The Daily Journal of Commerce brings up most of the interesting questions floating around the Eastlink project:
Will the trains share the HOV ramps on the Seattle side of I-90 with buses? Should there be a footbridge at the Mercer Island station? How much will the Washington State Department of Transportation charge Sound Transit to lease the center roadway of the I-90 bridge? … Once the trains get to downtown Bellevue, will they go into a tunnel as the city of Bellevue prefers? “It’s a very attractive option,” said Sound Transit board member Julia Patterson. … But Sound Transit does not have the money to build a tunnel, only an elevated structure or an at-grade alignment. A tunnel that is partly cut-and-cover and partly mined under Bellevue Way and Northeast Sixth Street, with three stations, would bust Sound Transit’s budget by almost $1 billion. “The city of Bellevue knows that,” (Sound Transit CEO Joni) Earl told the board last week.
Should be interesting to see how this all works out. I hadn’t ever even thought of the I-90 lease question, and the tunnel question is going to be one to watch.
Public Hearing dates below the fold.
Seattle
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009
Open House 4-7 p.m.
Public Hearing starts at 5 p.m.
Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
2401 S Irving St, Seattle, WA
Mercer Island
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009
Open House 4-7 p.m.
Public Hearing starts at 5 p.m.
Community Center at Mercer View
8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, WA
Bellevue
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009
Open House: 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Public Hearing starts at: 6:00 p.m.
Bellevue High School
10416 Wolverine Way, Bellevue, WA
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009
Open House: 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Public Hearing starts at: 4:30 p.m.
Bellevue City Hall
450 110th Ave. NE, Bellevue, WA
Public hearings/open houses will be this week and next week. Here is the schedule and the locations:
Redmond-Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009 Open house 4–7 p.m.
Public hearing starts at: 5 p.m.
Seattle-Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 Open house 4–7 p.m.
Public hearing starts at: 5 p.m.
Mercer Island-Community Center at Mercer View
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009 Open house 4–7 p.m.
Public hearing starts at: 5 p.m.
Bellevue-Bellevue High School Cafeteria
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009 Open house: 5:30–8:30 p.m.
Public hearing starts at: 6 p.m.
Bellevue-Bellevue City Hall
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009 Open house: 3:30–6:30 p.m.
Public hearing starts at: 4:30 p.m.
You can also see the presentation from the Sound Transit Board East Link workshop last week here:
http://www.soundtransit.org/x7351.xml
Also, the video of the workshop is posted here if you have an hour or two to kill:
http://www.soundtransit.org/x4976.xml
I tried to post a comment with the dates and locations of the public hearings/open houses for East Link, but it hasn’t shown up here in the past 30 minutes and the software won’t let me repost it. The first meeting is tonight in Redmond and tomorrow there is a meeting in Seattle. More meetings next week on Mercer Island and in Bellevue.
There was a Sound Transit board workshop last week on East Link. The presentation is in the East Link document library. You can also view the video of it here if you have a lot of time to kill:
http://www.soundtransit.org/x4976.xml
Thanks I’ll add these to the original post.
I’m pretty sure that WSDOT won’t charge anything to ST because when the bridge was built they made an agreement that there would be transit there in the future.
I’m 100% certain that WSDOT will require compensation for use of WSDOT right of way. With gas tax funds invested in constructing and maintaining the facility, state law requires WSDOT receive compensation when they give up an aspect of their ownership (including air rights, easements, etc) for conversion to a non-highway use.
I’m shooting from the hip writing this (not looking it up) but I believe that covers the essence of the situation.
I’ll also point out that WSDOT was basically a co-author of the East Link Draft EIS. If the document says it is an issue, it is an issue.
Yeah Joni Earl said it would be so, I’m sure they’ll have to pay.