FOLLOWUP: West Seattle Health Club says its light-rail-route concerns are gaining traction

| Sound Transit | West Seattle news

1:42 PM: Two weeks ago, we reported on West Seattle Health Club‘s request for member support in opposing a possible light-rail route that would among other things take out their pool, which in turn followed County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda‘s plea to the Sound Transit Board to consider alternatives that would spare area businesses. Today, WSHC has sent a followup with word that the concerns are gaining traction. Thanks to those who forwarded us the email, which tells members, in part:

… Your support has made a difference. The Executive’s office has responded positively to our request, and questions are being raised about modifying route options. The original plan to finalize this location in June has been delayed. A summary of all the public comments they received on the gym/pool was read out loud into the record at yesterday’s Sound Transit Board meeting and the turnout was impressive. Executive Dow Constantine has requested that Sound Transit host a community forum. We will keep you updated as we learn more.

Our petition will remain available at the front desk and online at https://chng.it/VH4L96c6Dn . Additionally, we invite you to join members of our community for a “Walk the Route” event on Sunday, June 9th at 10 am, starting in our parking lot and ending at the West Seattle lower bridge. …

The next step before the ST Board can finalize the West Seattle routing will be the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement; for months, ST has said only that it’s expected to be out “midyear” (we’re checking on whether they’ve refined that timeline yet). Environmental studies are continuing (as noted here last week).

2:44 PM: ST spokesperson Rachelle Cunningham says “summer” is the only current timeline for the final EIS. She also says that since Executive Constantine just made the community-forum request yesterday, there’s nothing official on that yet, but we might hear more next week.

Foop May 24, 2024 (1:55 pm)

So they are delaying our light rail again?

Bring on the bulldozers May 24, 2024 (2:21 pm)

After attending the last open house for Sound Transit the thing that stuck me the most is about how not surgical bringing the trains into established neighborhoods is. They are literally anxious to mow down huge swathes of neighborhoods and business districts like this is a game of Sim City. The agenda seemingly isn’t to bring a train, it is to completely wipe clean and start over on blocks and blocks of West Seattle (and everywhere else for that matter). This doesn’t seem necessary at all. I’m still shocked that the train isn’t going down Delridge, over the golf course and then into the Junction on Alaska at street level. Let’s skip the crazy amounts of demolition, rebuilding everything in its path and just focus on mass transit. The other idea that I’m shocked hasn’t taken root in all this planning, is having a really awesome West Seattle circulator bus system. The train stations could be a big hub system to get people off the peninsula, and the buses here could get people around the neighborhood. That seems so obvious for making walking and biking so much more feasible for everyone. And then we don’t have to spend billions of dollars displacing homes or businesses. Some of this “planning” feels to over step what’s actually necessary in favor of more utopian city planning.

DC May 24, 2024 (4:00 pm)

King County Metro always reworks bus routes when new ST stations open. The addition of light rail will free up service hours spent getting busses downtown and those will be reinvested in local transit. But they don’t usually make those plans until a year or two before they open.
Jon Wright May 24, 2024 (4:08 pm)

Construction of a project this magnitude is not “surgical.” And the train stations are going to be transit hubs, fed by buses from all over the peninsula.
- Scarlett May 24, 2024 (8:36 pm)
  
  Why would anyone add another segment to their trip if they can take a one-segment trip on Metro to their destination?
  - Jon May 24, 2024 (11:51 pm)
    
    I disagree with this logic: you’re disregarding the transit changes that would come for all of WS. I understand disliking it if you are already one bus from downtown, but many people aren’t.
    
    For example, if you live on Alki you currently have to take the 50 and then the C to go downtown. When light rail comes Metro’s current plan is to extend the H to Alki, which means a commute of the H and then light rail to go downtown from Alki.
    
    The reorganization makes it both faster and more direct. Also, the light rail doesn’t have to worry about traffic.
    - Canton May 25, 2024 (9:57 am)
      
      Disagree with your logic Jon; “many people” is disingenuous. Light rail serves the Junction, Avalon, and N. Delridge. Admiral, Alki, S. Delridge, Arbor heights, Highland park, Westwood, Morgan junction, Lincoln park, and Gatewood would all need to transfer by bus. So yes, many can, but many many More people can not.
  - Lagartija Nick May 25, 2024 (9:02 am)
    
    Literally a billion people or more transfer from a bus to fixed rail transit for their commute every single day all over the world. Why do you think Seattlites are so special they can’t or won’t do the same?
    - Martin May 25, 2024 (12:33 pm)
      
      Nick, this makes a ton of sense for the suburbs: a transfer from a local bus to a regional rail makes the ride much shorter (like for Northgate riders). West Seattle is a very short freeway ride away from downtown, adding not only one but two transfers (one in West Seattle and one in SODO) will make transit for West Seattle riders so much more time consuming and complicated.Case in point: Metro 7 is one of the busiest routes in our region as it provides a direct fast connection for many Rainier Valley neighborhoods even though it runs parallel to Link. Very few people transfer at Mt Baker to Link as it just adds time and inconvenience.
  - Grebe May 25, 2024 (9:27 am)
    
    Trains don’t wait in traffic. Everyone would rather ride a train vs a bus.
K May 24, 2024 (6:58 pm)

If you think ST’s plans are extreme, check out the before and after pics of the areas that were razed to build I-5. Literally tens of thousands of people displaced in the name of making space for cars.
Also John May 24, 2024 (9:18 pm)

Bulldozer… I feel you haven’t been following this project over the last four years!?
Chad May 25, 2024 (7:20 pm)

We could run that circulating bus route RIGHT NOW to Sodo or. Beacon Hill train stations and skip all of this nonsense. Those stations are literally right here. Small busses running around WS to them is all we need.

Derp May 24, 2024 (3:07 pm)

Now where are those gondola people at…

Look Both Ways May 25, 2024 (8:49 am)

They’re in Singapore, NYC, Portland, Medellin and other global cities enjoying the ride and laughing at our bureaucracy.
TheArroyos May 27, 2024 (1:55 am)

Absolutely ~ gondola!

EFS May 24, 2024 (4:28 pm)

Isn’t there a pool at the YMCA? Do we need a pool on every block as well as a chicken in every pot?

Pools May 24, 2024 (6:41 pm)

Ahh, because there is a pool at the YMCA no others should be allowed? The WSHC isn’t asking for public funding so why can’t they have a pool. BTW the WSHC is cheaper than the YMCA.
K May 24, 2024 (7:27 pm)

Even if WSHC lost their facility, there would still be 3 indoor pools in West Seattle, not including Evergreen a bit further south of West Seattle proper. We are definitely covered in this department on the peninsula!
- Not really May 25, 2024 (7:26 am)
  
  Yes! There is the Y pool, Southwest, Colman in the summer. All of those pools have limited swimming times , mostly lap swim. The pool at WSHC is open from 5am until 9ish! Lap lanes all day, fitness classes, swimming lessons, etc. if you are an avid west Seattle swimmer and want pool time, you go toWSHC.
Alki Resident May 24, 2024 (7:31 pm)

The WSHC has ample parking and you’re less likely to come out to your car to find a broken window.
Mel May 24, 2024 (8:35 pm)

As a parent, there are actually far too few pools in West Seattle. I’m not a member of WSHC, but losing a pool in WS is a big deal.

David May 24, 2024 (6:13 pm)

Two words: Eminent Domain

Derek May 24, 2024 (7:04 pm)

Awful. This better not delay building. I live in the path and I still want the trains. We need to get building!

RethinkRethinking May 24, 2024 (10:10 pm)

Me too. Adjacent (50ft) to tracks and not going to be acquired. The headlights will shine into my home as the train grinds its way up the hill to the Avalon station. There have been years and infinitive forums to engage in this process, as many in the neighborhood have. I’ve directly advocated to individuals and neighbors who just buried their heads and denied reality for years. While I applaud any attempts at civic engagement this is the byproduct of lazy denialism. We all received letters in October 2021 if we had even a remote chance of being impacted. Further delaying the publication of the EIS for this voter approved, immensely favored project is repugnant and insulting to those of us who have worked tirelessly to advocate for our homes and the community since ST3 passed nearly a decade ago. News of a backbone being grown on the ST Board this week over SLU station location gives me hope that we will get some pragmatism and decisiveness and get tofinally move on with our lives. Even if the outcomes literally sucks for a bunch of us as individuals.

Derek May 24, 2024 (7:53 pm)

I’m as leftist as they come, voted for Mosqueda and usually support her, and I’m quite disappointed in her caving to the business class over people, a place that could literally lease in one of the often empty Westwood Village or other countless locations up and down west Seattle.

Bbron May 24, 2024 (10:46 pm)

Derek, this is a good thing for light rail as it’s exchanging car infrastructure to keep a community hub that’ll end up near a station. this isn’t considering alternative routes, this is retroactively going back and finding an opportunity to reuse existing right-of-ways. that should’ve been the goal from the start, but b/c Seattle is car-addicted, buildings were seen as easier to clear than on-street parking.

SkyB May 24, 2024 (8:15 pm)

I used to go there and swim laps at that pool until the homeless RV crashed through the wall and shut it down for months. Decent pool. I would probably rather have light rail to W Seattle asap.

G May 27, 2024 (7:36 am)

The building could be rebuilt before sound transit puts shovels in the ground.

Scarlett May 24, 2024 (8:45 pm)

Ah, the light rail “kool-aid,” the scam that never stops giving. It’s baffling that so many otherwise intelligent, well-intentioned people can be taken in by it. It has little to do with public transportation and more to do with rewarding the construction and real estate industry that can pitch stations nearby to new development. If light rail actually backed up its rosy promises, then yes, but it never does.

Bbron May 24, 2024 (10:50 pm)

Scarlett, i’m still waiting for the day you provide sources or metrics for what a successful vs. unsuccessful light rail is. i’ve spent too much time already providing you sources that easily counter your opinions without getting any of that effort in return; only you postulating on your feelings. a likely reason folks are pro light rail is that they’ve observed the current 1 Line and seen how it’s improved the adjacent neighborhoods, the increase in access for all, and the reduction in traffic (personally seeing the before and after UW Station opened is incredibly convincing. should we not do any public transportation projects because they’ll improve nearby land value? that’s an interesting take…
Vizzle May 24, 2024 (11:09 pm)

This. A lot of this.
K May 25, 2024 (7:52 am)

Here you go, Derp. The perennial “bring the gondola because light rail will create jobs for construction workers and we don’t want that” post.
New Deal May 25, 2024 (8:19 am)

Thank you Scarlett. Nice to have some voices of reason in our community.
Lagartija Nick May 25, 2024 (9:12 am)

Tens of thousands of daily riders disagree with your statement. Completing this build out will absolutely induce more people to ride the system, especially as more destination options are added. Fixed rail transit works all over the world. It works here now and it will continue to work here into the future.
Jon Wright May 25, 2024 (9:27 am)

If only we were all as savvy and knowing as you!

Niko May 25, 2024 (9:32 am)

Defund Sound Transit

Scarlett May 26, 2024 (12:03 pm)

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: It is impossible to “graft” light rail systems – an old technology – onto to major America cities with the assumption that they will have a significant impact in terms of reducing traffic congestion, getting sizable numbers of people out of their vehicles, and increasing access to public transportation. It’s too late for all that, simply put. Cities like Los Angeles, Sacramento, and even Portland have borne this out.

Here, think about the horrendous cost per foot – money, dislocation of business, traffic disruptions, environmental impact – of this short West Seattle link for its minimal impact. I’m a public transportation advocate and light rail is, on the surface, a seductive idea but it doesn’t pencil out. I don’t know what the solution to the dire crisis of the lack of affordable housing to attract a workforce who can live in WS and be there to attend to your mom or dad in a WS assisted living place, or cut your hair, or do your gardening, but the solution isn’t importing people in on light rail. In fact, the poor are probably the least to benefit as bus transit will be “re-aligned” funnel people to light rail stations, and adding another cumbersome segment to what was a simple bus ride.

Sorry to say, but light rail is a utopian idea that has been sold to people based on their experiences and idealized views in Europe.

Thomas May 26, 2024 (1:09 pm)

Wsb/Neighbors,does anyone know the best way to fight back against faux progressives like this? It seems like voting doesn’t work, as the vocal minority are allowed to override the will of the people. Those of us with jobs and families who will benefit from the light rail get left behind because a small group can somehow ruin it for everyone. I’d like to get more involved to ensure voices of reason are heard. Open to any thoughts

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