This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
Mike Lindblom lays out the various dillemas facing Sound Transit as it debates whether to go back to the ballot in the fall.
There are two main hurdles, it seems: getting Snohomish County to sign off, and deciding whether anxiety over $4 gas makes people more transit-friendly, or just more concerned about the economy and thus less likely to support a tax increase.
What I’ve been hearing, second- and third-hand, is that local officials are pretty confident about a re-vote in 2008. The plan would be a 0.5% sales tax hike. The thinking is that, if they do the full 0.5%, but shrink the route a bit at the ends*, they can pursue a more aggresive timeline and open by 2018 or 2020.
Also, for what it’s worth, Bus Chick states unequivocally that there will be a vote in ’08.
* Exact amount of shrinkage TBD, but I think it’s reasonable to assume Lynwood to the north, Overlake Hospital (which is not as far as Overlake Transit Center, sadly) to the East and Federal Way to the South. Federal Way’s been aggressively urbanizing their downtown, and they deserve to be rewarded with a rail stop.
Comments are closed.