Gillian Anderson on Slog reports that the anti-bike policy of the RFZ is being relaxed.
There’s so much hedging it’s hard to be sure, but I think the TNT is telling Dome District neighborhood opponents to suck it up and allow Sound Transit to build the Lakewood Sounder extension.
Sightline reacts to the Link opening by recapping some of the contradictory fights that got us here.
From a while ago, West Seattle Blog covers Rapid Ride C developments. We offered our own spin a bit earlier. (H/T: Michael).
Bellevue needs to take a second look at its station area planning. Stations similar to those in Rainier Valley are what Bellevue currently envisions for the Bel-Red corridor. However, cities like Charlotte, Copenhagen and London are where Bellevue should really be looking for inspiration.
NE 16th St ROW
I like the Rainier Valley stations, and I think that Sound Transit did its best to make a primary arterial pedestrian friendly. However, median island stations are not conducive to true transit oriented development and the associated public realm that makes them so attractive. Currently, Bellevue envisions a new NE 16th St for the Bel-Red corridor. This street would require significant ROW acquisition, running roughly halfway between Bel-Red and SR-520.
“Discussion: The expansion of NE 16th Street is a lynchpin project for Bel-Red. The extended corridor will be the key east-west arterial connection, tying together much of the new Bel-Red land use. It is also the City’s desired location for light rail and high capacity transit, and for major new pedestrian and bicycle access across the Bel-Red area. The vision for the corridor is ambitious, incorporating all these transportation modes, and including a “linear park” series of open spaces spanning the corridor…”
While LINK needs ~25ft ROW or ~45ft with station platforms, the envisioned NE 16th St would need a minimum of ~96 ft. At intersections this could increase to ~140 ft, including station platforms and turn lanes. Both of these widths leave no accommodation for bicycles or parking, which would add another 24-34 ft. The “linear park” would I hope add at least another 30 ft. This is isn’t chump change, we are talking about a ROW with roughly the same width as the Alaskan Way Viaduct. This is hardly appropriate for pedestrian scale development and would create an unnecessary desert-like expanse of concrete between buildings. These types of intersections are nothing unusual for Bellevue, but that doesn’t make them acceptable.
While center-running light rail and island stations were the only realistic option for MLK, Bellevue is free to imagine to its heart’s content. Yet its current vision is uninspired and painfully backwards, an exact copy of what was done downtown years ago. For a city that has done such a good job on the land use side of East LINK, this is extremely disappointing. Bellevue is missing a significant opportunity to create vibrant pedestrian oriented, or even pedestrian only station areas that are good for people, the city and developers alike.
[UPDATE 10:25pm: A reader reports there’s a pay lot in front of the Safeway, one block west of Othello Station on Othello St. The rate is $30/month, which is a good one.]
Two more Link parking opportunities we’ve identified:
Immediately west of Mt. Baker Station, there’s a $4/day Diamond lot.
The Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club, two blocks North of Columbia City, is offering monthly parking (24 hours, 5 days a week) for $175/month. Call 206-436-1890 for more information. That seems a bit steep, but it’s a good cause.
Rainier Ave & S. Edmunds St. (3 blocks East of Columbia City) for $3/day, except Wednesdays.
Beacon Ave. & S. Forest St (a block south of Beacon Hill) for $1.50/hr, nights and weekends only.
And of course, outside business hours Residential Parking Zones are not in effect, so there’s plenty of free parking.
There are also rumors of a lot near Othello, as well as a $5 overflow lot near Tukwila, whose details we haven’t determined yet. Feel free to provide those details (cost, hours, exact location) in the comments.
The broader point I’d like to make is that this pay-to-park model is one that I’d like to see extended. The Diamond Parking people are presumably going to find a market equilibrium price where the parking lots are nearly full. People who can take a bus, walk, or bike are incentivized to do so, while those who really want to drive can do it also. As a result, a maximum number of people have access to the station. Meanwhile, there are far more likely to be a few spots available for people who show up in the middle of the day, resulting in less frustration.
Moreover, this all comes at no cost to the taxpayer, and when the time comes for the lot to be turned into TOD it will be more difficult for a determined group of people to stop the project. If the city is wrong and there is massive demand for parking, there’s a private revenue stream ready to fund a garage. It’s a win/win for almost all of us*.
* Not that we’ve been helped by the local media proclaiming that there’s “nowhere to park” near the stations.
Late last night, a man jumped in front of Link in SoDo. He climbed over the Jersey barrier south of Holgate. He went under the train, and did not live.
It’s disappointing when someone decides that’s their only way out. I feel sorry for the operator, too. I hope Metro offers a good mental health plan, and I hope the operator gets paid leave if they want it.
The Seattle Streetcar official website welcomed the arrival of Link light rail and the ORCA smartcard. It announced that ORCA card readers will be installed on streetcar station platforms next year.
While ORCA e-purse users have to wait until next year to pay with their card, ORCA passholders can show their card as proof of payment. Funnily enough, an ORCA card looks the exact same whether it carries a monthly PugetPass or an e-purse… So draw your own conclusions.
Hopefully we can get ORCA readers installed into the streetcars themselves some day. Now that the South Lake Union Streetcar connects with Link, has anyone noticed an uptick in ridership?
Through a somewhat complicated peer election process, Ineke DeBoer of Green Lake has been selected for Metro’s Operator of the Year for 2008. If you see her driving on the 31 or 68, be sure to congratulate her.
This should also serve as a reminder to send in comments about drivers that do an especially good job. Too often, we’re quick to complain, but take outstanding service for granted.
Video by Flickr user Reverend Kommisar
I live two blocks from the Beacon Hill station and I use it as part of my commute each day, and the first week of Link has been an eye-opening experience. Of course, I’ve seen the usual things: confused TVM users, intermittent outages*, etc., but it really hasn’t been at all what I expected, though not necessarily in a bad way. I’ve got a couple of observations to share, and I’m really interested in hearing about other Link Commuters experiences have. If you take Link to work or school, please share your experiences in the comments.
Each morning a couple of dozen people are waiting for the 36 bus at the stop in front of my house as I walk to the Beacon Hill station. I find this really surprising as Beacon Hill station is two blocks away: no more than 150 yards. Thursday morning I even counted more people at the stop in front of my house (23) than I counted boarding Link (13) with me four minutes later.
I don’t know exactly what’s going on here. These bus riders probably aren’t transferring from Link, as there’s a stop right in front of the station, so they aren’t Link riders at all. Some of these bus riders may be going places other than downtown (Amazon or Little Saigon are really the only possibilities). Still, it’s hard to imagine that of the dozens of people waiting at 8:30 am for a bus whose primary destination is downtown, none are going downtown. I think you can assume many of the would-be-Link-riders are either scared of Link or unaware (hard to believe, but they exist), but it seems to me that the Southeast Seattle Metro revisions can’t come soon enough. Clearly many of my neighbours need a little push to change their commutes to the more efficient option, and frankly, isn’t light rail a waste of money without riders?
The reverse of this phenomenon is present as well. In my (very) unscientific survey, I’ve found that 18 of the 34 commuters (53%) I’ve asked on the Beacon Hill platform or in the elevators didn’t previously use the bus as their daily commute option. There’s no way to say whether this will hold up, and obviously my sample set is terrible, but fewer bus riders on Link and more new riders coming from cars in concert show that-at least a week in-Link isn’t just cannibalising former bus riders.
I think Kurt Triplett’s on the right track here with his plan to take money from the proposed King County ferry district and apply it to Metro’s funding gap. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.
I was bullish on the King County ferry district back in 2007, and skeptical back in February of this year, due to the same budget constraints that seem to be driving Triplett’s thinking.
[Ed. Note: This is the first of four guest posts by Amber, who is cross-posting this. We know you’re looking for excuses to ride Link, so here’s something for you to do.]
Mount Baker is a charming Olmstead neighborhood created by the Hunter Tract Improvement Company in 1907 and perhaps best known for its elegant homes and abundance of trees and green spaces.
The Mt. Baker station hugger has a wide variety of restaurants to choose from with The Original Philly right at the base of the station, a Starbucks directly across the street, and several authentic ethnic restaurants like Thai Recipe, Jasmine Provencial Vietnamese and more. There’s even a Domino’s Pizza, if you like that sort of thing.
The urban explorer will want to head east on McClellan for about a half-mile to Mt. Baker Park with its playground, public art and forested, quarter-mile path down to Mt. Baker Beach.
On the way, consider taking a quick detour (about a half-mile round trip) off McClellan to check out Franklin High School by turning south on 30th Avenue until you hit the “keys” right in front of the stately old building.
Several people have commented here that they’ve been on peak-direction trains that have kicked them off at either Rainier Beach or Beacon Hill. I suspect I’m not the only person who’s followed up directly with Sound Transit.
What’s going on is when we go from 7.5 minute morning peak service to 10 minute midday service (or 7.5 evening peak to 10 and then to 15), some trains need to be taken out of service. Taking the train all the way to the end of the line and out of service there would result in the train having to run empty back to base, confusing passengers.
It seems like a good solution would be to only take trains out of service in the off-peak direction. So in the morning, instead of kicking everyone out at Beacon Hill, the train would go through to Westlake, and then come back with a SoDo Only sign and special announcements. People will still get kicked off, but a lot fewer of them.
Sound Transit staff tell me they’ve been following up with Link operations internally. This will improve.
Through a somewhat complicated 