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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 2d

You never know for sure but today could end up being the last 70+ degree day of 2025 in Seattle.

We transition to a cooler, cloudier, and wetter pattern tomorrow. No sign of any major storms, however.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 2d

That's why daycare is 7:30-5:30 since those are the hours that parents actually need to be covered.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 2d

HRRR forecast for 4 pm in Detroit shows some lingering showers. Nothing too heavy. A few hours later it is completely clear. So a delay is possible but the Mariners will play today. (hopefully we get a delay to start the game later!)

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 14d

Prediction: Cal gets to 63 on Sunday when the Dodgers decide to mess with the Yankees by grooving him a few meatballs.

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Reposted by Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik

Ken Jennings @kenjennings.bsky.social · 15d

Speaking officially as the host of Jeopardy!, Cal Raleigh is the correct MVP vote.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 16d

To be fair the Mariners’ incompetence dragged it out for like 3 years longer than it should have been…

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 16d

That was undoubtedly my favorite Tuesday night baseball game of all time.

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Reposted by Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik

Ensembleator @ensembleator.bsky.social · 23d

Plume creating an orange purple sunset #YVR from a very active fire on the southern flank of the Olympics. The plume should shift more to the east tomorrow - perhaps over the city

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 23d

You would basically have to continue running an all-day express bus downtown that picks up the two popular C-line stops on Avalon/35th and Avalon/Yancy. Because nobody there is going to trade a one-seat rapid ride for a three-seat bus -> 3-line -> 1-line experience.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · 24d

Dangerous fire weather conditions are expected Tuesday afternoon on the western slopes of the Cascades, especially in areas prone to gap winds (Enumclaw, I-90 corridor, US-2 corridor). We are lucky there are no ongoing fires in this area, but any new starts have the potential to spread rapidly.

hot-dry-windy index, which is a proxy for wildfire risk

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 4

Depends on the agency. It seems like Sound Transit is afraid of adverse impacts in the EIS, but other agencies like Port of Seattle or WSDOT seem to just shrug off those impacts..."yeah it's gonna cause a ton of pollution, too bad, we're doing it anyway". ST doesn't act like they have 80% support.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 4

The process for everything involved in light rail scoping/planning is incredibly dumb. Touching literally any existing structure/road/pipe is a minefield. So tunnels are cheaper/easier and in the case of downtown they need super deep tunnels so that nothing existing is disturbed.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

Given the current wildfire growth across the PNW and the forecast winds over the next week, we could see a situation where smoke becomes persistent across much of the PNW by next week. Time to get those air filters / N95s / etc if you haven't already.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

Let's hear your proposal. What route and where should the 3 stations have gone?

Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

Ultimately you have cost inflation which is a problem with all megaprojects. You have ridiculous rules in the EIS when it comes to "adverse impacts". You have some serious topographical challenges. But they have a completed EIS and enough money. Just build the damn thing already!

Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

Not defending anyone here, I just don't want the narrative to be that there were other options they should have considered. They tried just about everything and they had legitimate reasons for dropping bad alignments. Almost everyone likes the final location of the Junction station.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

Yes that was what killed elevated ultimately, but the politics were already against it at that time. The Junction association was pushing hard for 42nd. The Delridge station looked ridiculous because elevated had to climb Genesee hill. The conceptual renderings were rightfully ridiculed on the blog.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

And of course everyone was jostling to get the alignment that most favored their neighborhood. Personally I wanted the alignment close by but not too close, for instance. Then they drew the line directly on top of my house in 2020 and I was like NOOOOO don't do that, longer tunnel pretty please!!!

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

I personally commented that they should just go at grade in the median but I was told that wasn't within the scope of what the voters approved, it had to be 100% grade separated. And the public was explicitly told not to factor in cost. So of course the tunnel was the most attractive by far.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

I don't think it would have stood up politically. I was in a lot of meetings w/ Avalon neighborhood where elevated proposals were presented and people really hated them. There wasn't an obvious way to fix them. Fauntleroy basically looked like the old Alaskan way with the viaduct above.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

I agree that going right down the middle of the street was the easiest and most logical option but the #1 request of everyone in 2016 was no at-grade crossings and the design that went elevated above the road was a disaster. So tunneling naturally became the most logical thing to do.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

It was literally the preferred alternative. Then when the actual preliminary design was released everyone balked at the cost and acquisition count. And the vacant lot on Fauntleroy where the station was supposed to go now had a 100+ unit apartment building on it.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

It's not. That's what was originally proposed. The streets have too sharp of bends so they had to take out entire apartment buildings with 100s of units on Fauntleroy.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

FWIW, I think the error in logic was assuming that building new elevated ROW through existing neighborhoods would be easier than tunneling. Cost estimate didn't include the political costs of fighting opposition to property acquisitions.

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Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik @joeboomzag.bsky.social · Sep 3

That was what was said at the time before property values soared. Then the "medium tunnel" became cheaper than the full elevated option around 2020-21. Now in 2025 the full tunnel starting at ~Yancy St (which was also originally rejected from 2018 scoping) is considered the cheapest option.

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