Sound Transit’s current vision for the future of key expansions like light rail to Ballard is muddier than Golden Gardens at low tide but one group continues to try to fight for clarity and access for Central Seattle transit riders.
The Seattle Subway group is calling for supporters to join an organizing meeting Wednesday night as Sound Transit is considering plans that would “skip” creation of a Midtown Station near 5th or 6th Ave as it tunnels through the area to create the new expanded lines.
“Sound Transit pledged a station for First Hill, the densest neighborhood in Washington, but they skipped it in Sound Move and are threatening to do it again in Sound Transit 3,” the Seattle Subway call reads. “Join Seattle Subway in saying NO to skipping Midtown Station! Let’s prevent Backroom Bruce from making transit worse for everyone in Puget Sound.”
CHS reported here earlier this year as rumblings grew around Sound Transit’s possible pullback on Midtown plans. The shifting plans could mean Sound Transit will once again be on the hook for offering an alternative after falling short on promised service to First Hill.
First Hill was originally lined up for a station of its own in 1996 with the start of light rail planning in Seattle. According to the Seattle Times in 2005, Sound Transit staff told the board that a deep-underground First Hill Station posed potentially expensive construction and schedule risks and would hurt the light-rail line’s prospects for badly needed federal grants.
In lieu, Sound Transit paid for the 2.5-mile, ten station First Hill Streetcar route which cost approximately $134 million and still has city planners scratching their heads trying to find a way to speed up the service.
Wednesday night, Seattle Subway hopes to grow its effort to keep a Midtown Station in the expansion plans currently on the table. Meanwhile, timelines for those key expansions keep growing.
Sound Transit currently estimates a start of service for West Seattle in 2032 with Ballard coming online around 2039. The expansions were approved by voters in November 2016.
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Every neighborhood gets it here in developing Seattle. Good luck, but also, deal with it.
I hope all recognize that ensuring the Midtown and Union Station hub stations are the ones that are built is important and faces challenges. https://transitequityforall.org/ is also fighting for the Midtown/Union station option. The Union Station option is sometimes referred to as the CID 4th Avenue.
Thank you for bringing this issue to the community. The Seattle Times also published information. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/harrell-constantine-light-rail-ideas-add-years-money-to-sound-transit-planning/
I’m new to Seattle and sadly your transportation system is basically in shambles. Seattle is ranked 9th worst pothole city in America. Seattle should have had extensive rail decades ago. Why doesn’t it all you have to look? Is that some of the stuff that I’ve seen since I’ve lived here like hiring contractors that go through the roof at one station and close it down and contractors on the rail to Bellevue have to completely redo work they’ve already done. It’s a mismanagement nightmare like the consultant firm said Seattle transportation department divisions are in silos. Who believes that they can manage anything other than one rail line, which they can’t. In fact, most of the escalators and elevators at the current stations work some of the time and mostly not anytime. There are no bathrooms, it’s unsafe. It’s basically a disaster
Welcome to Seattle 😐😐😐
NYC cannot keep their escalators and elevators working, why do you believe a tiny system like Seattle’s is going to do any better?
As long as NIMBYs stay out of the way.
The Seattle Transit Blog published an interesting piece on the West Seattle Link Light Rail.
Un-sound Transit is an epic fail. And don’t get me started on their lowest bidder contractors going years past completion estimates.