Mayor Wilson signed two executive orders aimed at accelerating shelter and housing development and building bus priority lanes on Denny Way.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson signed two executive orders last week, one aimed at accelerating emergency shelter and affordable housing and another calling for transit improvements on Denny Way.
As Nathan Dickey explains in Seattle Transit Blog, Executive Order 2026-01 directs the Seattle Department of Transportation to “design and install at least one dedicated bus lane on Denny Way, with the goal of significantly improving the reliability, speed, and performance of Route 8 and other transit services operating in the corridor.” The notoriously slow Route 8 “uses the only east-west corridor that connects the Seattle Center and SLU with Capitol Hill,” also a popular feeder route for traffic to Interstate 5. The order also directs SDOT to evaluate and implement other transit and pedestrian improvements on Denny.
The housing order, 2026-02, creates a Housing & Shelter Accelerator spanning eight city agencies tasked with developing recommendations for expediting the building of emergency shelters and affordable housing and providing supportive services at those sites.
Read the full story: Mayor Wilson’s First Orders: Denny Way Bus Lanes and Housing
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