The rush to reach West Seattle
Last week Sound Transit revealed more details about three grandiose new stations in West Seattle, one hugely upgraded SODO station, and a big cable-stayed (suspension") bridge over the Duwamish. On Thursday the System Expansion Committee will discuss early land acquisitions. This seems to indicate that the Board takes approval of the extension for granted though the final EIS is not expected to be released until June. In the meantime, the target opening of the Ballard extension has been pushed out from 2035 to 2039, partially due to lack of funding. What would happen to land already acquired if the line would fail to obtain federal funding or the Board would decide to focus on Ballard instead? Are we making the right tradeoffs?
As a transit advocate, I am excited about expanding transit options and frustrated with the delays in Federal Way and crossing Lake Washington. Shouldn't I be excited that Sound Transit is bringing light rail to West Seattle?
During the open house Sound Transit revealed more details. For the Alaska Junction station it shows two full-block, multiple-story high entry halls which remind me of the Seattle Symphony. Do we need large entry halls to serve 6400 daily riders, most of which will transfer from bus? I would prefer more modest entries like Sound Transit built at Roosevelt or UW stations with far higher ridership, and add more housing above and retail at street-level.
While some West Seattle residents are excited about a light rail option, more and more voices are skeptical. The West Seattle Blog posted more detailed pictures on their report of the event and received many critical comments. Jennifer Dowling and Patrick Robinson reported on the destruction of local businesses. Some locals organized as Rethink the Link. The destruction of the Jefferson Square complex at the Alaska Junction station would eliminate many apartments and 40 businesses by itself, mostly small businesses but also large ones such as Safeway and Bartell Drugs. The Avalon station would close many restaurants, and construction would disrupt the main access to West Seattle for many years. The Delridge station would force the closure of Alki Beach Academy, one of the largest day care providers in Seattle and crucial for many parents in West Seattle. All the impact may be justified by ridership progress, but the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) estimates only 27,000 daily riders. That's about the same ridership as the main West Seattle bus lines (C, 120, 21...) carried before the pandemic.
The city pointed out that there are many areas of concern along the route and they still need to issue permits to mitigate these impacts.
While the city and state has been issuing grants to increase tree coverage along the Duwamish River, Sound Transit is planning to clear cut the northern portion of the Duwamish Greenbelt on Pigeon Point which will destroy a heron colony, wetlands, and public trails, and impact steep unstable slopes. Sound Transit also has changed the route to go over the Longfellow Creek, whose tributaries the city has been improving upon to expand salmon spawning and beaver habitat. As this change was made after the DEIS was published, the public only had limited ability to provide input.
Other commentators pointed out that the travel time and complexity will increase, as most riders will still need to rely on buses and then have to transfer in West Seattle and SODO. At SODO station Sound Transit plans to build another huge glass structure where riders will be forced to navigate multiple escalators. If Sound Transit would instead run the West Seattle line on the existing tracks and add a center platform, riders could simply step off one train and step on the next train in another direction.
For now, the West Seattle line will terminate at the SODO station. Ultimately Sound Transit plans to extend it downtown, but this will take at least another five years. The DEIS points out that until the line connects downtown there is little incentive to ride light rail, in particular if you arrive on a bus as most riders do. Sound Transit hopes that Metro will continue to run the buses downtown until the line connects downtown.
Why do we spend $4 billion and 614,000 tons of carbon now on the construction of this extension? For their Stride service (along SR-522 and I-405) Sound Transit plans to acquire and operate electric buses. Why not operate Stride buses for West Seattle instead of Link light rail? It would reduce the overall carbon footprint, offer better transit experience, and the cost savings could be used to accelerate the Ballard extension. The Ballard/SLU line promises much higher ridership, more ridership growth and travel time savings. Now that Dan Strauss has joined the System Expansion Committee, we may hear his perspective before land acquisitions start for a light rail extension with questionable value.