Central Link Light Rail update – Feb 16th, 2008

Posted on by Brian Bundridge


Here is a visual assessment for February 16, 2008 on the Central segment of Link Light Rail.

Vehicle Count:

16 of 35 vehicles are on the O&M property.
Order for additional LRV’s should be coming up the end of the year for University Link.

Track Installation:

Trackwork is complete from Pine Street Station to the Airport Expressway.
The rest is dependent on the Port of Seattle work on the new Expressway road construction to Sea-Tac Airport which is slated to open in Spring 2008. The SR 518 Sea-Tac Airport to I-5/I-405 Interchange Project improves existing mobility and safety and accommodates projected airport traffic by adding a third eastbound lane on SR 518 between the North Airport Expressway and the I-5/I-405 Interchange. This is slated to open in Fall 2009.

Overhead Contact System (OCS):

Overhead Contact poles are installed from Tukwila International Blvd. Station to Mt. Baker Station. Support arms for the wire are being installed from SR-599 to MLK Way.
Unknown status within Beacon Hill Tunnel.
Powered tests is in operation between the O&M and Pine Street Tunnel. Tunnel testing is only on weekends and weeknights.

Signal System:

95% of the signaling is up and running though testing is required between Beacon Hill Tunnel and Tukwila Station but from a visual standpoint, they were all be a few lit up amber “hold”

All grade crossings are installed and operational. Royal Brougham is activated only during tunnel testing at this time.

Beacon Hill Tunnel:

No update on the progress but it has been about an month. I would expect the punch through sometime in the next week or so judging by the sudden influx on equipment around the site now (Big cranes) and flatbeds around the work site.

Stations:

New signs are being installed at Westlake Center Station today.
Westlake, University, Pioneer Square, International District, Stadium, Lander, and Henderson Street Stations are complete and ready for Link service.
Beacon Hill, Mt. Baker, Columbia City, Othello, Tukwila International Blvd, and Sea-Tac Airport are still under construction.

Transit Oriented Development (TOD):

Most noticeable is the remodeling of several apartments near the Tukwila International Blvd Station site and all up and down Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Low-income housing is in place instead of the old “projects” that was common from Rainier Avenue to Alaska Street. I’ve went to a couple of showings of these homes and they are very nice though some of the models were a bit cramped but that is what your getting for the new urban development. If Portland or Charlotte is any heads up, bigger condos and such will go up soon enough if the demand is there.

That’s all for now, but do you want more? Want to see the construction up close and personal on a guided tour of Link? Ride the Sound Transit Lunch Bus on one of their plush MCI D4500 Commuter Coaches. Reclining seats, guest speakers and enjoy excellent, excellent, local food at a select location. Ask questions, be heard, and enjoy what is coming to you in 16 months from now!

M/V Chinook back on Ebay

Posted on by Brian Bundridge


This is something King County or one of the Victoria carriers should pick up and re-engine. This would be an excellent boat for fast ferry service. Detroit Diesel, CAT, and EMD has a replacement engine for these class ferries that would drop right into the boat and produce the same horsepower while cutting fuel costs by 15-35% according to documents I’ve seen from both manufactures.

It’s going for $4.5 million

I need to win the lottery.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/M-V-Chinook-Passenger-Ferry-08-0422_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26432QQihZ022QQitemZ350026143204QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Update 7:30am:

I felt the need to write an email to the City Council regarding this and why it should be done.

I am contacting the Council regarding the sale of Washington State M.V. Chinook passenger-only fast ferry on eBay. I have been doing a lot of research regarding the M.V Snohomish but would also apply for the Chinook since they are the same boat. While the boat is for sale for $4.5 million, Detroit Diesel, CAT, and EMD have replacement and near drop in engines that would would work great for both of these boats. They would cut fuel savings between 15 to 35%, lower emissions, and easier to maintain. I don’t have the documents available due to a external hard drive failure but it would be worth to contact the above manufactures to see exactly how much it would run the County for the equipment Purchasing the Chinook and re-motoring the boats is probably one of the best things that could happen for this ferry district. It’s a 38-knot or 43mph boat, which would bring Kirkland to Seattle passengers to Lake Union in less than 15 minutes, including the slow speed through the Montlake Cut. A dock near the Fred Hutch Streetcar would benefit not only the Streetcar but the ease of transfers. It’s a 149-passenger boat that can be a 350-passenger boat if a safety plan is made, the same follows for the Snohomish.

It’s a local boat that is ready to go for the King County Passenger Ferry District, can be used in service now. It’s only a 10 year old boat and a lot of people have memories on these boats, this is something that we have in our hand and in our back yard and need to follow through on. We can’t afford to pass up on this unique opportunity and personally it isn’t worth scrapping the boat at all when it is perfectly fine for our future use.

Thank you for your time,

Call for Artists for UW station

Posted on by Andrew Smith


As you may or may not know, Sound Transit spends 1% of its capital budget on art. The results are kind of mixed. Some of the art is great, others are interesting, some is kind of odd, and some is just plain terrible (see the above installation next to the Paramount on Pine).

Sound Transit is commissioning a $550,000 installation at the UW station, and is looking for artists. They already found one for Capitol Hill station. That’s a lot of money, and all you artists out there, I would really love something awesome in that station.

So, this leaves me with two questions. First, what is the best art (and worst) at a Transit location in our area? And second, what would you like to see the $550,000 go for at UW station?

Call for Artists for UW station

Posted on by Andrew Smith


As you may or may not know, Sound Transit spends 1% of its capital budget on art. The results are kind of mixed. Some of the art is great, others are interesting, some is kind of odd, and some is just plain terrible (see the above installation next to the Paramount on Pine).

Sound Transit is commissioning a $550,000 installation at the UW station, and is looking for artists. They already found one for Capitol Hill station. That’s a lot of money, and all you artists out there, I would really love something awesome in that station.

So, this leaves me with two questions. First, what is the best art (and worst) at a Transit location in our area? And second, what would you like to see the $550,000 go for at UW station?

Eastside Rail Town Hall Meeting

Posted on by Andrew Smith

Eastside Rail Now! (that’s their exclamation point) is holding a town hall meeting at the Bellevue library at 6:30, with registration starting at 6:00, Tuesday the 19th of February. They have a slate of speakers, including Tom Jones from the Cascadia Center of the Discovery Institute, Craig Stone from WSDOT and John Creighton from the Port of Seattle.

It’s sort of a grassroots thing and should be interesting for those Eastside Rail fanatics.

Eastside Rail Town Hall Meeting

Posted on by Andrew Smith

Eastside Rail Now! (that’s their exclamation point) is holding a town hall meeting at the Bellevue library at 6:30, with registration starting at 6:00, Tuesday the 19th of February. They have a slate of speakers, including Tom Jones from the Cascadia Center of the Discovery Institute, Craig Stone from WSDOT and John Creighton from the Port of Seattle.

It’s sort of a grassroots thing and should be interesting for those Eastside Rail fanatics.