Still No Final CID Plan

Various publications have summarized the March 23 decisions on the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extension (WSBLE): Publicola, Crosscut, NW Asian Weekly, and the Urbanist. Mike Lindblom even mentioned the single tunnel alternative in his Seattle Times ($) article. Most surprising were the late additions:

• APPROVED: North of CID" and South of CID" (N/S) stations.
• APPROVED: 4th Avenue Shallower" station alternative.
• REJECTED: Keep Rainier Valley in DSTT1; move West Seattle to DSTT2.

The result of these is that the preferred alignment moves Midtown and CID stations south. Midtown is replaced by a North of CID" station at the King County Administration building. CID is replaced by a South of CID" station at 6 Ave S & Seattle Blvd S. A new alternative is added: 4th Avenue Shallower", which is like another CID alternative at 4th & Jackson but less deep. This alternative would keep Midtown station at Madison Street. The rejected alternative would have reversed the spine split, keeping Rainier Valley in DSTT1 going to UW and Lynnwood. Ballard and West Seattle would be in DSTT2. In the current plan, Rainier Valley will be switched to Ballard when Ballard opens.

For Seattle the key decision makers are King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. Constantine is trying to use ST3 as a vehicle to revamp the King County buildings. Harrell wants to protect the CID and adjacent businesses from further disruptions, revitalize downtown while not spending extra. Board member Claudia Balducci wants to make sure riders from the Eastside can quickly transfer toward the airport. The Pierce and Snohomish County boardmembers are mostly concerned about avoiding further planning delays and cost increases which may have an impact on finishing the Spine to their areas. Sound Transit staff (Don Billen) is concerned about platform capacity, and therefore wants to make sure riders are spread evenly between both tunnels.

This is not the final alignment decision. The EIS will take a year to complete, and the results of that may affect the favorability of alternatives. After the final EIS is complete, the board will select projects from it for construction, and then the alignment will be final.

CID Perspectives

The N/S vs 4th station is a tough decision for the CID residents - about access vs impact. A station close to 5th & Jackson makes for a short walk to any CID destination. A station further away reduces construction impacts on the neighborhood. Many residents see that the CID benefits from good access. In particular the Asian population in the Rainier Valley, Renton, White Center, etc, depend on such access. At the same time residents are concerned about the impact of 10 years of construction, or even more if the project encounters further delays. They already suffered through constructing I-5, the original downtown transit tunnel, and the First Hill Streetcar. This is a no-win situation.

Transit Rider Perspectives

Balducci was concerned about riders from the Eastside having to make a detour north to Pioneer Square, then walk to North of CID station before going to the airport. The preliminary plans show 4 escalators, none with any redundancy in case any break down. Other than this concern, rider experience didn't come up much during the meeting.

The 4th Ave station would be between King Street Station and the original CID station. It would connect Sounder, Amtrak, the streetcar, and many bus lines along Jackson and 4th including the 7 (soon RapidRide R), 14, and 36. Neither the North nor South stations would connect to any of these. Two different versions of this station are currently being considered: Shallow and Shallower. The latter would be easier to access; however, it would require replacing the 4th Avenue viaduct, and the Yesler Way bridge would also be impacted. It would take a decade and $800 million more than original estimate. Several board members dismissed this proposal as being too expensive.

The Midtown station would bring transit closer to First Hill and connect to RapidRide G, but would be deep and difficult to access. Sound Transit estimated 15,500 users, but only the 1 Line would serve it, at most every 8 minutes. We expect many riders on the other lines to use University Street station instead.

Sound Transit promised to see whether RapidRide G could be redirected towards the North station, but we have our doubts about that. We can't see how RapidRide G could get to 4th & James without abandoning access to University Street Station and the ferry and waterfront, or backtracking from there. Traveling on currently-unimproved streets south of Madison would add unreliability. In any case, it would be Metro's and SDOT's decision whether to modify the G.

The 1 Line would suffer the most. Not only would it lose the connection to UW and Capitol Hill but also to Stadium, University Street, Pioneer Square, and potentially CID stations. Riders would have to transfer at SODO and wait for the next train from West Seattle - two escalators away on a parallel track. Pierce County executive Dammeier did not mention any of this when he was discussing the impacts on Pierce residents.

If a West Seattle stub would get built it would also be impacted as trains would not connect towards downtown until the 2nd tunnel is finished. If you arrive on RapidRide C at the Junction you would need to transfer to Link, then transfer at SODO, where you would have to not only scale 2 escalators but wait for a train from Rainier Valley (limited to 8 minutes frequency). If you want to travel to the Eastside, you will have to do the same again at CID. Without West Seattle Link, you can take RapidRide C straight to University Street Station and get on an express bus - or soon on the 2 Line - skipping 2 arduous transfers.

Operations Perspectives

Staff voiced concern with the rejected Balducci/Millar Spine", saying the first tunnel would have five times the ridership of the second tunnel, and thus the platforms may get crowded. The discussion was fully on the impacts to Sound Transit of crowded platforms, not of the experience of passengers wanting a short transfer or wanting to keep the direct access to northeast Seattle and Capitol Hill they currently have (and will have until Ballard opens). While a 2nd tunnel would reduce crowding for example at the University Street Station, it would force more transfers at Westlake, SODO, and either Pioneer Square Station or CID. The busiest track segment currently is between Capitol Hill and Westlake. The 2nd tunnel would not alleviate any crowding there but instead increase the number of transfers at Westlake.

Denny vs Terry Station

Harrell also voiced concerns for the planned station on Denny Way and Westlake Avenue. Construction would impact traffic in this freight corridor, the streetcar would be suspended during construction, and a major Internet backbone fiber-optic line would need to be relocated. A motion to study a Terry Ave alternative was approved.

Win-Win: Single Tunnel

Though Anton provided public testimony for a single-tunnel alternative, none of the board members mentioned it. We still believe that it would allow the mayor to meet all of his objectives, while less disruption would allow the city to recover from the pandemic more quickly. The County could redevelop the civic center without having to coordinate with Sound Transit construction. For the CID it would provide access and avoid impact. For Rainier Valley and Pierce County riders it would avoid degradation of the 1 Line. For Eastside riders it would provide a quick transfer at CID to the airport.

While running all three lines through the same tunnel would increase ridership in the tunnel, riders would benefit from higher frequency for destinations within downtown and simplified transfers. This would reduce people waiting for trains on the platforms. As all lines would serve downtown stations, it would reduce the number of required transfers. Transfers would not only happen at Westlake and CID , but riders could transfer between all three lines at any of the downtown stations. Only the Ballard line would require a transfer at Westlake. Therefore, we do not expect increased crowding at any of the downtown stations. To accelerate transfers in opposite directions, Sound Transit may consider adding a center platform at CID with an escalator to exit the platform. That way boarding could occur on the outside platforms and alighting on the center platform.

If the West Seattle extension gets built the 1 and 3 Lines (Rainier Valley/West Seattle) could share tracks through SODO and provide West Seattle riders a one seat-ride downtown when the West Seattle stub opens rather than 5 or even 10 years later.

Instead of building through the CID, Sound Transit could focus on the SLU/Ballard line connecting at Westlake. They could use automated trains and build smaller stations which would reduce impact and cost and potentially speed up construction. It may even avoid the Denny Way impacts, which Sound Transit is trying to mitigate, by moving the station to Terry Avenue. Sound Transit could also extend that line beyond Westlake to reach First Hill instead of building the Midtown station. It would also make it easier to serve the Ballard core with a station at the Ballard Library on NW 56th Street rather than building one on 14th or 15th Avenue NW.

What's Next

We (most authors) still believe that a single tunnel solution is most compelling. The 4th Ave Shallower station would be our next best option, but it take much longer to implement, with long disruption and high cost. Please reach out to your representatives to advocate for the Sound Transit Board to add studying the single-tunnel alternative.