(I wrote the following in response
to the Bellevue City Council’s latest newsletter warning residents about East Link . It was way too long to present during the 3 minute public comments they allow at meetings.)
Earlier this week I once again
drove along 112th Ave on my way from the Bellevue Golf Course driving
range to Chase’s Pancake House for their potato pancakes. While it was clear preparations
were underway the tree-lined avenue still had a pleasant ambience. That’s all about to change thanks to the Bellevue City
Council. Nearly all of the several
hundred trees on the east side will be ripped out and an elevated roadway
constructed to accommodate light rail tracks and high voltage power lines. It didn’t have to happen.
More than 8 years ago I told the
city council the Sound Transit East Link DEIS was sheer fantasy. That claims East Link was the
equivalent of 10 lanes of freeway ignored the reality of Downtown Seattle
Transit Tunnels limitations on capacity. That the council should make
approval of the 10 permits in the DEIS needed for construction contingent on Sound Transit considering
two-way BRT on the I-90 Bridge center roadway. Even a cursory study would have concluded BRT would have 10
times light rail capacity, 10 years sooner, at 1/10th the cost,
effectively ending East Link. (They
could have funded the study themselves for less than what they spent on a
totally futile attempt to reroute light rail into the city.)
Instead the council rewrote the
city’s land use code allowing the devastation along the current route. They
approved a shoreline permit allowing Sound Transit make a mockery of
environmental regulations, claiming light rail noise would have no impact on
Mercer Slough while demanding they spend millions shielding properties hundreds
of feet away; inevitably ending the quiet solitude of the park. They even allowed Sound
Transit ignore the Revised Code of Washington requiring any high capacity
transit planning consider lower cost options.
They acquiesced to Sound Transit
delays in adding 4th lanes to the outer roadways that would have
reduced congestion from commuters from both sides of the lake. Recently the council allowed
Sound Transit ignore their MOU concerning replacing the South Bellevue P&R;
effectively ending access to transit at P&Rs for many east side commuters. Sound Transit’s confiscation of the bridge center
roadway will increase outer roadway congestion, inevitably leading to gridlock
with the projected doubling of cross lake commuters they used to justify East
Link.
The council ignored Sound Transit’s
own website that limited East Link to one three or four car train every 8-10
minutes; at best, one 4-car train every 8 minutes, or 30 74-seat light rail
cars an hour. They could have
easily added the same capacity with fewer than 50 buses without spending a dime
on light rail tracks, disrupting cross-lake commuters, and devastating the
route into Bellevue.
Instead last year the April 29th Bellevue
Reporter front-page article featured the council heralding the East Link light
rail extension “breaking ground” as a “cause for celebration”. When East Link finally begins
operation, Sound Transit intends to use it to replace cross-lake buses. (Apparently like Sound Transit, the
council doesn’t recognize the outer roadway congestion is not due to too many
buses.)
During peak commute, East Link will only have capacity to
accommodate riders from about 50 buses an hour; that’s less than the current
peak frequency. Those on buses
continuing into Seattle will be the lucky ones, avoiding the hassle of transferring
to and from East Link at South Bellevue or Mercer Island. Especially since those forced to
transfer will frequently find trains full when they arrive at the two stations.
The bottom line is many commuters have already lost access to
transit from Sound Transit closing South Bellevue P&R. Light rail construction will soon begin
disrupting those living or commuting along the route into Bellevue. Light rail confiscation of the bridge
center roadway will inevitably lead to gridlock on outer roadways. When East Link begins operation the
vast majority of I-90 corridor commuters won’t even have access. East Link will do nothing to
reduce the congestion they’ve endured for years between Issaquah and
I-405. Reducing congestion with light rail along the route
is another Sound Transit fantasy.
It will all happen “courtesy” of the Bellevue City Council.
Just accept the fact most retirees like yourself want to keep Bellevue as an exclusive enclave for rich White families, just like they found it back in the good ole days of mid 20th century America. White flight into suburban areas created hostile and xenophobic communities where its citizens do not want their tax dollars paying for services for non-Whites who foul up their lily white suburban playgrounds. The whole argument against East Link construction is no more than dog-whistle speech about continued urban sprawl threatening to encroach upon Eastside city limits. Code words such as I-90 corridor commuters imply well to do privileged Whites (and Asians); light rail confiscation of right of way implies county government employing imminent domain, further stoking fears of encroaching city. Face reality: It's the wealthy (White and non-White) employees of Boeing, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon commuting by expensive cars to their expensive estates who clog the highways along the I-90 corridor. Only the natural flora and fauna have had their natural habitats destroyed by the encroaching human population since early settlement of the Eastside.
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