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Sunday Open Thread: Seattle District 7 MASS Forum
The Moving All Seattle Sustainably Coalition held a forum for District 7 Seattle City Council candidates a couple months ago.
Rooted in Rights provided the video and transcript.
Participating candidates included:
- Jason Williams
- Gene Burrus
- Daniel Lipscomb-Eng
- Michael George
- Isabelle Kerner
- Jim Pugel
- Andrew Lewis
- James Donaldson
- Don Harper
Ballots need to be postmarked, turned in at a ballot drop box, or you have to be line at an accessible voting site by 8 pm on Tuesday, August 6.
This is an open thread
Correction: future Link headways
In Friday’s post, we quoted Metro’s slide indicating more Link trains after 2021. Sound Transit says Metro did not check with them when announcing new train headways. It will remain every 6 minutes peak and 10 otherwise, with no trains turning around at Stadium. In 2023, it will be every 4 minutes peak and 5 off peak through downtown, with the South King and East King branches each getting 8 and 10. We regret the error.
SDOT makes budget request for streetcar design rework: Connector may open in 2026
At a meeting of the Seattle City Council’s Transportation Committee on Tuesday, members were briefed on a forthcoming budget request to restart the Center City Connector project. If approved, $9 million will be expended in the 2019-2020 budget cycle on design of the revised project. Advancing the revised parts of the project to 30% design will allow SDOT to restart the FTA grant process in late 2020. The planned opening date is now set for 2026.
The project was placed on hold in April 2018 after Seattle Times reporting raised questions about the costs of operating the line, highlighting a dispute between SDOT and Metro about labor costs that was not surfaced to the City Council in approving the budget. An initial review quickly identified $23 million in additional capital costs. After an extended review, the most recent estimate is that the project is short $65 million for SDOT capital costs and another $23 million for utilities. A further $75 million is dependent on FTA grant funding, and therefore uncertain, but the project is understood to remain within guidelines for the expected grant.
Continue reading “SDOT makes budget request for streetcar design rework: Connector may open in 2026”A new network in North Seattle
[UPDATE: Sound Transit says Metro did not check with them when announcing new train headways. It will remain every 6 minutes peak and 10 otherwise, with no trains turning around at Stadium. In 2023, it will be every 4 minutes peak and 5 off peak through downtown, with the South King and East King branches each getting 8 and 10.]
The Northgate Link restructure has started. Metro is studying routes 26, 31, 32, 41, 45, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 301, 303, 304, 308, 309, 312, 316, 330, 345, 346, 347, 348, 355, 372, and 373 for possible changes. (Not the 44, 48, 49, 70, or any routes west of Aurora.) At this point Metro wants to know what people think about the current network, and recruit people for a “Mobility Board” to review the restructure proposals starting this fall.
According to Metro’s briefing on the project, Northgate Link will open in 2021 with U-District, Roosevelt, and Northgate stations. Frequency will be every 4-6 minutes peak hours, with 4-car trains. Some trains will run Northgate-Stadium, as MLK will not exceed 10 trains per hour. Travel time from Northgate to UW will be 7 minutes. That puts Northgate-Westlake at 13 minutes and Northgate-SeaTac at 47 minutes.
There is a not a lot of meat on the project website. However, a glance at the Seattle Transit Map can provide insights on the current network. Some parts work pretty well:
- Above Northgate Way, the system conveniently already funnels people into the Transit Center.
- The 67, 45, and fellow travelers provide good connectivity to Roosevelt, U-District Station, and places in between.
- The 62 provides a straighforward connection to Link on 65th Street.
But it’s not all roses. Lake City Way buses like the 522 whiz right by Link stations without really connecting to them. With 145th St BRT coming and Northgate an attractive terminus as well, it’s not clear what happens to lower Lake City Way.
Moreover, much like mighty route 7 further south, the main north-south routes east of the 67 parallel Link for a long time before winding up in a difficult transfer environment. Any bus route that funnels into UW faces a dilemma between a direct-but-congested route on that doesn’t really serve the campus, and a slower one that goes through campus but skirts the fringes of UW station and takes a while to wind up in the U-District.
Continue reading “A new network in North Seattle”News Roundup: ahead of everyone
- Link train hits, severely injures pedestrian ($) at Rainier Beach. In Kent, Sounder and Amtrak are apparently used for two suicides.
- SDOT requests $9m to move the Streetcar project along.
- Pierce Transit ahead of everyone on real-time info signs.
- Patch has informative interviews with candidates in Renton and Bellevue.
- Lots of problems with save-the-Showbox maneuvers.
- Now there’s a business model that impounds e-scooters.
- Amtrak matching $750K ODOT grant to improve Cascades in Oregon.
- No fast ferries next week.
- Underground Tacoma Dome Link station is dead ($).
- CCC now scheduled for 2026, but still needs money.
- Roundup of candidate positions on the Streetcar.
- No one told me ST3 was going to destroy all the burger stands.
- Metro’s apprenticeship program.
- Wherever parking is threatened, Lisa Herbold is there.
- CAHSR funds might end up going to local rail projects instead.
- Jarrett Walker is hiring.
This is an open thread.