2009 hasn’t been the kindest of years to FederalWayan.

One upshot was the passage of Proposition 1, the bitterly contested power-struggle between the entrenched, corporatist city council and a new paradigm of strong leadership. We have yet another year, however, to wait for that to come to fruition. The City Council is not interested in using the people’s money to reduce their own power by spending it on something that 52% of the people want. Curious, too, is the council’s camp’s insistence that they canceled a search for a new city manager because the switch to a new form of government would obviate the need for one, despite their insistence during the campaign that one would still be necessary even with a strong mayor, and even more confusing in light of the year they have now added to that transition.

One big downshot in our opinion is the city’s impending loss of Metropolitan Market, which will close their doors for the last time on January 6. The store has been named Federal Way’s Best Grocery Store by the Mirror’s polls for five years in a row, which is also the entire time the Dash Point branch has been open. Apparently, being Federal Way’s best is not good enough for Metropolitan, which has been packed on a daily basis ever since the word of its closure went out. Given that the city government and business community has said or done nothing about this, perhaps they are right. Locals fear that the Metro location will be snatched up by a jilted LA Fitness which was denied permission to open in Twin Lakes by the city government, who apparently thinks that it’s better to have a huge vacant building than a new business — as evidenced by the growing number of large vacant buildings in town. For FederalWayan’s part, we’ll be writing to the regional manager of Whole Foods telling them about a great newly available location with an existing customer base.

The esteemed city government also denied Federal Way commuters and visitors a better driving experience in and out of Federal Way from the interstate when it killed the City Center Access Project, deciding that it’s best to kowtow to two tiny neighborhoods rather than work towards the benefit of the city at large. Lakewood, population 58,000, has 6 exits on I-5; Federal Way, population 89,000, has half that. The preferred solution for the City Council is to tear up the downtown sidewalks to expand busy 320th; yet another example of the failed, nice-to-look-at-but-wouldn’t-want-to-live 50s-era suburban folly which guides every decision of the city government.

A confusing series of events occurred in the realm of the city municipal court this past election. Embattled presiding judge Michael Morgan lost his position to Rebecca Walls, who overcame a serious lack of experience by challenging Morgan’s unpopular management style. But Walls won’t be taking over the reins — that will go to former school board president Dave Larson, who had dismissed the attacks on Morgan when they were first challenged and continued to support his fellow judge all along. Those who voted to clear out the Morgan administration by replacing him with Walls will likely end up not getting what they expected.

In February the Regional Library closed for remodeling, cutting off the city’s largest public research and study center in an age when libraries are falling out of fashion via competition from a growing wealth of easily available online material. The KCLS placed a small library in the Commons Mall, adding a small spot of quiet and studiousness to one of the city’s biggest youth attractions. FederalWayan’s only complaint about this location is the word “Temporary” on it’s signage. We think the Commons Library location should join similar locations at Southcenter and Crossroads and become a permanent LibraryConnection location.

The recent month’s distraction from the city’s ills, post-election, has been the much ado about nothing regarding the Twin Lakes Country Club. Few Federal Wayans have likely ever set foot on Twin Lakes’ property, outside of perhaps a wedding reception or office party; but the fear of losing the elite status symbol has sent the Twin Lakes neighborhood, as well as the Mirror, into a frantic tizzy — which fizzled predictably when the big meeting to Do Something About It failed to attract a sufficient number of actually concerned residents.

On the topic of local politics, both local political parties showed themselves to be out of touch with the city’s residents when they both chose to oppose Proposition 1. Whether this was the result of the influence that the backwards-looking city boosters has on these groups, or whether it was the work of a well orchestrated and ferocious pro-council coffee klatch, the upswing is that both parties ended up on the side of the minority of Federal Way’s voters.

In 2010, we look forward to RapidRide Line A, which will run from Federal Way to Tukwila to link our city up to the Central Link Light Rail line. We look forward, hopefully, to the beginning of construction at Symphony. We look forward to the opening of a presumably improved Regional Library. But most importantly, we look forward to a popularly elected strong mayor who will provide a coherent face, voice, and vision for Federal Way, and an end to the lagging, stagnant, living-in-the-past city government our city has endured for far too long.

Maybe I’m overreacting, but I think this post is a little sick. Capitalizing on the I-5 wrong-way accident to pimp increased car insurance?

Well, the site doesn’t apparently sell insurance in fact. But it does sell personal injury legal help. And as the post slyly hints at in the last paragraph: without that increased insurance, personal injury lawyers might not get paid.

From FWBlog: The city is looking into ways to reduce congestion at the I-5 intersection at 320th. (Good!) The options: an exit at 312th, or an exit at 324th.

We’ve missed the open house on this issue, but FederalWayan thinks the 312th option is the best. If you look at the choices from a standpoint purely related to the commercial city center, mall, and 99 business artery, 324th looks more appealing. But those of us living in the real world know that congestion isn’t being caused by shoppers (well, except on 320th and 348th on Sundays, but that’s in-town traffic), but by people coming home from work; in other words, travel to and from the residential areas.

324th runs behind the mall, crosses 99, and then smacks into Celebration Park at 11th. The result: people trying to cram back up to 320th, or cramming into the slow road around the park. Effect: moving the traffic a half mile west.

Meanwhile, 312th (a city arterial) crosses 99, 1st Ave, and stops at Dash Point Rd and 21st — two other city arterials. In its travels it passes through lots of residential areas (like 320th does up to the same point). Also, this exit would be close and accessible to the 317th HOV exit, making 312 a route with multiple options for exiting. And a short drive up 28th gets you on Military Road.

The only problem is that, as both plans include extending the intersecting road over the highway to the other side, 312th would be brought over and end at a sleepy, pricey-looking neighborhood at 32nd Ave S. The 312th plan should include connecting the dead-end of 312th there to the 312th on the other side of a vacant lot, which would connect it straight to Military.

The 324th plan in this case looks a lot more expensive. It requires overpassing the existing 320th southbound ramps (!), then cutting a road between two Weyerhauser buildings, and (it looks like) relocating a Weyerhauser road about 300 feet.

Everyone from the Times to the Stranger to the FWBlog are abuzz over Proposition 1, the RTID Roads and Transit Initiative. Even the City Council has thrown in their fourteen cents.

The Times and Stranger are against the plan. But don’t think that these two antitheses are on the same side — the Stranger is against the roads, while the Times is against the light rail. Meanwhile, the City is for the plan, but for the roads, not so much for the light rail, though they’d like that too.

If there’s anything that everyone can agree on, it’s that really no one likes the whole thing. Either you like the light rail or the road expansion, never both.

Most Metro Seattleites probably have not had a lot of experience with light rail. (Most KC suburbanites probably don’t have much experience with the bus system, either.) But, here’s one for the opponents: Find me a place where light rail or other non-roadway-bus mass transit system has been introduced and *not* been popular. Even the little pilot-project Tacoma Link blew out its ridership numbers in its first month. Where such projects have failed, it’s been due to bad management, underfunding, and cultural shifts like the increased popularity of private automobiles starting in the late 1920s.

Light rail is superior to express bus service, because (if elevated [as Link will largely be] or underground) you don’t have to worry about highway or other traffic, no crazy reroutes due to construction, and no getting on the wrong one and accidentally going 20 miles beyond where you wanted to go (as I’ve seen some poor saps do on the various Seattle-FW express buses).

I welcome the light rail. I can’t wait until a proud elevated rail track starts bringing its trains full of people (this includes shoppers and visitors, not just northbound commuters!) to and from Federal Way on an easy, low-hassle, rapid transit dedicated causeway. It’ll mean that Federal Way is truly connected to the Seattle area and has entered a new age.

The TNT reports on Federal Way City Council’s green light for red light cameras. The slated pilot intersections are two of the busiest (and most backed up): 320th/Pac Hwy (right downtown) and 348th/Enchanted Pkwy (down by the Crossings and Home Depot).

Makes me wonder if the city will ever decide to do something like, say, improving the traffic flow for those intersections so that they don’t attract so many backups. Which, naturally, would reduce the tendency for red-light-runners.

Methinks it’s time for a fourth I-5 ramp. Someone should determine where all the rush-hour 320th exit traffic actually goes, and plan a new ramp accordingly.