Roosevelt Neighbors' Alliance June 25, 2001
Mr. Dave Earling, Chair
Sound Transit Board Members
Union Station
401 S. Jackson St.
Seattle, WA 98104-2826
Dear Mr. Earling and Sound Transit Board Members,
The Roosevelt Neighbors' Alliance (RNA) in Seattle's University District has considered the options for building the first segment of the Central Link light rail project now under consideration by the Sound Transit Board. We are writing in support of Options #1 and #4.
Capitol Hill to South Henderson Street is the Best Start
The RNA has passed a resolution to support the Original Central Link alignment. We also support the Scenario #4, Capitol Hill to South Henderson Street if for technical reasons light rail cannot cross the ship canal in the first segment. (Please see the attached resolution. Both Option #1 and #4 will carry the greatest number of riders of any of the other segments under consideration. Both will have the advantage of Federal Funding already granted. Both have completed Environmental Impact Statements.
The voters supported the tunnel alignment, Option #1; however, Option #4 will get the project moving forward in the promised tunnel alignment. It will build the foundation for the best light rail system for the region.
Urban Centers are Regional Destinations
The design of the north Seattle tunnel alignment connects not only the heavily populated neighborhoods with downtown Seattle and the suburbs, but also to serves major employment centers at UW, Seattle University, Seattle Central University, Harborview and Swedish Hospitals. The Urban Centers are not just City neighborhoods but are regional destinations and deserve DIRECT light rail service. We ask that our elected Executives do not forget their promise of density AND transportation concurrency.
Options #2 and #3 degrade the effectiveness of the light rail system
We reject Options #2 and #3. They do not support the greatest number of riders and they undermine what might be a top-notch mass transit system that should serve the greatest number of riders with stops at regional destinations.
Additionally, these alignment options create the possibility of a realignment of the route that continues into the U-District via the Eastlake route skipping over Capitol Hill. We cannot accept an alignment that does not go directly into the heart of the Urban Centers and Regional Employment Centers as it will not serve students, young workers, the working poor and other transit dependent populations.
Furthermore, an alignment accessing the University District over Eastlake would cause the University District stations to be too close together, severely degrading them in effectiveness and ridership. . It also breaks the heavy ridership link between the University District and Capitol Hill. Options #2 and #3 leave open the possibility for a freeway alignment all the way from south of the shipping canal to Northgate, bypassing both cores of the University District and Capitol Hill District. Taking the system along the freeway will not set the stage for a usable or successful regional light rail system.
Urban Centers designed for growth, get bypassed
For the last 10 years all of our regional, County, and City planning efforts have been based on light rail serving the Urban Centers. These urban centers, First Hill/Capitol Hill and University, are by far the densest residential neighborhoods in the State with census tracts in excess of 40,000 residents per square mile, the density of Rome.
As Sound Transit Board members, you are familiar with the two King County Land Use Policies quoted below.
LU-46: "Urban Centers shall form the land use foundation for a regional high-capacity transit system. Urban Center's should receive very high priority for the location of high-capacity transit stations . ."
LU-42 states: ".Station areas shall be sited so that all portions of the Urban Center are within walking distance (one-half mile) of a station."
Moreover, the 2001 update to the 1994 Seattle Comprehensive Plan offers this goal for Urban Centers:
LG18: "Identify and reinforce concentrations of employment and housing in locations that would support and have direct access to the regional high capacity transit system."
This planning has worked beautifully. For example, the University Community Urban Center Plan upzoned the University District for more residential density because the County and City Plans promised light rail. University District Census tract 53.01 grew by 54% from 1990 to 2000. Now the District has the zoning increases, more residents and possibly NO transportation relief. And, the pace of development is INCREASING.
New proposal to realign the Central Link
We are concerned about Mayor Schell's new proposal for Link Light Rail that may include an I-5 freeway alignment to Northgate. This I-5 alignment is, in effect, the same plan the region rejected 12 years ago as too expensive for the results it brought. In other words, it will have low ridership.
A light rail system is another kind of "highway", but it will not work to put this highway off to the side of the major destination points. People, not cars, will use this "highway".
Additionally, such an alignment would create problems with transportation interchanges between the light rail stations and the regional destinations. The stations would be inappropriately and ineffectively distant from the destination of light rail commuters. Envision this: Hundreds of people disembarking from the train, swamp waiting transportation that will take them another mere mile to their work or school. This is not sensible and it is very poor urban planning. Yet, this is exactly what will happen if light rail will serve only the intersection of I-5 at NE 45th Street. A light rail system will only work if people can use it easily and effectively.
I-5 Alignment will not be Cheaper
The I-5 alignment is expensive in dollar costs as well as social costs. Sound Transit found, in 1990, that this alignment would force the reconstruction of all bridges, ramps and other infrastructure along I-5. The cost: About the same as a tunnel. But the tunnel would serve thousands more riders, so the cost per rider is lower making the tunnel alignment one of the cheapest parts of the regional transportation system on a per rider basis. Sound Transit reconfirmed that fact recently. The freeway aligned 8th Avenue NE option to Northgate, at $380 Million, would only be $20 M less than the tunnel alignment at 12th Avenue NE. The reason: WashDOT will reserve more of the I-5 right-of-way for future car lanes. This will force light rail into the adjacent neighborhoods, taking streets and homes, including another five homes in addition to dozens of others around a station at NE 65th Street and I-5.
Single-family Neighborhoods Pressured to Upzone
For the price of speeding up the suburban commute, the "freeway alignment" will hurt, not help north Seattle neighborhoods. An I-5 alignment will bring inevitable pressure to upzone along the freeway to develop the ridership that will not be there when the system opens. This is bad news for Roosevelt, Wallingford, Greenlake, Eastlake, and other single-family neighborhoods along I-5.
It is bad news also for the business districts. For the University District, it could provide a crippling blow to the "Ave". Lower Roosevelt Way will have added incentive to develop duplicate services with a nearby light rail station on NE 45th Street. This will cannibalize the "Ave" businesses and many may go under. Moreover, for Eastlake it will mean a surface alignment snaking through the Community on its way to I-5. Finally, for Roanoke, North Capitol Hill and Floating Homes Association, a "freeway alignment" brings some sort of a bridge over the ship canal.
These are all consequences that we avoided with the tunnel that served the heart of the dense Urban Centers.
We ask: Whom is this light rail system serving?
All will hail our Link Light Rail as a World Class system if it serves the greatest number of riders with the greatest amount of efficiency. This light rail system must serve the City's Urban Centers with their Regional Destinations. Why build it if it makes a mess of rational urban planning and creates havoc in the neighborhoods that Seattle's Urban Center Plans mean to protect?
Since as early as 1990, the neighborhoods of North and Central Seattle have supported the light rail tunnel alignment that would serve our regional transportation needs AND preserve and protect our neighborhoods. We continue to support a regional light rail system that will support sound urban planning and serve the greatest numbers of riders.
Begin with Option #1 or #4. We should stay the course!
Sincerely,
Nancy Bocek
PresidentHans Aschenbach
Transportation
CommitteeJay Regenstreif
Secretary,
Transportation
CommitteeRoosevelt Neighbors' Alliance
C/o University Neighborhood Service Center
4534 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
Cc: Joni Earl, Executive Director of Sound Transit
The Royer Commission
Senator Patty Murray,
Senator Maria Cantwell.
Representative Jim McDermott, and staff:
Ken Kadlec, Jane Sanders, Darcy Nothnagle
Senator Pat Thibaudeau
Representative Frank Chopp
Representative Ed Murray
County Councilmember Larry Gossett
Seattle City Councilmembers:
Jim Compton
Richard Conlin
Jan Drago
Nick Licata
Richard McIver
Judy Nicastro
Margaret Pageler
Peter Steinbrueck
Heidi Wills
Northeast District Council Co-Chairs:
Jim Simpkins
Jeannie Hale