Two notes about West Seattle light rail tonight:
(Image from Final Environmental Impact Statement for West Seattle Link Extension, page 176 of appendix N.2)
BOARD CHAIR’S OPTIMISM: When King County Executive Dow Constantine spoke to the Rotary Club of West Seattle today, light rail was one of the topics. He noted first that the next step is the Federal Transit Authority’s “Record of Decision,” formalizing what the Sound Transit Board – which he chairs – approved in October. That’s expected in February, he said (a few months later than planned, as a Sound Transit spokesperson had told us last month). But he believes “we are in a strong position to deliver what voters approved” in 2016. A short time later, in response to a meeting attendee’s question about timeline (officially still projected to open in 2032), Constantine said, “the scope is really the question – such as, do you build the Avalon station or not? – there are 100 questions like that, that the board’s going to have to answer.” He won’t be there for all the answers, as he’s not running for re-election (which he had more to say about, as we’ll report in a separate story tomorrow).
OPPONENTS NOT GIVING UP: The Rethink the Link group, which wants to see West Seattle light rail canceled, is planning a community forum on January 25, its first event since a walking tour last June. One organizer says, “Yes, it is the eleventh hour, but that is often when people wake up.” We asked about the point of the forum, since the board has chosen the “project to be built” – this is most of their reply:
Broadly speaking, our mission is to inform the West Seattle community of the scope and impacts of Sound Transit’s light rail project. The information given to folks at various “outreach” events- and found in both the 2022 Draft EIS and in Sound Transit’s Final EIS (released September 20, 2024) is often incomplete, inaccurate, vague, or non-existent.
The West Seattle Community Transit/ Light Rail Forum will include
(1) a complete and detailed map of the entire route! (All segments will have the same scale and north orientation!)
(2) a list of all residences and businesses that have been notified of potential eminent domain.
(3) a map of the Delridge, Avalon, and Alaska Junction stations WITH list of businesses and residences that will be demolished
(4) a street map of traffic detours during construction, e.g., the closure of Alaska forcing all traffic to be moved to Oregon and Edmunds
(5) a map of our current bus routes, and routes that Metro has cut (Our experts can talk about how easily and inexpensively we can give ALL of West Seattle better transit without light rail.)
(6) a list of the 13 food sources that will be eliminated (causing a ‘food desert” from Delridge to WS Junction
They also believe that some ST Board members “realize dropping WS light rail could be a win/win/win!” and observe that “The new US Department of Transportation might also help us out by cutting the funding.” Their forum is set for 10 am Saturday, January 25, at the Center for Active Living (4217 SW Oregon).
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