By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Will West Seattle light rail make it into the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure next year?
And if it does, which configuration will be on the list – a hop across the bay that ends in The Junction, or something longer?
The next touchstone discussion for Sound Transit‘s future plan is now only one month away, and the West Seattle Transportation Coalition wants to ensure that peninsula residents are heard loud and clear. So that was the centerpiece topic of the most-recent WSTC meeting, which featured a briefing by two ST planners, senior transportation planner Val Batey and planning/development manager Karen Kitsis.
West Seattle possibilities are already on the “candidate projects list” for ST3, but that does not guarantee inclusion. Here’s the list:
(If the embedded version above doesn’t work for you, here it is as a PDF.)
Batey explained the timeline:
ST staff is now assembling “technical information” for the candidate projects, to present to the ST board (members listed here; the chair is County Executive and West Seattleite Dow Constantine) at a workshop on December 4th. A “draft system plan” is expected by the end of February; after a subsequent round of “public outreach from mid-March to early May” – open houses, online survey, other public comments – the plan would be finalized by mid-June. What the planners hear at the board workshop in December will be key input for the “draft system plan.”
Batey and Kitsis showed the list of priorities that ST is using as the plan’s foundation, including “logical next steps,” socioeconomic equity, connecting “the region’s designated centers,” completing “the spine” of the system, multimodal access, integration with other transit operators and systems, as well as promotion of transit-supportive land use and transit-oriented development.
Looking at the candidate-projects list, one thing to keep in mind: “It’s not all light rail – there’s a lot of light rail that we’re looking at but we’re also looking at bus rapid transit, and one of the biggest projects we’re looking at is extending (that) all the way from Lynnwood to Burien, using I-405 primarily.” As for their own bus system: “Once we get a sense of what the ST3 system is going to look like, then we’ll look at where we need to put in Sound Transit express-bus service.” (Currently, ST Route 560 is the only one serving West Seattle.)
WSTC board member Michael Taylor-Judd wondered if the process was inclusive enough for the public, who might decide what to support if they had more information about costs and other aspects of the many options. Batey said the draft plan will have all that “for the public to respond to.”
Board member Marty Westerman wondered whether ST should be focused more on connecting to some of the systems that are already in operation, such as Seattle’s city-run streetcars. Batey replied that ST’s mission is more “to provide faster, higher-capacity transit to the region” and so they are evaluating on factors including ridership, cost, reliability – “how long would it take to get to (a certain place)” – along with the core priorities mentioned above.
Kitsis noted that the draft plan will also include some “vehicle miles traveled” information for those who wonder how many cars a certain route might take off the roads.
Joe Szilagyi wondered whether ST was looking at using an existing bridge to West Seattle or building a new one, since, for example, the potential Delridge route seemed likely to be a mix of elevated and at-grade. The ST reps said it would be a new bridge, but they don’t have specifics because at this stage, it’s all “a conceptual design … If it becomes a Sound Transit 3 project, then we get to do the design and decide how we’re going to make it work.” Some of it might even go underground.
Board member Deb Barker, pointing out that Sound Transit has tunneled successfully more than a few times, wondered about the cost specifics on that. Batey’s reply: “We’re looking at designated centers, since the city has decided it wants ‘urban centers’ … then when we start to look at costs of real estate, we take a wide swath through the corridor look at (potential) station areas.” Kitsis added that “a lot of areas do have several options, like picking a station and what kind of development would happen around it …” so they would be looking at zoning, at what land in the area might be “underutilized and underdeveloped,” etc.
WSTC co-chair Amanda Kay Helmick told the ST reps that the group is “very intimately involved in looking BEYOND what you guys are looking at,” such as the concept of Sound Transit possibly being a “spine for West Seattle,” for example, elevated along 35th SW, “coming down the actual middle of West Seattle.”
The “looking beyond” idea came up next from Barker, who asked if ST is talking with the Port of Seattle, given that it’s about to embark on the Terminal 5 Modernization Project environmental-impact statement. Batey said the port has asked to talk with ST about freight movement and how that would factor into their plans.”
Then the big question: If West Seattle light rail makes it into ST3, and if the measure is approved, what year might it be built?
Kitsis said that “depends on the financial plan … (we) don’t want to speculate on when a specific area would see service.” But part of the analysis will be “how many projects could be shovel-ready.” It was also pointed out that projects from Sound Transit’s previous ballot measure “are coming in under budget,” probably considering “it was approved during the height of the Great Recession.”
Q/A continued, some of it more comment/concern than question, such as Szilagyi expressing the importance of ensuring that transit stops “are not just dead ground” as some seem to be in the city’s south end as compared to areas such as Capitol Hill.
Pete Spalding wondered whether light rail from West Seattle would go directly downtown, or require connections/transfers in the SODO area. The reply: “We’re looking at this going into downtown.”
Helmick stressed the importance of West Seattleites being heard: “We were promised the monorail, we didn’t get it, we had tremendous growth (planned) around the idea we were going to get the monorail, which we didn’t.”
“We’ll take your feedback (back),” promised Kitsis, adding, “The most important thing is to let your elected (officials) know.”
That means, in particular, the ones on the Sound Transit Board – chaired, as mentioned above, by Executive Constantine, and also including West Seattle’s County Councilmember Joe McDermott,
Once the Q/A with Batey and Kitsis wrapped up, WSTC members talked about their own next steps and observations. One observed ruefully that at the seemingly glacial pace of local light-rail projects, this round might be more for their kids and grandkids than for themselves. Helmick took note of the list more prominently featuring Ballard options in the “candidate projects list” than West Seattle options. She expressed doubt that West Seattle would and could get anything more in ST3 than light rail to The Junction.
“So if we get one station by 2031 – that’s not worth it,” Redmond opined.
He wasn’t alone in that opinion. WSTC members agreed they need to strategize how to campaign for more – and how to mobilize West Seattleites to be part of that, to speak out for getting light rail to a particular location by a particular year. Board members talked about possibly offering an online petition or another way for West Seattleites to visibly show their support, en masse. And nobody disputed the exhortation that “we need to push now” to be sure West Seattle isn’t passed over.
A week and a half after the October 22nd WSTC meeting, no campaign has launched yet, but you can make your opinions known directly – contact information for ST board members is linked to the page where they’re listed. The 10 am December 4th workshop is at Union Station downtown, open to the public.
The West Seattle Transportation Coalition won’t meet in November or December, but watch for word of their January meeting.
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