Sound Transit Board
Central Link Oversight Committee
Thursday, January 30th, 2003

[Notes by John Deeter]

Attending: Sullivan (chair), McIver, Earling, Patterson, Thomas, Pelz (late).
Absent: Gates, Hague.

Link Segment Updates

Ahmad Fazel [staff]: reports on the initial segment. Final design will be completed later this year. ST has issued RFQs for MLK construction and 31 vehicles. Pre-construction activities at mantenance base are nearly complete, and came in under budget.

Rod Kempis [staff]: reviews value-analysis of the Tukwila freeway segment. Improvements in design of elevated parts, which should lead to lower cost and faster construction.

Patterson: ST should publicize the advantage of using freeway ROW, but also point out that it is not entirely free. ST has to pay WSDOT for this. Would like to know what this cost is.

Ron Endlich [staff]: reports on the status of the north segment SEIS. Ridership numbers are being revised using updated PSRC housing and employment forecasts. This analysis will probably show increased transit demand for the Denny Triangle and South Lake Union areas [and may make Eastlake alignment more attractive.] Expect to issue Draft SEIS in late April or early May. Staff plans to allow for a 60-day public review which will include two public open houses and a formal hearing to record public opinion. Board discussion and possible route selection should occur in July.

Endlich: Montlake vent shaft [is a contentious issue]. Staff is now looking at a third location at the Hop-In Market (just south of SR-520) in addtion to the two sites near St. Demetrios church. Montlake alignment affects UW research more than west crossing. Still discussing the impacts of train induced vibration and EMF on sensitive research. UW wants to protect existing research and also maintain the [relatively] quiet central area of campus that this alignment crosses. Staff continues to look at possible mitigation measures and to assess their efficacy. There was a meeting of two UW regents and two ST board members yesterday (1/29), [but many issues still remain unresolved].

McIver: why don't we just ignore the [main] UW campus, and concentrate on the Brooklyn alignments? Endlich: every route affects some UW research but the Montlake alignment affects more research than Brooklyn does. Evaluating both routings will allow ST Board to weigh [construction] costs vs. mitigation. McIver: UW is fighting hard to lift building lid in the U District, and might even decide to build research [facility] there. Sullivan: [the problem is largely UW's own fault,] since it has chosen to locate buildings close to transportation corridors (such as the Hospital addition just north of Montlake bridge). ST will push this peanut [presumably the Montlake alignment] up the hill as long as possible, but then may have to look for something else. Endlich: UW originally suggested the Montlake route, [but further study has uncovered] a lot of disadvantages. Sullivan: Metro buses are already generating a lot of vibration on campus.

Endlich [ending his presentation]: [in July] the board will have to make separate decisions for the three parts of the north alignment: Capitol Hill or Eastlake; Montlake or west tunnel; 8th Ave. or 12th Ave. (in Roosevelt). Summarizes key criteria for these decisions. Staff will then complete the Final SEIS for all alignments, taking the prefered alignment to 30 percent engineering.

Sullivan: at present there is very little money left to go north -- is staff considering asking for additonal federal support? Endlich: a financial analysis will be included in the SEIS. [ST Board] will have to decide what is financially feasible [in choosing how far north to go in the next phase].

McGee [staff]: reports on the status of extension to Sea-Tac. Guideway will be located in the median of a new access road. Target date for completing preliminary engineering is 2005.

# # #