My candidacy for King County Executive is the likely end of an eight-year
attempt to raise concerns about Sound Transit approach to using light rail to
reduce congestion on I-5 and 1-90 corridors. It began as a realization confiscating the I-90 bridge
center roadway for East Link’s share of light rail routed through the tunnel would
inevitably result in gridlock for I-90 commuters. It later became clear spending billions extending Central
Link beyond UW and SeaTac will do little to reduce congestion along I-5.
What began as three years of failed attempts to convince the
Bellevue City Council to use the permitting process to stop East Link has
continued with 6 candidacies using the “Voters’ Pamphlet” attract attention to
this blog; garnering 95,000 page views and nearly 50,000 votes on both my
Governor and County Executive primaries.
Meanwhile, during those same eight years Dow Constantine has,
according the Seattle Weekly, been credited with the following:
Dow Constantine has led King County to a place that is more
transit-friendly.
As chair of the Sound Transit board, he led the fight to pass
ST3, possibly the single most important transportation project this region has
ever undertaken.
Constantine’s
“vision” for light rail in the area is typified by his response to the 2015
legislation enabling the ST3 vote.
“What we can
do is create light rail to take you where you want to go, when you want to go,
on time, every time, for work, for play, for school”
During a
“State of the County” presentation he opined
“There is simply no other option than
light rail that can add the kind of capacity we need to our transportation
system”.
In 2015
Constantine, claimed that $1 billion in newly issued bonds were environmentally
“Green” with the following:
“They need
look no further than these green bonds, which will fund transportation projects
that increase commuters' mobility while reducing reliance on cars.”
Constantine
may be a fine county executive in other respects but he’s totally inept at
dealing with transportation policies.
One has to wonder why any paper would consider King County to be “more
transit friendly” after 8 years of Constantine. A 2015 PSRC “Stuck in Traffic” report concluded HOV delays
on all the major roadways have increased dramatically over the last few years.
ST3 passage truly
is “possibly the most important transportation project this region has ever
undertaken”. However, far from
being a “plus,” the vast majority of its funds will be spent on a light rail
spine that will do absolutely nothing to increase transit capacity, creating a
financial black hole for operating costs, and making it far more difficult to
fund projects that could reduce congestion.
The Constantine
“vision” of what light rail can do in our area is a clear indication he doesn’t
understand the cost of constructing and operating light rail extensions can
only be justified when they provide sufficient numbers of commuters with access
to added capacity with routes to where they wish to go. He’s ignored the need to add the tens
of thousands of parking stalls needed for access and the “Prop 1 and beyond”
light rail extensions will do nothing to increase Seattle transit capacity. Any riders added will simply displace
those nearer Seattle.
His claim
“there is no other option than light rail that can add the type of capacity”
shows a profound ignorance of bus rapid transit. Fifty buses an hour on inbound and outbound BRT lanes on
I-90 Bridge center roadway could provide the same cross-lake capacity as East
Link at a tiny fraction of the cost.
An additional 100 buses an hour along a restricted I-5 HOV lane could
provide 10,000 riders each hour with transit access to Seattle. The only limitation being providing them with sufficient parking
for access.
Constantine’s
claim the Prop 1 and beyond light rail extensions are “green” is belied by
Sound Transit spending millions to shield properties hundreds of feet away from
East Link train noise. (Meanwhile
getting FHWA and FTA approval by claiming the noise will have no impact on
Mercer Slough Park.) It’s
“unlikely” the inevitable gridlock on I-90 Bridge outer roadway will be
“green”. That “reducing
reliance on cars” requires increasing transit ridership by adding parking with
access to adequate transit capacity, both missing from current ST3 plans
Fortunately
the hundreds of millions Constantine’s Sound Transit has wasted each year are
only a precursor to the billions planned over the next 25 years. My candidacy’s goal is to do what I can
to prevent his past “ineptness” from continuing.
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