The 11/20/15 Bellevue
Reporter about Sound Transit’s Bellevue Tunnel prompted the following post
East Link Insanity
Continues,
Sound Transit’s decision
to begin the light rail tunnel this month is just another example of their
insane approach to the area’s transportation problems. I chose insane because their actions
reflect far more than just mere incompetence. (Their decision to partially close 1-90 Bridge on the same
weekend as a 520 closure is an even more recent example.)
It’s almost as if ST gets
some sort of perverse pleasure out of making things miserable for east side
commuters. It’s not clear what the
immediate impact will be but they could have at least waited until after the
holidays to begin. According to
the Bellevue Reporter it will take 4½ years to finish the 2½ block long
tunnel.
This raises two
questions. First, “Why are they
beginning the tunnel more than 7 years before East Link service will begin in
2023?”. Second, “Why does it take
4½ years for the 2½ block Bellevue tunnel when they can complete the 4.3-mile Northgate
tunnel in two years?
Apparently at least part
of the reason is the ST decision to use a “Sequential Evacuation Method” (SEM)
rather than a more conventional “bore-driven” tunnel. It involves carving out a section of tunnel and spraying the
unsupported section with fast drying concrete to keep it from collapsing into
the excavated area.
This SEM technique has
worked well in other areas, most notably in Australia. Apparently the longer construction
times are offset by lower costs as attested to by the fact the winning $121M
bid was 23% lower than ST estimated costs. It wasn’t clear whether the winner had what would seem to be
needed experience with this SEM technique.
The benefits of the lower
cost apparently didn’t reduce the $100M the Bellevue City Council agreed to pay
for the tunnel. Thus SEM is
another example of where ST benefits from lower costs and the Bellevue central
business district is faced with an additional 3 or more years of disruption
associated with the excavation and construction of the tunnel.
Again, the tunnel
decision is just the latest example of ST apparent animus toward eastside
residents. Fifteen years ago they
could have added 4th lanes to the I-90 outer roadways for non-transit
HOV lanes and divided the center roadway into inbound and outbound bus only
lanes. The bus lanes could have
been combined with additional parking spaces to allow thousands of eastside
residents access to express bus routes into Seattle; leaving their cars near where they live and easing congestion
throughout the area.
Instead they never
considered two-way bus lanes in the 2008 DEIS claiming light rail could
accommodate up to 12,000 riders per hour in each direction and promising the 4th
lanes, when finally opened to traffic in 2017, would provide “Travel times
across I-90 for vehicles and trucks would also improve or remain similar with
East Link”. Yet East Link will be
limited to 4500 riders per hour and ST refuses to demonstrate that the outer
roadways won’t have the same congestion problems I-5 HOV commuters are
currently having. Meanwhile ST is
in the process of devastating the route into Bellevue and plans to close the
South Bellevue P&R next March, severely limiting eastside commuter P&R
access to transit.
The ST decision to drop
their “Integrated Transit Service” (ITS) with I-90 bus riders transferring to
and from light rail for the Lake Washington Bridge portion of their commute essentially
ends light rail access for most eastside commuters. (ST may or may not have recognized ITS would have increased
I-90 Bridge congestion since the lack of light rail capacity would have
resulted in more commuters forced to “drive” rather than “ride”.)
The end result is the
vast majority of the 10,000 daily riders able to use the $3.6B East Link light rail will be
Seattleites. Meanwhile eastside
commuters can look forward to ever increasing congestion on I-405 and
I-90. Blaming it on “mere
incompetence” doesn’t do justice to the resulting debacle.
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