Recent headlines in the Seattle
Times and the Bellevue Reporter have attracted attention to articles dealing
with WSDOT problems with the 520 bridge pontoons. Apparently the WSDOT
made mistakes in their design details for the original pontoons that will
require upwards of $100 million in extra costs to rectify and will delay
completion by a year. Earlier I recall reading someone was terminated as
a result.
I mention this because whatever
the costs or delays due to the pontoon problems, they’re dwarfed by those
associated with the WSDOT support of Sound Transit East Link
program. Fifteen years ago they could or should have recognized
that two-way bus only rapid transit (BRT) on the I-90 was infinitely better
than light rail for cross-lake mass transit.
Its far greater capacity and
accessibility at a fraction of the cost made it the obvious choice.
WSDOT failure to recognize that reality has resulted in hundreds of millions
“invested” in a fatally flawed concept. It also resulted in years of
cross-lake congestion that could have been avoided with a 4th lane for HOV on the outer
roadway and BRT on the center bridge.
Instead the WSDOT has been
partner with Sound Transit going along with their "dubious" promises
about light rail capacity and claims a 4th lane added to outer roadway will provide enough additional capacity to
handle all cross-lake vehicle traffic. Their response, when I attempted
to raise these issues was to suggest I higher private council to pursue my
concerns. (See 7/19/12 post for more details) The end result
of this partnership, if allowed to continue, will be billions spent on light
rail that will devastate parts of Bellevue and increase congestion on the I-90
bridge.
What’s “interesting” is that both
newspapers ignored many emails over several years attempting to attract their
attention to these problems. A single article could have saved the
area hundreds of millions and years of congestion. (BRT on I-90 years ago might have provided sufficient additional capacity to allow a 4-lane 520 bridge
for cross-lake commuting, avoiding the obvious problem at the I-5 interchange.)
It’s possible the “pontoon”
articles reflect a new attitude by the papers to transportation problems.
I doubt it!
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