance of the Empire Builder from here on out. Ok, so we'll see how that goes.

If you're willing to give it a try, here's the link where you can check out Amtrak routes and buy tickets.

Taiwan To Ban Smoking While Driving

It's the original distracted driving, but drivers caught smoking while on busy roads in Taiwan will start being fined in 2015. While the act of lighting up and actually holding the cigarette while driving can take your concentration off the road and your hands off the wheel, it was pedestrians that lawmakers were worried about.

Because many people in Taiwan get around by scooter, and smoke while doing so, there had been many complaints of people nearby having ash blown into their eyes.

So how much will offenders have to pay for potentially blinding an innocent bystander? The China Post has the answer, and it's kind of ludicrous.

A History of Spokane's Streetcars

In the course of his research for Spokane Transit's Central City Line, the Spokesman-Review's Nick Deshais turned up a LOT of information on the history of Spokane's streetcars. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't use this cool stuff in his everyday reporting. But fortunately for us, he made a lot of it into a blog post instead.

So if you ever wondered how streetcars got their start in Spokane, and what happened to them, plus why a form of them is back again, check out the Getting There blog here.

Editorial Board Says To Look Beyond The Gas Tax For Transportation Funding

An editorial in today's Spokesman-Review lauds Governor Jay Inslee for his proposal on taxing industrial polluters to pay for transportation. While the Editorial Board says states they don't feel the proposal is a good solution, they do say it at least moves discussion of the state's transportation needs beyond reliance on the gas tax.

They also talk about Washington Treasurer James McIntire's suggestion of dedicating half of gas tax revenues to bond financing for the most urgent projects and the rest to street and ferry system upkeep. But they don't like that idea much either. So what's their suggestion Find out here.

Cast Your Vote For The Best and Worst In Transportation In 2014

Have an opinion about the state of transportation and the milestones, and low points, we hit in 2014? Streetsblog is asking for you to weigh in for their annual Streetsie Awards.

There are questions on all kinds of topics, from which cities to honor for their transportation efforts to the best election outcomes in 2014 and the "worst highway boondoggle" (guess what- Seattle's chunnel is one of the options).

So get voting! You only have until Dec. 28, then results will be posted after the new year. It's cool though, because you can see how many votes each option has gotten already.
Here's the link.

Holiday Closures

Apparently safety DOES take a holiday.

You know that all area government offices are closed on Christmas, this Thursday, December 25. But did you know that Spokane County and Spokane Valley offices will also be closed the day after, Friday, December 26?

The City of Spokane and SRTC will be open the day after Christmas so feel free to call with your transportation questions. The City of Spokane will close at noon on Christmas Eve though.

Also, Parking meters don’t have to be plugged on Thursday, Dec. 25
 

Millennials May Be In the Cities, But Numbers Say That The Jobs Aren't

Here's something I hadn't thought of- if you pay any attention to transportation, community development or economic development issues, you've been hearing over and over lately that more and more young people are moving to the heart of the city to live where they can be part of the action and not need a car. The problem? This article from Salon says, while the millennials may be in the cities, the jobs aren't.

 New statistics show that, in all but nine of the largest 100 U.S. metro areas, the share of employment located downtown declined during the first decade of the millennium. So where are the jobs going? And will they come back? Read the article.