West Seattle, Washington
22 Friday
And more transit news as the new year begins: When Sound Transit reps visited West Seattle twice recently for updates on light-rail planning, they mentioned that an “elected leadership” group would be convened to focus on the West Seattle (2030) to Ballard (2035) line. Toward the end of this morning’s Seattle City Council meeting, Councilmember Mike O’Brien mentioned that group would meet for the first time this Thursday – so we asked Sound Transit for details. Here’s the agenda – the meeting, including City Councilmembers and ST Board members, is set for 2-4 pm Thursday at Union Station downtown, and is open to the public. (added) Here are the members:
ï‚· Representing the project corridor:
o Seattle Councilmember Lisa Herbold
o Seattle Councilmember Bruce Harrell
o Seattle Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
o Seattle Councilmember Mike O’Brien
o Seattle Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez
o Port Commissioner Stephanie Bowmanï‚· Representing Sound Transit
o Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers
o Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan
o King County Executive Dow Constantine
o Seattle Councilmember Rob Johnson
o King County Councilmember Joe McDermott
One agenda item involves appointments of all but five members of another group that’ll be involved, the Stakeholder Advisory Group. Here are links to all the meeting-related documents, including directions to the location.
P.S. 11 of the members to be appointed to the stakeholder group are listed on the last page here.
If you’re interested in light rail, the time to speak up – or, speak up again – is here. Sound Transit will soon make major decisions on what to take to voters, seeking money that will shape the next generation of its projects. West Seattle needs more planning, and needs you to advocate for that, says the West Seattle Transportation Coalition:
Dear West Seattle, South Park, White Center, and Burien Residents,
The West Seattle Transportation Coalition (WSTC) is made up of your neighbors. We are community volunteers who have been tracking mobility issues for the Peninsula and White Center since September 2013. We have been successful in bringing attention to our transportation challenges by banding together and asking for solutions.
In the Sound Transit 2 package, money was set aside to study potential corridors for Sound Transit expansion (ST3). Sound Transit has been studying the Ballard transit expansion since 2012. The three years of comprehensive citizen outreach and planning sessions have culminated in multiple routing and delivery options for Ballard. However, West Seattle and points south have not had the benefits of the same planning sessions. On December 4, 2015, Sound Transit presented to the Sound Transit Board (STB) a proposal for expansion of Sound Transit light rail.
The WSTC has raised a question (see attached letter) to the STB and the City of Seattle. The proposed three options are in direct conflict with projects voted on in Move Seattle. With a draft proposal set for March 2016 and a final draft set for June 2016, how can we get three years worth of planning done in three months?
We need your help. Our next meeting is Thursday, January 28, 2016. We want to have a brainstorming session on ways we can help Sound Transit and the Cities of Seattle and Burien hold successful accelerated planning sessions.
You don’t need to be a transportation planner, you just need to want light rail to come to West Seattle, White Center and Burien!
Date: January 28, 2016
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: (new location) The Kenney, 7125 Fauntleroy Way SW
(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
We start off this morning with two encore notes from Monday. First: One more reminder that the West Seattle Water Taxi‘s winter schedule is now in effect, until early April. Second: Sound Transit is officially asking you where its service might expand after “current voter-approved projects are complete in 2023.” This online survey includes questions about a possible light-rail extension to West Seattle and about your priorities in general – it’ll be open for a month, but why wait?
P.S. Looking way ahead to the weekend – early Sunday, it’s time-change time.
Tomorrow’s the day the Sound Transit board (members listed here) is expected to vote on whether to put a money measure on the November ballot. You can read about the proposal here; it would raise the local sales tax half a cent on the dollar.. West Seattle’s County Councilmember Dow Constantine is on the Sound Transit board; he just sent a news release saying he’ll vote to send it to voters – here’s his statement:Read More
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