Sound Transit & Board Ignore No-2nd-Tunnel Option

I used the “Meeting Comments” to email the Board’s System Expansion Committee May 8^th meeting my “4/29/23 post “Existing DSTT Can Accommodate Light Rail Riders”.  It opined the DSTT could accommodate those needing to beyond CID and Westlake stations if Sound Transit terminated East Link and West Seattle extensions at existing CID stations and terminated Ballard extension at existing Westlake station. 

 

Doing so would avoid the cost of boring a 2^nd tunnel, new stations at SODO, either 4^th Ave CID stations or North and South of CID, and Westlake. Terminating East Link and West Seattle at CID would avoid limiting Line 1 Link capacity to SeaTac and beyond.  Terminating the Ballard extension at existing Westlake Station would avoid waiting for 2nd tunnel to begin operation. (It's current 2039 "Target Date" is two years after the  16.3 mile Everett Link Extension "Target Date".)

The existing DSTT and CID could provide the “once in a lifetime opportunity to create a space for people to transfer from light rail to light rail, to Sounder and Amtrak".  The operating schedules and the number of cars in each train for all three extensions could be matched to local demand saving millions in costs.  

 

Typical of the Board, the System Expansion Committee ignored the “Comments”. The March 23^rd Board meeting had requested an additional 2 months of study to consider the 4^th Ave CID access to second light rail tunnel as well as Sound Transit’s “Preferred Alternative” for North and South of CID station.  

 

The May 1 release of the March “Agency Progress Report” included the following Sound Transit response:

 

The Board also directed that the CID 4th Avenue Shallower option be 

carried forward for additional environmental review.                                  

 

The board was told in the May 25^th meeting Sound Transit needed “additional environment review” of the 4^th Ave CID station, delaying the Ballard Link Final EIS. It’s unlikely any delay will affect the West Seattle and Ballard Link DEIS and March Agency Progress Report’s 2039 “target date”.   A competent transit board would use the added time to demand “additional environmental review” of a “no second tunnel option” that could shorten the wait and billions in costs.

Voters’ Pamphlet Candidate Statement

 

It’s May 19^th, and Candidates Filing has closed.  This year I filed for Bellevue City Council Position No 7, again with no desire to win but to use Voters’ Pamphlet to attract views to this blog.  A blog that began because the Bellevue City Council, beginning in 2008, had ignored my efforts to convince them to disallow the building permits Sound Transit needed for East Link.  A blog that continued attempting to expose the Seattle Times Traffic Lab abetting Sound Transit incompetence. This year it’s to use Voters’ Pamphlet to tell Bellevue residents what they can expect as a result.

 

Voters' Pamphlet Candidate Statement 

My candidacy is an attempt to attract voters to my blog http://stopeastlinknow.blogspot.com detailing what Bellevue residents can expect from Sound Transit.  

 

Next year the ST Starter Line will replace ST550 to South Bellevue P&R.  Access will be limited to those within walking distance of Bellevue T/C and East Main station. Riders will be required to transfer from light rail to and from buses at the South Bellevue P&R for the commute into and out of Seattle.

 

In 2025 ST’s East Link debut will end ST550 and force all I-90 bus riders transfer to light rail on Mercer Island for the commute into and out of Seattle.  It’s the “eastside” version of the ST plan to use “voter approved” extensions to replace buses into Seattle; reducing transit capacity into the city and nothing to reduce congestion. 

 

ST will use eastside taxes to help fund a 2^nd tunnel rather than use the existing DSTT for those wanting to go beyond CID.  The tunnel ends easy access to SeaTac and beyond, spending more than $12B and 6-10 years disrupting Seattle.  Part of the reason why the $54B ST3 funding voters approved in 2016 has grown to $160B and continues to grow.

Questions A Transit Board Should Ask

 

The March 23 Sound Transit Board meeting agenda included approving Motion No M2023-18 confirming Sound Transit's 2nd tunnel's Preferred Alternative Light Rail route for the Ballard Link extension and their North and South of CID stations. The result of the discussion was that the 4^th Ave CID location provided a “once in a lifetime opportunity to create a space for people to transfer from light rail to light rail, to Sounder and Amtrak". That more study was needed before the decision was made to give up that option, so a motion for an additional 2 months of study for the CID station was unanimously approved.

 

The May 1 release of the March “Agency Progress Report” included the following Sound Transit response:

 

    Board identifies alternative for Ballard Link Extension 

The preferred alternative includes stations South and North of the Chinatown-International District (CID) and shifts the Midtown Station to the location North of CID. The Board also directed that the CID 4th Avenue Shallower option be carried forward for additional environmental review. 

It raises the question as to whether a “once in a lifetime opportunity” should merit more than an “additional environmental review".  The other “news” in the progress report was the Ballard Link “target date” which had slid previously from 2035 to 2037 had slid to 2039. That raises the question as to why not terminate the Ballard Link at the existing Westlake Station with a far earlier “target date”. Especially since most of the Ballard Link riders would exit the 2^nd tunnel at its Westlake station to avoid having to go to North of CID station for egress and access. 

The Agency Progress Reports also continues Sound Transit plan to route East Link as part of Line 2 Link through DSTT to Northgate and beyond to Mariner P&R near Everett.  Why not terminate East Link at the existing CID and avoid diverting half of the DSTT trains across I-90 Bridge.  It would allow East Link operation to be matched with eastside demand and allow better access to Line 1 Link south.

The progress report also continues plan to route the West Seattle link to a 2^ndSODO station where it also initially shares Line 1 Link capacity into and out of Seattle.  Why not avoid the need to share Line 1 Link capacity and the need for a second SODO station by routing it alongside Line 1.  Terminating the Link at the CID station would allow its operation to be matched with West Seattle demand, not that of half the route to Everett.

Terminating East Link and West Seattle at existing CID would also provide the “once in a lifetime opportunity to create a space for people to transfer from light rail to light rail, to Sounder and Amtrak". It would do so at a fraction of the cost, delay, and disruption associated with implementing the 2^nd Tunnel.

The bottom line is rather than choosing were to locate 2^nd tunnel stations, the Board needs to ask Sound Transit why not terminate the Ballard Link at existing Westlake station, the East Link and West Seattle extensions at the existing CID station. Use the existing Line 1 Link on DSTT rather than  2nd tunnel for those needing to go further. (It’s something a Seattle Times Traffic Lab should “dig into” but hasn’t)

The recent delay could be used to terminate East Link at CID and terminating Ballard and West Seattle would allow earlier "target dates",  The question is “why not”.