Seattle has been behind the 8-Ball, at maybe the Bezos Balls is more apropos, ever since Amazon announced it would remain in Seattle as it’s primary HQ over ten years ago.

The population, rent, and congestion all surged. It hasn’t been the same since. Updating I-5 is a fool’s errand. This city’s too geographically constrained for the population we harbor.

“The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is in the midst of repairing and resurfacing the I-5 upper bridge deck — replacing aging concrete and expansion joints, improving drainage, and addressing other long-deferred maintenance. With this work has come gridlock, heightened driver stress and aggression, and a collective “grit and bear it” approach to traveling in and through Seattle.

“The impacts are everywhere. Travel times on I-5 north and south have ballooned. City streets are clogged with drivers inching toward on-ramps. And that congestion is spilling over into increasingly unhinged motorist behavior: racing through residential neighborhoods, driving into oncoming lanes, forcing their way into the front of lines, running red lights, and speeding to claw back lost time.

“But did it have to be this way?

“Seattleites overwhelmingly support policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce traffic violence, and lessen our dependence on cars. The multi-year maintenance project known as Revive I-5 should have been a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shift trips away from single-occupancy vehicles and toward transit, walking, rolling, and biking.”