Month: December 2008

Hi, my name is Oran. You have probably seen my work featured on STB numerous times. I would like to thank Andrew for giving me the opportunity to do “media blogging” for STB. Basically, I will post a photo or design with a caption. Let us know how you like it. Here’s the caption for the photo above:

“This is Seattle Transit System coach 724, a GM ‘New Look’ bus from 1968, at the end of MEHVA‘s annual Santa’s Lights Tour of stunning holiday light displays around Seattle. Snow began falling before we took off and Santa (yes Santa!) told us this was the first time it snowed on the tour in 20 years. It was an enjoyable ride and I highly recommend it but I cannot guarantee snow on that night next year. “

We’re late on this, but Seattlest contributor Brad took the recent Department of Licensing MVET goof to its logical conclusion and pointed out that there’s probably been a hiccup in sales tax collection as well, one that potentially dwarfs the $3 million involved in the MVET program.  Assuming his facts are right, it’s a good point, but one that probably doesn’t have a lot of practical implications.

The only thing I have to add is that there are 95,000 vehicle owners affected by the MVET, which is probably roughly the number of adults in the affected areas.  A 0.4% sales tax figures to cost the median adult about $55 a year and has been collected for 12 years.  That comes out to about $62 million, but that assumes that those relatively rural areas have the same median income as the area as a whole; assumes residents do no shopping in the district proper; and ignores inflation over the past decade.  I think it’s safe to say that the total impact is something substantially less than that figure, so loose talk about “hundreds of millions” is probably not correct.

Given these uncertainties, and other practical difficulties Brad himself points out, I don’t see a practical remedy as simple as that for MVET.  I think sloppy state agencies deserve scolding, as well as legislators who made the district boundary as complicated as possible.  But a figure in the low tens of millions of dollars is serious money, enough to do a freeway ramp or other practical project.  I’d rather use that money to build a project they participated in the vote for than attempt to reconstruct 12 years of purchase records.

But, of course, I would say that.

Photo, taken somewhere East of Sammamish, by Panoramio contributor franklin18136.

When I was thinking about transit-oriented development (TOD), I hadn’t really thought of First Hill as the place for it. Today, the Seattle Housing Authority, released news (behind paywall) about a massive development effort for the Yesler Terrace project on the south side of First Hill. From the DJC article:

The Seattle Housing Authority has released a conceptual plan for redeveloping the Yesler Terrace housing project on First Hill that calls for up to 5,000 new housing units and 1.5 million square feet of office space and 250,000 square feet of retail. Between five and eight acres would become parks and open space.

Currently Yesler Terrace has 561 units. The project would start in around 2011 and finish by 2026.

The site is about four blocks east of the Pioneer Square station, and the probable First Hill Streetcar route up Boren passes through the site. See a map below the fold. Now obviously, the transit isn’t the main reason that this redevelopment project is going here, but it’s a huge part of why the project can be so big. Continue reading “Yesler Terrace”

Here is a visual update to Link Light-Rail for 12-11-08

Link is testing between South 154th Street Station and Othello Street station. Yesterday, I was passed by a 4 car set at 55mph (I was doing 25mph on I-5) The train-sets are now being stored at South 154th Street Station if you are looking for them.

Wire is mostly completed from Walden Street to Beacon Hill Tunnel. Wire is done inside of both Beacon Hill tunnels. Wire is not complete from the O&M to Beacon Hill Tunnel but the equipment is there and awaiting the crews that are finishing up at Walden Street.

All of the MLK Way stations appear to be visibly clear of construction equipment and the scissor lifts are also gone. Mt. Baker and Sea-Tac Airport stations are the last to be finished. The status of Beacon Hill station is unknown.

Rail is all the way into Sea-Tac Airport Station and the end of track. OCS installation and traction power station installation will be the last of “initial” segment.

Track speed from Tukwila Station to Sea-Tac Airport will be 35 to 55mph, speed through Beacon Hill Tunnel will be 55mph.

Spring 2009 will introduce full line testing from Westlake Station to S 154th Street. This testing will be at various times throughout the day as they ramp up to scheduled operation testing to opening day. Testing is also to get people used to seeing the trains interacting with buses in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) Testing to Sea-Tac Airport will at various times, mostly at night, starting in late Summer to Fall 2009.

That’s all for now! Less than 8 months until Opening Day!

Lost in the general transit-palooza of the viaduct options is this little paragraph under surface/transit:

Examples of other surface street changes include new transit lanes on Madison, Stewart, Olive and Howell streets, among others, and converting Third Avenue to transit-only all day in downtown.

This is a big, big deal.  As the endless streetcar comment threads attest, transit in its own right-of-way is the difference between a miserable trip and one that beats driving.

In the longer run, this’ll make it a lot easier for people to take transit to the Capitol Hill light rail station, too.

If Third Avenue is to become a transit mall, surely there isn’t a need for four lanes.  Two in each direction and a center lane for passing should be adequate.  I’ll leave it to the urban design folks to dream up things to do with that space, though I imagine a separated bike lane is pretty high up on the list.

Assuming the Governor picks this option…