Mayor Harold Should Speak Up for Seattle

The June 28^th Seattle Times Traffic Lab article “Largest property tax levy may get bigger” detailed plans to ask Seattle residents to fund a $1.7 billion eight -year transportation levy. It was similar to a June 16^th Seattle Times Opinion, “Road work ahead: Gubernatorial candidates diverge on transportation”.  

A June 11^th post concluded Sound Transit should be forced to allow some of the $1,850 million in sales tax revenue in 2024 ($93,728 million by 2046) be used to help fund roads, bridges, and ferries.  Especially since far more of those paying the taxes use the roads than ride light rail.

This post opines Seattle Mayor Bruce Harold should use his Sound Transit Board position to advocate they use part of the sales tax revenue to fund “basic infrastructure” for “safety, you can’t put a price on” in Seattle.  Again, more residents will benefit from road improvements than ride light rail. Even more important there would have been no ST3 taxes without the 70% approval of Prop 1 in 2016. 

Seattleites surely deserve more of the benefits than they are currently getting with extensions to Northgate and will get from Lynnwood extension since riders added will reduce access for Seattle commuters. Sound Transit will use the longer route operating costs to justify raising the fares to $3.00 for all Seattle commuters.  Plans to route Line 2 link through DSTT will halve the number of trains Seattle residents have from SeaTac.  

Mayor Harold should recognize that Seattle residents would benefit far more from money spend on road improvements than they’ll get from the Sound Transit plan for the $12.5 billion Ballard to Sodo extension. They’ll have to wait until 2039 to even use the extension. During much of the wait they’ll have to put up with disruption from boring a second tunnel and implementing stations that close off major roads in the area.  That when the link does begin those forced to transfer from bus routes to the Ballard to Sodo extension will be limited to egress and access at new Westlake Station rather than at multiple stops along 3^Rd Ave.

Sound Transit could avoid the need for a second tunnel northbound by terminating East Link and West Seattle extension at existing CID station.  Doing so would add needed flexibility for both extension operations and satisfy demand for a “near CID” station. The need for a second southbound tunnel could be avoided by recognizing Ballard and South Lake Union regions already have King County Metro routes with far better access to routes into Seattle than what they will have at a new Westlake station.  

The bottom line is Mayor Bruce Harold is the Sound Transit Director who represents the Seattle residents who made ST3 possible.  His service as their mayor on the board presumably earns him the high end of the $150,000 to $231,000 directors receive as compensation.  He should justify that compensation by insisting some of the taxes Seattleites pay be used to fund their roadway needs.