I
periodically get an E-Newsletter from Sound Transit about their progress in
designing the various segments of the East Link light rail program. It references an East Link document
archive that lists more than 30 status reports since March, primarily dealing
with “Kickoff to final design” for the different segments. Sound Transit is obviously spending a
great deal of time and money in planning for the Bellevue East Link segments
and informing the public about how their design is progressing.
However,
very little has been said about their progress on the I-90 bridge segment. All the time and money spent on the
Bellevue segments will be wasted unless Sound Transit can convince the FHWA
that the I-90 Bridge can support light rail. East Link is the first attempt to install light rail on a
“floating bridge”. The problem is
assuring the durability of the 190 ft connections between the fixed and
floating portions at each end of the bridge.
The
original connections have already needed replacement under far less severe
conditions than what could be expect with four 74-ton-car trains traveling in
each direction. The fact light
rail operation would result in nearly 600 tons of weight on the south 1/3 of
the bridge where the two trains cross would seem to exacerbate the connection
design problem.
An
earlier post (10/01/13) explains how Washington State Joint Transportation
Committee (JTC) concerns led them to commission an independent review team that
concluded in a Sept 2008 report, as did the FHWA in a Feb 2009 letter, more
needed to be done.
A Jan
12, 2012 presentation (3 years later) to the Sound Transit board described how
they had selected a “Cesura” design for further development and testing. A July 2013 presentation to the board
detailed their plans to test this design at the Transportation Technology
Center in Pueblo, Colorado during August and September.
One
would have thought there would have been some sort of status report at least to
the Sound Transit Board. Yet
their agendas for October make no mention of the subject. Apparently the tests are now scheduled
for completion later this year.
It remains to be seen whether the lack of reports and extended testing
are the result of problems.
Its not
clear whether ST will proceed if the test results show the bridge can’t support
four car trains. Recent East
Link depictions show only 3 cars in each train. There is also the question as to how they will integrate 3
or 4-car East Link train operation with the 2-car Central Link trains.
In
reality the test results are largely irrelevant to a successful transit system. Even 4 car trains will never have the capacity
and accessibility needed for cross-lake mass transit needs. The only way to do so is for two-way BRT
on the center roadway. This post
is simply to illustrate the fact ST is spending hundreds of millions to finish
designs of the Bellevue segments without confirming they can install light rail
across the lake. It sort of
gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “Putting the cart ahead of the horse”.
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