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alex block ⚽️

@alexblock.bsky.social
2.1K followers 1.1K following 6.1K posts

cities, transportation, transit, and other intermittent discussion.

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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Or look at this diagram from @ctillier.bsky.social; the platform offsets need to account for the dynamic envelope of the train; therefore a higher platform stepping down to a lower rail car floor means you’re both stepping down and over a large horizontal gap.
Diagram of Caltrain and HSR platform heights and horizontal offsets along with HSR dynamic envelopes.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The attribution of certain changes is also incorrect. The original bill exempted the entire site from zoning; the council is the entity that changed that requirement. And to have zoning, you need a plan document (which is the master plan).
The RFK plan is just the latest example of how DC's planning process under our so-called "pro-growth" administration has prioritized everything but maximizing timely housing production.
• The RFK deal explicitly exempted the stadium and parking garages from zoning to speed up construction, but didn't extend the same relief to housing at the site.
• The plan prioritizes parking spaces that sit vacant more than 300 days a year over housing for full-time residents.
• The plan makes numerous trade-offs that prioritize aesthetics over maximizing housing on scarce waterfront property.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Finish HSR, pump up Caltrain, and add some SFO runways
Map showing the old plan considering adding two new runways to SFO on new fill in the Bay.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Allow me to add on:
WOD FIR?
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Huh. 96%!
Screenshot of SP+ showing Wisconsin with a 96% postgame win expectancy over Penn state, despite some horrendous turnovers. 

Is… UW… good?
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It also… doesn’t look comparable? That curve is really tight (r=250’ is what’s in their design criteria book) and STILL requires underpinning existing buildings/leaving the street ROW. Also, their manual requires wider curves on elevated structures.
Open railway map of the 3rd Pine curve in Seattle
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Like, this map shows a) some serious grades (4th and 5th in particular) plus lots of very sharp, slow curves that must be huge violations of Sound Transit’s design criteria.
Map from The Urbanist showing potential elevated rail routes through downtown Seattle, all with very sharp curves.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
re: arch location, @peark.es it is actually in DC; the MD/DC border with VA along the Potomac is along the low water mark on the VA shore, dating back to the colonial charter for Maryland that granted MD the entire riverbed… and the arch is on a manmade island totally within DC.
Map outlining Columbia Island DC, which is actually in DC despite being on the VA side of a bridge.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Gonna plug Utrecht Centraal here, particularly for how a station and the infrastructure can evolve over time
Utrecht Centraal aerial viewPhoto of the station map, showing bus and light rail and bike connections Station entrance in glass, with NS sign and large clock
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Leaking drums of Lil Lisa Slurry
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It’s not the directionality, it’s the emphasis. The word mandate is always trotted out as a qualifier of strength. Moving up from “2nd worst of all time” to “10th worst” maybe shouldn’t use the same language as actual landslides…
Wikipedia chart ranking US presidtial elections by popular vote margins, from 30+ points by Harding in 1920 to negative margin popular vote losers.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Wheeeeee
Win probability chart of Ohio State’s collapse
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
college football is back, baby
Serendipity on the timeline with Kyle Wittingham facial expressions
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Without saying your age, what is your favorite movie that came out when you were 20?
Title card for Master and Commander: 

APRIL - 1805
NAPOLEON IS MASTER OF EUROPE
ONLY THE BRITISH FLEET STANDS BEFORE HIM
OCEANS ARE NOW BATTLEFIELDS
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
And on the Camden Line side, it’s running limited stop: College Park, Laurel, and Camden stops only.
Screenshot of the thru service timetable.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Cmon, man.
Dewpoint: 76°
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
74°!
74 degree dewpoint! Yuck.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Boatspresso maps.app.goo.gl/GuvRF45fakxA...
A drive up coffee stand in Blaine, WA built like a little tugboat
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I don’t think this kind of program is the strategic failure for DC!
Real Estate Development
New Communities Initiative (NCI)
40,303,182
22 of 140
on expenditure totals by ward: Expenditures include a range of incentives utilized by the District to spur economic development, some of which impact the
uct's budget and some of which do not. For example, when the District issues Industrial Revenue Bonds, the District does not incur the cost of the debt but leverages its bond rating to secure below market interest rates for the borrower. The economic incentives listed in the summary above include: Acquisitions, Dispositions, District Tax Credits, Federal Tax Credits, Expenditures on Contracts, Future Tax Abatements and Exemptions, Grants, Loans, PILOT Debt Service, Revenue Bond Issuance and Debt Service, Tax Abatements and Exemptions, and TIF Debt Service. The Ward 7 expenditures include the future investments that will be made for the redevelopment of the RFK Memorial Stadium Campus, and Ward 2 expenditures include a $675 million industrial revenue bond issuance for Georgetown University.
Appendix: FY25 Economic Development Expenditures Summary
Real Estate Development
Poplar Point
$
1,488,238
Real Estate Development
Wharf Fish Market Piers

377,000
Real Estate Development
Fletcher Johnson
$
8,800,000
Real Estate Development
Capital One Arena
$
170,000,000
Real Estate Development
Revenue Bond Issuance: Catholic University
$
154,920,000
Real Estate Development
Revenue Bond Issuance: Georgetown University
$
675,000,000
Real Estate Development
Revenue Bond Issuance: Maret School
$
12,300,000
Real Estate Development
Revenue Bond Issuance: Sojourner Truth PCD

40,000,000
Neighborhood and Business Development
Great Streets Retail Grant
$
840,000
Neighborhood and Business Development
Emerging Retail Initiative
$
160,000
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
For example: this big chart is meant to make the case against “real estate,” but $880m of the 1,131m shown in the red bar are from sales of tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds, where DC is lending their credit rating but is not actually the borrower…
Stop focusing on real estate development
I am not aware of one silver bullet that would help all of these sectors, and I certainly don't have a sector-specific strategy for each of these. But given how DC's economy depends on the export sectors to bring money into the District, any jobs turnaround almost certainly has to involve these ecosystems succeeding and expanding their hiring in DC.
Our economic development apparatus should be obsessed with figuring out what would make these kinds of export firms more competitive and able to expand in DC rather than in our suburbs or other
"Superstar Cities." Instead, our Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) has historically focused on real estate development. In their most recent "Return on Investment" report, DMPED invested 252 times as much on "Real Estate Development" as "Ecosystem Building”
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I can’t imagine an actual racecourse fitting on the actual grounds (between Constitution and Independence Aves); it must have been something on the area controlled by the Architect of the Capitol:
Map of Architect of the Capitol jurisdiction, from Union Station down to 695x via Louisiana Ave…
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
This is an example, I think: how much risk does it add? What kind of estimation of the risk, the benefits, and cost would convince the stakeholders in this trade-off?
Underpinning to cut station depth does add complexity and risk, but it also massively reduces the cost of the station and drastically shortens transfer times, speeding up trips in perpetuity.
Furthermore, underpinning can be built in combination with short mezzanines directly below existing stations. This would be especially useful at Lenox Av (2/3), which currently has no mezzanine to facilitate transferring from uptown to downtown (with the proposed design, this would take 7 minutes on escalators). Conversely, St Nicholas Av (A/B/C/D) already has a mezzanine, so the new SAS station could either reuse it (adding direct stairs and escalators from the SAS platform) or build a new below-mezzanine to help underpin the existing station and ease transfers.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Lunchtime Indycar walkabout
Gate 5, the “stripes area” entrance across a closed 7th street. Independence Ave, with barriers, and the air and space museum in the background. TV truck (one of many) for IMS Productions Satellite trucks on 3rd St SE
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The document also says that DCOP will submit map and text amendments after plan adoption, following the plan’s framework, with by-right approval.
Comprehensive Plan and
Future Land Use Map (FLUM)
The District's comprehensive plan and future land use map inform growth and development in the city over the long-term. The comprehensive plan includes policies that improve housing affordability, grow job opportunities, connect neighborhoods, preserve the city's rich history, and guide investments in public amenities. The future land use map shows where different uses (e.g., residential, commercial, etc) are recommended or planned and guides changes to zoning.
Land uses and densities proposed in the RFK
Campus Master Plan will inform updates to the comprehensive plan and future land use map, a critical step to establishing zoning and enabling future mixed-use development. Generally, the development framework proposed in this master plan is consistent with the Regional Center category under the comprehensive plan's generalized policy map, and mixed-use, high-density residential and commercial designations under the future land use map.
Site Zoning
Zoning for the site will be established by the DC
Office of Planning using the land use, maximum building heights, and densities established in this Master Plan. The DC Office of Planning will submit zoning text and map amendments to the Zoning Commission for consideration and approval. After the zoning text and map changes are approved, development projects can move forward with standard administrative permits.
90 Robert F. Kennedy Campus Master Plan
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Like, the F1 race in Las Vegas begins their setup in early September for a race that’s right before Thanksgiving… lvgp-transportation-info-lvgp.hub.arcgis.com/pages/other_...
Screenshot of the traffic impacts for building the F1 track in Las Vegas from 8/31 to 11/15
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
There are also true-but-maybe-misleading comments about a lack of net new gates. But the airport is slot controlled! The one runway is at capacity. There’s no need for any *new* gates.
RUNWAY 01-19
j
Baggage Facility
Passenger Processing
Terminal 1 Replacement
Remark Pavement
Taiway C
*
South Security
Lower Level Roadway
EVER
1941 Historic
Existing Terminal 1
Banjo Gates
The airport authority's plan is to replace nearly everything passengers currently think of as Terminal 1, while preserving and incorporating the historically protected portions of the original airport terminal. There are no new gates - it swaps the existing nine in the banjo for nine larger ones.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
For example, this is a load-bearing “up to” half a mile walk. You’d have to walk waaaay out of your way to make it a half mile walk with the new plan.
The plan eliminates Terminal 1' separate checkpoint. They don't build a replacement. It means walking up to half a mile. This is going to mean a nicer, new concourse with more space, so less crowded. But it's going to go from a simple, convenient and quick in and out to a much longer schlepp. That doesn't make the airport better.
Roads are going to have to be redesigned to bring cars to the processing building beside Terminal 2
instead of right up to the present Terminal 1 entrance where there are check-in desks, security, concessions and gates all right there.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Tell me about it
My hand, holding a big yellow car seat bag, waiting in an airport check-in line
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The US DOT RFI asked about funding and financing; and Gary Leff notes that United in particular was adamantly opposed to a Blackrock proposal that would basically privatize the airport: viewfromthewing.com/trump-helped...
Trump rejected a wavy roof on the main terminal and a bridge tall enough for aircraft to pass beneath it as well as a second main terminal at the far end of the airport. United opposed letting BlackRock finance, build and operate it in exchange for control over airport
revenues.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
From the appendix and the planning study; the shape of the pier has changed because of views from the control tower, but the basic concept remains.
Concept design, level 1; new bag claimsMid level, showing new pier connecting through the historic terminal and linking all areas airside, plus passengers using the new south checkpoint. New checkin on the third level, adjacent to the existing terminal 2.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
In other local DC-area airport development news… MWAA published a draft EA for the terminal 1 redevelopment, which is really a consolidation of everything into one terminal… www.mwaa.com/notice-avail...
Map of proposed new terminal 1 at DCA, demolishing the existing Banjo and connecting a new bag claim and check-in next to the existing terminal and security checkpoint.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
And that scope of work outlines the following: www.mwaa.com/sites/mwaa.c... The associated rendering is… more restrained, and fitting with the master plan documents. Plus, it notes nothing has yet been designed, and will need NEPA/106 approval.
1.3
SCOPE OVERVIEW
As a significant component of the ultimate WDR as depicted in Exhibit 1.1, Package A is envisioned as a transformed passenger terminal complex, designed consistent with DOT's vision detailed in Revitalizing Washington Dulles International Airport: to serve as "a symbol of the might and prestige of the United States" and as a "source of pride for Americans." Package A encompasses the following major project elements, together with the necessary specialized airport systems, apron and infrastructure enhancements required for a fully enhanced and operational passenger terminal complex for the Nation's capital:
• Enabling Projects
• (A) Main Terminal Transformation and Expansion
• (B) Terminal Gates
• (C) Processor Expansion
• (D) Terminal Connector to Concourse A
• (E) Concourse A Redevelopment
• (F) Regional Gates Concourse Replacement
The projects included in this scope are subject to compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and other special purpose laws. On May 4, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision (FONSI/ROD) for the Programmatic Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Terminal ConcourseRedevelopment and Associated Development, which includes the Terminal Connector to Concourse Al and the Concourse A Redevelopment elements (Base Scope). All other elements subject to future NEPA/NPA approvals are designated as Additive Scope. No Addifive Scope element will be authorized without the Authority's written authorization and confirmation of applicable regulatory approvals. The Main Terminal Expansion, Terminal Gates, and Enabling Work will be subject to a separate NEPA/NHPA coordination effort. Certain Base Scope elements may remain subject to additional environmental permitting requirements, the details of which will be identified in the RFP. Offerors are advised that known and previously identified archaeological sites exist within or adjacent to the Package A footprint. Specific avoidance buffer requirements, monitoring protocols, and inadvertent discovery procedures will be established in the Contract.
The Authority expects that the transformed and enhanced facilities reflect the advancements of the aviation industry.
ЕХнІвІ 1.1|
WASHINGTON DULLES REVITALIZATION PACKAGE A
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Yeah, Toronto didn’t build nearly as many miles of urban expressways as other North American cities did:
Map of cancelled expressways in Toronto
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
If you want to make the case that this is a bad planning outcome, that’s important. But again, the sequence matters - these stadiums were once built on the fringe; the city has grown around them, coexisted with them.
Addendum 2: My live-in editor (my wife) notes that European soccer stadiums-such as Barcelona's Camp Nou or Madrid's
Bernabéu-are commonly centrally located and adjacent to mixed-use neighborhoods. To the extent this is true, I'll bite the bullet and say that this is actually a bad planning outcome! These football stadiums often serve as border vacuums, deadening the surrounding area with largely unused facilities while also killing street life with large, blank walls.
Could these issues be fixed by parceling off the parking/staging lots for development, and lining the perimeter with storefronts?
Perhaps. But then you're back to the core problem with football stadiums: How do you achieve the traffic needed to sustain secondary uses in a neighborhood where a massive, largely unused structure takes up so much space? In both cases mentioned above, even secondary uses most relevant to soccer fans-bars and restaurants-seem to have retreated to the interior of nearby mixed-use blocks.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Yeah, it was definitely more common in the US before all the highways. Here’s Yankee Stadium just before opening in 1923:
Aerial photo of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, just before opening in 1923, surrounded by undeveloped land with a few streets laid out.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
And Camp Nou (opened 1957) in Barcelona, same time range
Side by side aerial images of Camp Nou in Barcelona, from 1956-57 and present day.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Here’s Madrid, in 1956 vs today, with the stadium (Bernabéu) built in 1947
Side by side aerial images of Madrid from 1956 and present day, focused on the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, located then on the fringe of the city and now surrounded by it on all sides.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Also… the traffic jam of cars trying to park at the American Dream mall, who are likely going to miss a big portion of the game.
Zoom in of lots of gridlocked cars trying to park at the shopping mall next to “NY/NJ Stadium”
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
2022: 12 days for the group stage; 16 days for the 16-team knockout (with 6 rest days): 28 days total 2026: 17 days for the group; 22 days for the 32-team knockout (5 rest days): 39 days total 64 teams: 21 for the group, plus the same 22 for a 32-team knockout; 43 days total
2026 World Cup composite schedule; 39 days total 2022 World Cup composite schedule: 28 days total
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
It’s crazy how much the photo looks like the flyer they’d hand out when entering the park:
Yellow flyer: 

WARNING
MANY VISITORS HAVE BEEN
GORED BY BUFFALO
BUFFALO CAN WEIGH 2000 POUNDS
AND CAN SPRINT AT 30 MPH, THREE TIMES FASTER THAN YOU CAN RUN
THESE ANIMALS MAY APPEAR TAME BUT ARE WILD, UNPREDICTABLE, AND DANGEROUS
DO NOT APPROACH BUFFALO

With a picture of a man with a camera tossed in the air
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Pooh aristocrat meme: leisure tourism, and cultural tourism
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Seeing posts about flyover noise in and around DC… meanwhile I have embarked on a pilgrimage to important cultural and historic sites
A large rock, with a ceremonial plaque, marking the location of the first Culver’s in Sauk City, WI. 

Culvers
FROZEN CUSTARD
BUTTERBURGERS
The George Culver family opened the original Culver's Frozen Custard
Restaurant on this site
July 18, 1984
The current restaurant opened
April 27, 2000
This monument is a tribute to the Sauk-Prairie area residents who have assisted with Culver's growth across the United States.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Looks like they got it down to the bare minimum: Plus FIFA had a lot of pressure to compress the whole tournament from basically everybody once they moved it to November.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The composite schedule shows they’re going to games every 3rd day for the first 2 games and then just one off day for the last GS games. I don’t know why they had 5 games on some days here (TV decisions are odd) but I think the practical min is more like 12; plus they want some flexibility.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Bike network proposes to add a bunch of CaBi stations and add lanes on the East Cap bridge, but how all this circulation is supposed to work is still kinda a mystery to me.
Proposed bike network from the RFK plan.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The plan proposes to convert Independence Ave to two-way operation, and make it the dominant flow (?) from East Cap. The existing access road is retained, adding grade separated access to parking from the development.
Screenshot of the roadway network from the draft RFK master plan.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
And look how much bigger the current Tahoe is from 25 years ago!
Side by side comparison of the current Chevy Tahoe vs the 1995 model, the older one with a lower hood and shorter stature.
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Eyeballing it from pictures, maybe FIFA wasn’t as strict about the 74-yd field width in 1994. Those hash marks look a bit closer than usual…
Pontiac Silverdome hosting the 1994 World Cup
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alex block ⚽️ @alexblock.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I don’t think that’s remotely correct, but don’t want to be overly pedantic about this extremely serious enterprise. And from personal experience visiting and living in places, the idea that Iowa City, Ann Arbor, and Lincoln clear the bar but Madison doesn’t is weird
destination madison
How many hotel rooms are in downtown Madison? -
MENU
• 1,400+ hotel rooms (and growing!) in
Downtown Madison
• 14 downtown hotels within walking distance of Monona Terrace
Community and Convention Center
• 12,000 hotel rooms across Greater
Madison
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