NEW OP-ED// Op-Ed: The $10 Billion Question Sound Transit Has Never Asked By Travis Henderson via @theurbanist.org

Op-Ed: The $10 Billion Question Sound Transit Has Never Asked

Elevating the next light rail line through Downtown Seattle could save $10 billion, more than enough to close Sound Transit’s systemwide budget hole and get rail to Ballard much sooner. There’s just one problem: The agency has never officially studied the idea. It’s high time.

theurbanist.org

Pike Place should put people first year-round. In SDOT’s June survey, 98% of 5,403 respondents supported vehicle barriers. And among 224 Market businesses & staff who responded, 96% agreed. Yet the proposal for this winter would allow more general car traffic into the Market.

Three things you can do to help Save Ballard Rail: 1. We’ll be meeting at Old Stove Brewing this Thursday, August 20th at 7pm. We are stronger together! This is a more casual meetup, so if you’re looking to meet neighbors and get a little more involved in transit advocacy, this is the place for you

Already two more delays LESS THAN THREE MONTHS after the realignment vote in May. Why wasn't this disclosed during the Enterprise Initiative?

Trevor Reed@transportreform.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The 2032 date being a fiction was knowable from publicly available materials. It is not credible this was unknown internally - why was it not disclosed before the May vote? www.theurbanist.org/op-ed-sound-...

This should be a scandal. Sound Transit told everyone we had to agree to put ST3 into a blender and massively delay projects in part to get West Seattle built by 2032. We argued instead ST should work to lower construction costs and get new $$ before delaying voter-approved projects. Now this?!

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

West Seattle Link's projected opening date has slipped to 2035, Sound Transit's Acting Chief Capital Delivery Officer just told board members at today's system expansion committee meeting.

Check out our latest op-ed for the Urbanist! TLDR: - Getting to Ballard "around" 2060 is unacceptable, but we're glad ST is finally acknowledging how dire the situation is - Their plan to get to 2042 is too vague - 2042 is still not good enough, the goal needs to be 2035 as originally promised

Op-Ed: Sound Transit Gave Us a Ballard Date. Here’s How To Accelerate It.

Sound Transit recently revealed light rail won't reach Ballard until "around 2060" without further intervention. Seattle Subway lays out a path to greatly accelerate this delivery date, which they cal...

theurbanist.org

Sound Transit has finally posted a date to reach Ballard. Under current assumptions, it would be “around 2060”. Sound Transit has a concept of a plan to do better that relies on a lot of things going perfectly.

Next steps on the Ballard Link Extension | Sound Transit

Opening the full extension all the way to Market Street is possible by 2042. Here’s what it will take.

soundtransit.org

Right now there is no construction timeline because there is no date (and implicitly ST already said it's after 2052 since that's when they extended the planning to in the realignment). How is that less "dramatically different" than a specific date?

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Environmental review is closely tied to construction timelines, so a date that's dramatically different from what's currently in the DEIS could prompt the FTA to ask Sound Transit to redo all their modeling.

Housing and transit go hand-in-hand. Excellent work by @cmeddielin.bsky.social to close this loophole that has been continually exploited by NIMBYs to prevent much needed housing in Seattle.

AMR - Alexis Mercedes Rinck@alexis4seattle.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Thank you @cmeddielin.bsky.social not just for your leadership on this common sense SEPA legislation, but for your courage to be bold and take on the hard fights. It’s an honor to work and fight for housing affordability and climate justice alongside you.

The meeting today is at 2:00pm. You can still send in comments! And you can attend in-person at council chambers or virtually to provide public comment 🗣️. Details here: seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=...

The Urbanist@theurbanist.org · 3mo ago

Support SEPA reform in Seattle by asking the city council to end predatory delay procedures from city law. The big vote is today! Habitat for Humanity has an online letter 📧 campaign here that is easy to fill out and send: habitatforhumanityseattle.quorum.us/campaign/164...

Interesting thought! This would be another proposal: branch off from SODO and build new, much needed stations in Georgetown and South Park and end at the airport. One downside of branching at Judkins would be cutting off the stadiums from their closest light rail while fixing the at-grade section

Jason@jrock08.bsky.social · 4mo ago

If people are actually serious about it. This is how we could justify the expense of building grade separated rail in the Rainier Valley

Great story here from The Urbanist. Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine is telling everyone to trust him despite the empty promises. The enterprise initiative was supposed to use tools other than cutting and delaying, but that's what they did yet again.

The Urbanist@theurbanist.org · 4mo ago

Sound Transit's lofty Enterprise Initiative was aimed at getting ballooning budgets under control without cutting or delaying planned light rail projects. However, the agency did resort to pulling those levers last month anyway. Story: www.theurbanist.org/is-sound-tra...

One option is to build the pink line south as part of an ST4 package, and then elevate the 1 Line through Rainier Valley

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 4mo ago

This impacted riders on the entire network, including the 2 Line. Can we actually talk about building "the spine" without the long term fix for the at-grade segment though the Rainier Valley?

The decision last week from the Sound Transit board to leave Ballard Light Rail extension unfunded is downright outrageous. So make your voices heard! Sound Transit board needs to feel that pressure every single day until Ballard is funded.

There's been a lot of discussion about bringing transit projects to 100% design. The Center City Connector has been at 100% design for nearly ten years. It was almost fully funded, with a $75 million federal funding agreement. Pre-construction work had even begun. It is now considered "dead."

At least you can take the light rail back to Bellevue now 😉 #BallardFC | #UpTheBridges

Another shot across the bow for Sound Transit. They need to stop alienating voters and legislators

Julia Grant Reed@juliareedwa.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Or to be more specific, I’ve been very clear with @sound-transit.bsky.social - if I don’t see real progress towards Ballard and the rest of ST-3, I have other things to spend my political capital on than their unpopular long term bond proposal. I care about the spine, but we have to do better.

To the Mayor's credit, she voted for the Ballard starter line amendment amongst the other important ones. Now we need her to lead the way for Ballard rail like she did for Graham St.

TashasEv(ered head)@tashasev.bsky.social · 5mo ago

So what happened @mayorofseattle.bsky.social?

The board should not have passed the resolution. The enterprise initiative has been a rushed, flawed process and now the 4th iteration of the board cutting projects in the face of "unforeseen" circumstances. Sound Transit is failing fundamental tasks of planning, communication, and transparency. 🧵

Seattle Subway@seattlesubway.org · 5mo ago

Tomorrow, the Sound Transit Board is voting on amendments to the proposal that cuts Ballard out of the Ballard Link Extension by only funding construction to the Seattle Center. We support all of the proposed amendments, but #12 is crucial to get a date to Ballard under the current resolution.

Tomorrow, the Sound Transit Board is voting on amendments to the proposal that cuts Ballard out of the Ballard Link Extension by only funding construction to the Seattle Center. We support all of the proposed amendments, but #12 is crucial to get a date to Ballard under the current resolution.

Things you can do to help: - Call your Sound Transit Board reps and urge them to support these amendments - Attend and submit public comment at the board meeting this Thursday - Sign onto our letter to the ST Board: actionnetwork.org/letters/may2...

Prioritize Ballard to Westlake and Provide a Status Quo Timeline

We have a critical week ahead in the fight to save Sound Transit 3—and the Sound Transit Board needs to hear from you. On Thursday, May 28, the Sound Transit Board of Directors will vote on a proposa...

actionnetwork.org

Jesse Franz@jessefranz.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The best time to build rail to Ballard was 50 years ago when voters rejected Forward Thrust. The second best time to build light rail to Ballard is right now. Voters approved it, Seattle's planned its future growth around it, we've passed legislation to get it done faster. Build the damn trains.

Opportunities to organize and push back against the unacceptable cuts to ST3 projects: -Graham Street Transit Justice Rally & March on Monday (10am-noon) -Graham Street Transit Justice Town Hall on Tuesday (6:30-8pm) -South King County Transit Town Hall on Wednesday at Highline College (6-7:30pm).

This is a pretty big slap in the face to King County. No dates attached effectively amounts to cancelation for Ballard. Look no further than Graham St and Boeing Access Road which were supposed in ST1 and supposed to be built by 2005 and are still being pushed off indefinitely!

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The Dave Somers proposal to update the ST3 system plan is here. www.soundtransit.org/st_sharepoin...

We must fully build out ST3: to Ballard, West Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Issaquah, and Kirkland. @sound-transit.bsky.social, do not stop short, and do not pit neighbors against each other!

The Urbanist@theurbanist.org · 6mo ago

NEW OP-ED// Op-Ed: Join the Save Ballard Rail March on April 19 By Carl Aslund via @theurbanist.org

NEW OP-ED// Op-Ed: Reconnect and Automate Ballard to West Seattle Rail to Save ST3 By Scott Kubly, Trevor Reed via @theurbanist.org

Op-Ed: Reconnect and Automate Ballard to West Seattle Rail to Save ST3

Sound Transit can halve the cost of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle by building them as a connected automated light rail line with slimmer stations, according to two transit experts who have launched the Sound Transit Now campaign.

theurbanist.org

Communities across the region are mobilizing to save ST3 and force the Sound Transit board as well as state legislators to step in and fix this, ensuring we build the whole system as voters intended. Learn more at @transpochoices.bsky.social, @seattlesubway.org, saveballardrail.org, & others.

Save Ballard Rail - Save Ballard Rail

Save Ballard Rail. We want Sound Transit to honor their commitments in ST3 and build out all light rail extensions. Light rail for everybody!

saveballardrail.org

If you want to save light rail to Ballard, now's the time to speak up! Tell Sound Transit that they need to build the system we voted for. Great to see people organizing to make sure our voices are heard. saveballardrail.org

Amazing turnout on a sunny Saturday to save Ballard rail! Thank you to everyone who came out to help organize and build the movement. If you couldn’t make it, visit saveballardrail.org to get involved!

Out here at the Denny & Terry hydration station with @seattlesubway.org

In bad news for everyone but copywriters I guess, it’s been “fixed”

Seattle Subway@seattlesubway.org · last yr.

So... a funny thing happened when they were making the Club World Cup navigation signs...