Editorial on Sound Transit East Link

Recent editorial in the Bellevue Reporter about Sound Transit's East Link to Bellevue and Redmond: "City Council can stop East Link - Bellevue Reporter."

I wouldn't go so far as to call this project a "debacle" like the contributor. I'm also not clear on the motive behind his clear opposition to the East Link. Whenever I hear someone grind on and on about how the "taxpayers are getting the shaft," I get suspicious. My thought is that he lives near the proposed Right-Of-Way and is using the taxpayer as a scapegoat.

Seattle Times - Train safety: Stop, look, listen — live

Mark Sidran, Chairman of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, has written this vital opinion piece called Train safety: Stop, look, listen — live. The WUTC investigates all railroad fatalities. Anyone who comes in contact with tracks should read it - plain and simple.

Mark goes the distance to discuss safety and easy steps to keep yourself alive around the tracks. He also mentions by name the same people who have recently died on the tracks this year in Washington. It's a sad and avoidable end that I personally would like to see decrease in number over the coming years. My hope, like it has always been, is that their deaths aren't forgotten and that somehow at least one person will consider the danger the tracks represent.

West Seattle Weighs In on Streetcar Service

View Map of West Seattle

Some folks in West Seattle have given up on ever seeing streetcar service return. Sad to think that streetcars could be gone entirely from the area, since historically West Seattle had them and thrived with them in place.

The big sticking point is that a streetcar system would have to go over "the Low Bridge" from the east. That bridge can sometimes be open to ships for an hour. Long time, when you're keeping a transit schedule. This is probably why extending service back to West Seattle is low on the priority list, because of costs to the area and logistics at the bridge.

As gas gets more expensive, the trolleys of Seattle's old days are looking better and better!

Opinion Piece on Rail Service in Central Puget Sound

Think it's new and modern to concoct huge over-arching transportation plans for the Central Puget Sound? Think again. Ross Anderson wrote this Opinion Piece on rail transit in Seattle; aside from discussing Seattle's streetcar future, he also reminds us that the region has a long history of "forward-thinking consultants" and lavishly grand schemes to advance the lifestyle of King County. Think transit tunnel under Lake Washington, huge civic centers, and all of Mercer Island turned into a city park....in 1912.

There is also a long history of people voting down those plans, and ultimately choosing the cheapest alternative available at the time. So in a way the message is "we want mobility now, but we don't want to pay for it."

Tacoma Editorial about Light Rail

It took this pointy editorial for me to recall that we as a region hatched this dream of light rail in 1996. Wow. Before Nintendo 64. Before Columbine. Before 9/11. It feels like a lifetime since we voted in the Puget Sound for Light Rail.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/318324.html

Demand for light rail will defy predictions | TheNewsTribune.com | Tacoma, WA

Demand for light rail will defy predictions | TheNewsTribune.com | Tacoma, WA

This opinion piece speaks to the idea that "if you build it they will come." Sound Transit added average 12% ridership last year, with spikes as high as 30% in some spots. That's an impressive number surely caused by the hike in fuel prices seen by the common commuter. People are finding out that some public transit options actually work for them.

This is an interesting trend that I'll be watching!

Ron Sims backs off Eastside rails-to-trail deadline

There are so many unanswered questions about the Woodinville Subdivision and its future. It's nice to see activity in this matter, but there is very little consensus on the appropriate way to handle it. I disagree with the article's contention that the line would prove useless as a light-rail corridor because of its location on the Eastside. Hogwash. I align with Eastside Rail Now! on this one, believing that something in place now is better than possibly something in place in the future. More hogwash from the Port of Seattle, who say that the line is in "poor shape and not upgradeable." It's a wonder anything gets done when two public bureaucracies and one private entity all try to find a win-win...

Anyway, you can read the article and make your own decision:

Ron Sims backs off Eastside rails-to-trail deadline

One Sentence Per Subject

Most of the time I keep my opinions private. The goals of Washington Railblog don't include political activism, but sometimes I just have to say a few words about something for which I feel strongly. Scant few words. Essentially, one sentence per subject. This does two things; first, it forces me to keep my comment simple, and second it keeps you - dear readers - from getting too wrapped up in how I feel about something. Enough said; here goes!

• Sound Transit Light Rail Project - A necessity that is not seen well by critics for its long-term goals.
• Rail in East King County - It would be smarter to use the line instead of pulling tracks out of the county's most populous area.
• BNSF Crossing at Safeco Field - Stop, look and listen people and stay off the friggin' tracks when a train is coming!
• Central Oregon & Pacific closing its Line - State of Oregon is getting the shaft at the whim of a railroad who is hiding lack of profitability behind "safety issues."

There...that was painless! KDC