While there were no official items regarding East Link on the Bellevue City Council’s study session, an astounding quarrel broke out Monday night when political accusations began flying one after another.  It started when one citizen, a member of the pro-B7 Build a Better Bellevue, gave public testimony accusing councilmember Grant Degginger of a conflict of interest with respect to East Link.  The accusation mainly rested on Degginger’s employment by Lane Powell, a law firm which has represented ST in the past.

In response, councilmember Degginger replied that he had actually already consulted the city attorney on the matter, who informed him that there was no such conflict of interest since Lane Powell has not had anything to do with Sound Transit on the matter of East Link.  Bellevue’s Code of Ethics states that conflicts of interests arise when participants use their capacity as city employees to gain a “private pecuniary interest.”  Degginger’s case would only fit the bill if his salary with Lane Powell were to increase if there were to be a case between Sound Transit and Bellevue specifically regarding East Link.  More below the jump.

Continue reading “Bellevue City Council In Chaos”

The transit nerds at CHS Capitol Hill Seattle have an update on the latest information on the First Hill Streetcar. At a presentation (embedded after the jump) to the city council’s transportation committee yesterday, the Seattle Department of Transportation gave an early look at preliminary station designs.

The First Hill Streetcar will connect Capitol Hill’s light rail station to the International District, through First Hill. The project was funded funded through the Sound Transit 2 vote (2008) and will open in late 2013, three years ahead of the original schedule.

During the presentation, the department also announced its intent to move the Capitol Hill station terminus just south of Denny, to preserve the ability for Denny between Broadway and 10th to serve as a permanent location for a farmer’s market. And it looks more and more like SDOT is leaning toward a Broadway cycle track. SDOT says that bike path would pay for itself, reports Seattle Bike Blog.

CHS reports that Councilmember Rasmussen indicated that a northern extension to Aloha, which would allow the streetcar to serve the busy Broadway shopping district, is a top priority. The council has asked the Sound Transit Broadway to fund early preliminary design on that section, but officials at Sound Transit tell us that the extension wasn’t part of the Sound Transit 2 plan and the agency has tight budget constraints. The city, for its part, is estimated to deliver streetcar project millions under budget, even if early engineering for the extension is funded.

SDOT’s presentation is below the jump.

Continue reading “First Hill Streetcar Update: Preliminary Platform Design”

Metro isn’t hosting any opening day festivities for RapidRide service so we want to organize a group ride as a fun way of celebrating the first day of RapidRide service.

We’ll target for a departure time of 10:00 am from Tukwila International Blvd Station. Meet at the bus layover area directly below the Link platform. If you take Link there either catch the 9:08 or the 9:18 train leaving from Westlake Station. The first train will give you some mingling/photo taking time before the bus leaves. We’ll take RapidRide down to the Federal Way Transit Center bum around for a bit, and then you can either take RapidRide/Link back downtown or ST 577.

We’ll be tweeting the whole time so check out our twitter account on Saturday. Also make sure to bring your camera to document the event and add your photos to the new RapidRide flickr pool. All rides on RapidRide this weekend will be free.

There are several high-volume bus stops in the County that don’t seem to be well placed considering the likely destinations of travelers. One such stop is the northbound at 5th and Jackson, which is the first stop for the 554 after getting off the freeway. Google Maps tells me it also serves the 111, 114, 210, 214, 215, 250, 252, 257, 260, 261, 265, 266, 268, and 311.

The obvious destination here, of course, is the International District/Chinatown tunnel station, for both light rail and some of the most important bus routes in the County. Since there is no easy bus access to the I-90 corridor from South King County, this is the natural transfer point for people trying to make this trip.

With that in mind, the ideal place to site this stop is right at King St, across a relatively narrow street from the station. Instead, riders must sit through the light across Jackson St. and get dropped off at Main St. This is not only a block and two pedestrian crossings away from the tunnel, but also surrounded by parking lots on three sides.

Sometimes businesses oppose a bus stop right in front of their entrance, and perhaps that’s what’s happening here. Although this isn’t the system’s greatest atrocity, it does sometimes make the difference between catching a transfer and not.

After Thursday’s eye-opening board meeting regarding Sound Transit’s 25% budget shortfall, the agency has moved forward on seeking public for high-capacity transit in the North Corridor, specifically the extension from Northgate to Lynnwood.  As we reported, the plans in the corridor are very prone to change from what was proposed in ST2:

Additionally Earl told the board that the extension from Northgate to Lynnwood has been identified as risky. It may need to be changed if the recession is even worse than the July forecast, and much of the project’s details are unknown since little  has been done on the extension so far.

More below the jump.

Continue reading “Sound Transit Hosting North Corridor Planning Sessions”

Saturday night a light rail train struck and seriously injured a 17 year old girl trying to beat it across the tracks. She was unluckiest of 3 that attempted the feat.

Sunday the West Seattle Water Taxi Rachel Marie struck Pier 50, throwing one passenger overboard (immediately recovered), and injuring 7. KCDOT says early signs point to a mechanical malfunction, though the Coast Guard is still investigating.

Water taxi service between West Seattle and downtown Seattle will operate on a normal schedule Monday, Sept. 27 between Seacrest Dock and Pier 55…

While regular service will resume Monday morning with the 6:50 a.m. sailing using an Argosy Cruises vessel, passengers should visit the King County Marine Division’s website at http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/WaterTaxi/WestSeattleRoute.aspx for updates and potential schedule adjustments.

In by far the worst story, a 2-year old is killed in traffic, her aunt critically injured.

For your viewing pleasure. Publicola has a quick summary of the press conference, with more details coming soon. In brief the Mayor said Councilmember Conlin violated the city charter when he signed the SDEIS which will be released for public comment sometime in the next month. More details should be emerging over the next few hours.

Jim Moore of Sound Transit tells me there’s a typo in the ST schedule book from which I lifted the summary of route changes. The 578 is not losing trips; the 590 is. See the revised information here.