Digitally manipulated photo showing what light-rail trains might look like crossing I-90.

A couple of things struck me about the above photo, found in today’s Seattle Times, as I peered closely at its details. First, those electrical power poles are really ugly. It had never occurred to me before that power poles with cable strung between them would be necessary to get light rail trains across Lake Washington, and now that I see the reality of the situation, I don’t like it. The low profile of the floating bridge is one of its best features; it distracts from the otherwise magnificent view only slightly. Adding power poles and cabling across the lake will add an unsightly grid to the horizon, no doubt spoiling the view from, say, Stan Sayres Park looking north, as well as the view south looking at beautiful Mount Rainier from Madrona. Perhaps someone with design sense will find a way to camoflague or otherwise beautify these structures.

Second, the digital artist has squeezed four lanes of westbound traffic into a space that currently only has room for three, not by magically adding concrete where there is none, but by eliminating entirely the right shoulder. Isn’t that convenient? However, there is a problem with this clever solution: cars break down on the bridge. In fact, cars break down on the bridge and pull into the right shoulder every week of the year. I’ve seen it. I’ve been driving this route for almost 18 years. If you take that shoulder away, you might as well kiss goodbye any hope of a trouble-free car commute. And from the looks of things there isn’t a full left shoulder, which means there really isn’t room to have four full lanes and a shoulder on the existing bridge.

So take this picture with a huge grain of salt.

And one more thing: I met I guy at a party recently who happened to be an engineer working on the structural retrofit of the bridge for the light rail expansion and it occurred to me to ask him, “Where else in the world are they running light rail over a floating bridge.” And he just grinned and answered, “Nowhere. No one’s done it. It hasn’t been done before.” Because, you see, there’s the problem of the expansion joints that connect the floating part to the not-floating part, and trains have real problems running over dips and such since that could throw them off their tracks. So the joints need to be redesigned. This engineer seemed pretty confident that it could be done and his firm has the designs to do it, he said. They were testing those designs already. The testing will take approximately three years.

And so it goes.

My close encounter with the wild happened in a green space that winds through and around a suburban area of Bellevue. There’s a large office complex under construction within a few hundred yards of where the coyote and I locked eyes. Here’s a map.

View Larger Map

Who could be against smaller class sizes and new arts and music programs? In this case, this page is, because it is irresponsible to create new needs and costs when the district cannot pay for current ones.

So, basically, The Times says we should punish the teachers, students, and their parents for the financial failures of the school district by continuing to under-fund every aspect of public education in the city. How dare the teacher’s union ask for more of our hard-earned money to fund their nefarious deeds, The Times seems to say.

As the parent of a 1st grader in an over-crowded, south-end public school I say bullshit, Seattle Times. The Seattle Public Schools are so poorly funded right now they can barely keep things afloat. It’s a tragedy that Seattle, “one of the most-educated and wealthiest cities in the nation” as pointed out in the editorial, has such a crappy public school system. The Times says we should punish the people who rely on that system to prove a point about fiscal responsibility.

The editorial goes on to say we should look for help from the state Legislature:

A better target for proponents of I-88 is the state Legislature. Washington state’s constitution calls for the state to bear primary duty for education funding. A huge opportunity lies in Gov. Christine Gregoire’s group of education panels, Washington Learns.

The fact is that education funding in Washington is beyond dismal compared to other states. Washington ranks 46th in the nation in class size; 42nd in per-pupil education spending; and currently spends $548 less per student than it did 15 years ago. The state is failing at it’s responsibility. We cannot continue to look toward Olympia to solve our problems. In this wealthy and well-educated city, we can do the right thing and take responsibility for our schools, build them up, support them financially, and volunteer our time to make them better. And step one is to not take away more funds.

I say, vote for I-88 not because I tell you to, or because the Seattle Times tells you not to, do it so my 1st grader and her classmates don’t have to try to learn in a classroom of 30 kids, with no after-school programs or childcare, and over-worked, under-paid teachers.

2404 S. McClellan St. (3004074) on a Land Use Application to allow a minor communication utility consisting of three panel antennas and two microwave dishes on existing monopole (Clearwire L.L.C.). Equipment cabinet to be located at grade. Existing minor communication utility to remain.

Clearwire is a new wireless broadband Internet provider founded by Craig McCaw. Clearwire uses WiWAX technology to provide high-speed Internet access wirelessly over much wider areas than current wi-fi can travel. The coverage area of WiMAX varies greatly depending on the terrain, the base station output, and the number or customers served, but coverage is measured generally in miles rather than feet. An antenna at 2404 S. McClellan St. would be a perfect location from which to blanket the north end of Rainier Valley with tons of WiMAX fun. And as the crow flies, it’s less than one mile from my house with no hills in between to block the signal.

Very interesting development.

Bellevue is clean. It’s pretty in a plain sort of way. And it’s completely soulless. Developments like Lincoln Square continue the trend. Bellevue is a place where shopping is the center of all activity. It’s a place where the newly-constructed art museum had to close down for over a year due to lack of interest while the shopping mall expanded. (Admittedly, the lack of interest was well deserved. The museum was not well attended partly because of uninspired exhibits.) It’s a place where the lake front is hidden and mostly private. It’s a place where nothing surprising ever happens. In short, it’s a place not worth caring about.

Why do I seem to care? I don’t really, but it is important to pay some attention to the nature of suburbia and how it effects life in the city. Bellevue-style development has invaded Seattle and will continue to do so, most likely. Know thy enemy.