Light rail for West Seattle? 2 chances for Q/A with Sound Transit

| Transportation | West Seattle news

Will a light rail route including West Seattle be part of Sound Transit‘s next long-range-plan update? Possibilities are being studied, as noted here two months ago, when the ST Executive Committee got a progress report on the study. But it’s by no means a sure thing. And ST is still rounding up input on future directions – including via a survey that’s open for three more weeks, first noted here last month. So this regional transit organization is at the heart of many West Seattle conversations right now – and you’re invited to be part of two of them.

First, the West Seattle Transportation Coalition is expecting two Sound Transit reps at its meeting next Tuesday (July 8th), 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center – chair Joe Szilagyi tells WSB that ST planner Chris Rule and ST government/community-relations officer Rachel Smith have confirmed. All are welcome.

Smith is also booked as guest speaker at the next West Seattle Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting, 11:30 am Thursday, July 17th, at The Kenney (WSB sponsor). All are welcome to this, too, but there’s a charge because it’s a luncheon (WSCC member and non-member rates) and you need to RSVP – more info here.

Scout 15 July 6, 2014 (10:32 pm)

I thought that is why the monorail was to be built here? I thought that Light rail was not an option? Maybe I was mis-informed?

WSB July 6, 2014 (10:46 pm)

To wildly simplify it … the monorail came up as a populist initiative at a time when the region was stepping gingerly toward a limited light-rail line that did not include West Seattle.

cj July 7, 2014 (2:11 am)

Light rail would be awesome. Long overdue imho

parker July 7, 2014 (7:32 am)

Light rail means more apartments with less parking.

No thanks!

Chester the Jester July 7, 2014 (8:04 am)

Light rail 2049 – Woo Hoo!

Kate July 7, 2014 (8:09 am)

Perhaps it would mean more apartments with less parking, but it would also mean a boost in local economy and a better carbon footprint.
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And the apartments are coming anyway – wouldn’t it be preferable to have a public transportation option that can move a large amount of people than to sit in traffic on the bridge more often?

Carol July 7, 2014 (8:16 am)

In the story, the link that seems like it should send you to the survey, doesn’t. It sends you to another WS blog post, then the link there sends you to another post. It took me a while to find the actual survey. Could you update story to include direct link? Thanks.

yes2ws July 7, 2014 (8:39 am)

I so agree with your comment, Kate.

WSB July 7, 2014 (8:51 am)

Carol – the link is to the WSB story about the survey – with the last link being the survey itself at http://soundtransit.publicinvolvement.net/?utm_campaign=june2014 – so that there’s context. I’ll fix the language in this story. Thank you! – TR

G July 7, 2014 (8:53 am)

Scout, that was one of the talking points of the monorail campaign, but it’s incorrect. There’s no reason light rail wouldn’t work in West Seattle.
http://seattletransitblog.com/2014/05/10/sound-transit-presents-some-options-for-west-seattle-south-king/

WSB July 7, 2014 (9:02 am)

Thanks, G. As noted toward the end of the STB story, the full slide deck was first published in our story (which is linked above), showing the potential route options, if anyone’s interested in scrolling through it:
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https://westseattleblog.com/2014/05/light-rail-for-west-seattle-see-the-progress-report-given-to-sound-transits-executive-committee/

yes2ws July 7, 2014 (8:55 am)

Hmm.. I tried to comment, then attempted to post the comment again, but was redirected with a “duplicate comment” message. That’s great, but where’s my comment? I simply want to express my agreement with Kathy. I personally love the growth and see it as keeping this city moving forward. And yes… we need transit to keep up.

WSB July 7, 2014 (9:00 am)

Sorry if you hit a system glitch – haven’t seen anything else from this e-mail address/IP until this, nothing in the spam filter either.

G July 7, 2014 (9:34 am)

Light rail is a double-edged sword; it may alleviate congestion but it will also be a selling point for more development in WS- a never ending game of catch up. Not necessarily against development, but it’s an interesting conundrum.

West Seattle since 1979 July 7, 2014 (9:39 am)

I agree with Kate! Plus, if we have light rail here, at least some of the people moving into apartments may feel they don’t need cars, so there will be less parking needed. The way transit is now, most people are probably going to end up getting cars even if they don’t want them.

JanS July 7, 2014 (9:55 am)

yes2WS…actually, I see your comment above (at 8:39am) that says “I so agree with your comment, Kate”. Are you talking about another comment you made?

Choo Choo Magoo July 7, 2014 (10:08 am)

All in for light rail in W Seattle. Fewer buses, more rail please.

larry July 7, 2014 (10:44 am)

i think a Ballard to UW line should take precedence (higher ridership studies) and then follow with a zoo to WS line.

yes2ws July 7, 2014 (10:55 am)

Yes, that’s the comment. There’s just weirdness and difficulty with logging in and posting much of the time. It takes so many attempts. I get the, “Howdy, yes2ws” but with my very next navigation, I’m usually automatically logged off. Much of the time, I just give up and browse through as an observer.

WSB July 7, 2014 (11:17 am)

Again, we apologize for glitches, but no one ever has to log in to comment on a news story. The forum, yes, a log-in is required, and it is indeed glitchy, with an unfortunately long and complicated repair process under way (we would have picked better software in 2007 if we knew then what we know now).

yes2ws July 7, 2014 (11:24 am)

Thanks, WSB. :-) I actually hadn’t realized that about comments to news stories. Also, not good for others, but good for me that there’s a glitch. I thought it might possibly be user error. Btw.. I know it’s been said before by numerous others, but seriously… the coverage you guys provide for our area is phenominal. Mucho thanks!

Codad July 7, 2014 (3:08 pm)

Seattle pipe dream

redblack July 7, 2014 (4:31 pm)

G: which is why we need a DPD that is responsive to roads, transit, and infrastructure capacity and that doesn’t rubber-stamp every single developer’s goofy vision unconditionally and without appropriate taxation.
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these systems are all integral, and tbey require not only clear vision of future growth and demand, but also constant and reliable streams of self-sustaining revenue for the various governments to implement those visions.