U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will convene a panel that’ll look at ways to improve the nation’s airlines.

That’s according to this Associated Press article, which says the industry is ailing financially and, critics say, is using an business model that undermines safetly. Click here to read it.

LaHood said that within a year the panel will provide ideas on how to improve the industry.

Apparently, semi-trucks headed to Bellingham Cold Storage have been relying too much on their GPS, which has been sending them through small, quiet residential streets of the Columbia neighborhood, where they’ve damaged a traffic island.

Flip Breskin, a Columbia neighbor, reported in her e-mail newsletter that some trucks have been turning from Northwest Avenue down Lynn Street, right into the neighborhood. Apparently, the GPS is sending them that direction, although they pass two ‘no trucks’ signs on the way.

Here some more from Breskin:

We’ve been having an ongoing problem with big semi-trucks getting lost by following a GPS and ignoring signs. It turns out to be a problem internationally, but it’s definitely a problem here in the neighborhood. There have been over 10 semis that have gotten stuck or done damage getting through at the traffic circle at the top of West Street at North. Some come in off Lynn from Northwest, passing two different “No Trucks” signs on their way in. They do a great deal of damage to the roads, curbs, and plantings. They also put smaller vehicles, children & adult pedestrians at risk. I’ve been talking with police and with Gene Knutson at Bellingham Cold Storage. Gene is also on the city council. He’s been working recently with Public Works to increase the visibility of signage, and with Cold Storage to improve their direction tape for incoming trucks. Kat Dearborn at the police department sent out an memo to all officers educating them about the damage these trucks do to roadways that were never built to carry that much weight, and the public danger they create on small residential streets. If you see a lost semi truck wandering through the ‘hood, please call 911. We should get better enforcement response now. And please let me know what you see, and what response you get. Thanks! ~Fl!p

I just wrote this up for publication this weekend:

Highway crews will replace two miles of cable median barrier along Interstate 5 through Bellingham to make it more effective, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The works will mean lane closures between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. from Monday, Nov. 16, to Thursday, Nov. 19.

Crews will remove the three-strand, low-tension cables and replace them with four-strand, high-tension cables, which keep the cables taut when posts are knocked down and increase the barriers’ range. It’ll happen between Fairhaven Parkway and Sunset Drive.

Starting the week of November 16, they’ll install concrete support posts, and they’ll return in December installing the cables.

The Associated Press just reported an interesting article about how there is a revival among U.S. cities of interest in installing street car lines.

Click here to read it.

Bolstered by President Obama’s support for transit options, cities are lining up for federal economic stimulus grants to install streetcar lines, which they hope will provide transportation options and yield economic development benefits.

Opponents say the federal grants are just making the fact that the public will have to subsidize the operations of the streetcars, which aren’t a practical transportation option.

The article mentions the streetcar in Portland, which runs from Northwest Portland in the Pearl District down to the new South Waterfront.

What do you think?

Oh, in case you’re interested, here is a map of the old Bellingham trolley lines:

The state Department of Transportation is inviting people to take a survey evaluating the state department’s performance.

Here’s what the survey intro says:

The mission of the Washington State Department of Transportation is to keep people and business moving by operating and improving the state’s transportation systems vital to our taxpayers and communities. We manage more than 20,000 state highway lane miles that carry 86 million vehicle miles a day. The Washington State Ferries, WSDOT’s ferries division, operates 22 ferry vessels and 20 terminals, carrying 23 million passengers a year.

Our state-sponsored Amtrak Cascades service carries more than 700,000 passengers a year, and our state-managed “Grain Train” runs 89 grain cars on 1,432 miles of short-line rail.

Other critical and important transportation programs include our support for commute programs support more than 810,000 commuters statewide, eliminated 170 million vehicle miles traveled annually. We have the largest vanpool program in the country. Our Aviation division operates 16 general aviation airports statewide.

We take our mission very seriously. And, because of that, we would like to know your opinion about how we are doing.

Click here to take the survey.

A falcon was drawing at crowd at Railroad Avenue and Chestnut Street a few minutes ago as it ate a seagull, right outside The Woods Coffee!

Witnesses said the bird, which appeared to belong to somebody because it had a tag connected to its leg, knocked the seagull right out of the sky there. People were gathering outside the coffee shop to take photos, as evening rush hour traffic drove by within feet of the bird.

Here’s a photo I snapped on my cell phone:

The Bellingham City Council voted 7-0 on Monday, Oct. 19, to confirm the Transportation Commission members.

Click here to see my last post and the list of those folks.

The city announced yesterday that Mayor Dan Pike has appointed members of the new Transportation Commission, which will take a board look at transportation projects and spending and how growth plans relate to transportation.

The council in August voted to create the new body and do away with the existing Parking Commission and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. The commission is expected to be up and running around the beginning of the year.

Members were appointed to one, two or three year terms. That way only a third will expire at any one time, so there will be some continuity on the body.

The members are:

James Gebhardt: 1 year

Carol Berry: 1 year

Tim Hostetler: 1 year

Therese Kelliher: 2 years

Jim McCabe: 2 years

Frank Ordway: 2 years

Claudia Kelley: 3 years

Dan Burwell: 3 years

Wes Frysztyacki: 3 years

You may recognize a few names. To find out more about these people from their applications, click here.

The City Council on Monday will consider confirming the appointments. I haven’t heard of any controversial members.

What do you think about the mayor’s choices?

As you may have read, a landslide completely destroyed a section of State Route 410 northwest of Yakima over the weekend, washing a section of the highway into the nearby Naches River and causing the river to be diverted.

Here is a video from a helicopter flyover of the damage:

Click here to read the article with more information.

Utility local marks and spray paint has been put down at Railroad Avenue and Chestnut Street, where Bellingham Public Works intends to install a traffic signal.

The heavily traveled intersection currently has a pedestrian crossing right next to The Woods Coffee (motorists often ignore it and blow on through). Also, on Saturdays, people cross wherever they can, backing up traffic all the way down to Cornwall Avenue.

The city wants to install traffic signals there to regulate the pedestrian and vehicle movements a bit, an idea that a couple of local businesses I talked to, including The Woods, liked.

I just sent an e-mail asking for a time update on when the installation will happen. I let you know when I hear back.