October 3, 2018 TO: West Seattle and Ballard Link Extension Elected Leadership Group FROM: Transit Access Stakeholders: Transportation Choices Coalition, Futurewise, Feet First, Cascade Bicycle Club, Housing Development Consortium, Transit Riders Union Dear West Seattle and Ballard Link Extension Decision Makers, Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Phase 2 analysis of the West-Seattle Ballard Link Extension alternatives. The Transit Access Stakeholder group is a growing coalition of organizations that strongly supports connecting the Puget Sound region through affordable, reliable, and sustainable transit. Together, we represent land use, active transportation, affordable housing, and transit stakeholders, with thousands of members in the central Puget Sound region. Early in the scoping process, several groups submitted a letter that reflected our collective values for Sound Transit 3. These values include: Maximizing equitable TOD and affordable housing potential Integration of transit, bike, and walking networks Prioritize race and social justice Ensure travel reliability Minimize displacement Build a system that looks to the future The Transit Access Stakeholders are especially supportive of Sound Transit s collaboration with the City of Seattle on applying the Racial Equity Toolkit to this project. Ensuring that the needs and priorities of historically marginalized populations and communities are centered in the project development analysis, as well as in decision making, is essential to building a transportation system and city that benefits all. This project will be among the largest and most critical investments in our region in our lifetime. It is critical to recognize that the decisions and investments we make now will impact generations of people for the next century and beyond. We must take the long view, while also respecting the people and communities that will bear the brunt of impacts during the years of construction.
Using our aforementioned values as a lens, we offer comments related to the Stakeholder Advisory Group s Phase 2 recommendations, as selected at its meeting Wednesday, Sept. 26. Our comments and recommendations, moving from North to South by segment, are as follows: BALLARD/INTERBAY Central Interbay/Fixed Bridge/14th No The fixed bridge option presents far greater construction impacts and potential displacement to community. Armory Way/Tunnel/14th Suggested refinement to explore Ballard Station Access at 15th The benefit to this option is studying Interbay station locations closer to future employment centers and existing retail in Interbay. A tunnel option offers greatest potential for transit reliability, and avoids operations issues with Salmon Bay maritime industry and traffic. Siting the Ballard station must balance current demand to access the historic and commercial core of Ballard with the potential for future equitable station-oriented development, including affordable housing. Refining this option to include access at 15th offers potential to meet these priorities. In addition, a station with entry/exit both north and south of Market street will optimize connections to transit and bicycle networks. Interbay station placement at 17th Ave. W offers potential for integration with the regional multi-use trail network as well as the best equitable TOD potential. Central Interbay/Tunnel/15th An alignment to the east of BNSF, adjacent to the tracks, offers the least impacts to the existing right-of-way. This generally accomplishes the same priorities as listed above. We strongly support eliminating moveable bridge alternatives. Moveable bridge option is likely to significantly reduce the reliability of not only the segment, but the entire line, due to several interruptions a day from boat traffic Alignments and station placement to the west of BNSF offer limited transit integration and development potential. DOWNTOWN 5th/Harrison Suggested refinement with Seattle Center station location at Republican As the Downtown segment will be tunneled through the densest part of the city, station placement, including opportunities for transit/walking/biking integration and access to major job centers and cultural institutions, are of the utmost importance.
Harrison designated as a transit corridor, and Thomas as a walking/biking corridor, easy access to Seattle Center is also a major factor for future mobility. Thus, stations along Harrison (in South Lake Union) and Republican (at Seattle Center) offer the most potential for an integrative system. A Seattle Center station along Republican could facilitate development of a potential east-west walking corridor aligned with Austin Wilson Way. 5th/Terry/Roy/Mercer Suggested refinement with 6th Ave. route through Downtown In the Denny area, a station at Westlake is in line with walkability and accessibility priorities. This option is less preferable. Station placement at Mercer Street must consider accessibility to Seattle Center, ideally with station entrances on both the North and South side of the street, as the current pedestrian environment is poor. In the Denny area, a station at Terry has good placemaking potential and is otherwise in line with our policy framework. A 6th Ave. route through downtown is less optimal for integration with existing transportation systems, particularly integration with the existing Westlake station. There are no clear benefits based on current analysis. A Seattle Center station along Harrison should be avoided due to the challenges and expense of siting it underneath the Arena. CHINATOWN/INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 5th Ave. Mined The 5th Ave. mined station is the least disruptive to the CID community, and also offers a comparable timeline and budget to the representative alignment. Questions remain regarding how station access and transit integration can work well with this option. What options exist for making a seamless transfer environment? How will elevator only access function? What impacts will a deep mined station have on the depths of other stations throughout downtown Seattle? 4th Ave. Cut-and-Cover This option presents the most opportunity to achieve the Jackson Hub vision, including an excellent transfer environment and transit integration. A rebuild of the viaduct would also present an opportunity to vastly improve the pedestrian environment and public realm in this area, as well as the opportunity to better connect the CID and Pioneer Square neighborhoods. Its location would better serve Pioneer Square as a whole, a major employment and cultural center.
This option would limit impacts to the CID to traffic impacts rather than displacement of businesses. The CID station represents a complex challenge with many competing priorities and constructability issues. We wish to emphasize the importance of two main issues: 1) Limiting impacts, both during construction and long-term displacement, to the CID community and 2) an easy and intuitive transfer environment, as characterized by the Jackson Hub vision. The construction and design of this station offers the potential to increase connectivity between the CID and Pioneer Square, as well as create an excellent experience for transit users from around the region. This hub will serve all regional transit users, including those riding all three planned Link lines, commuter Sounder trains, the streetcar and people riding the bus. It is imperative to ensure access is prioritized. A race and social justice lens - by both analysis and the direct engagement with the CID stakeholders - shows that cut-and-cover options on 5th Avenue S. substantially disrupt the CID, resulting in hardships on small businesses, immigrant and refugee owned businesses and low-income, elderly residents for many years. Therefore, in addition to the options recommended by the SAG, Transit Access Stakeholders strongly supports continuing to explore 4th Ave. station options, including a mined station. In addition, we support deep, meaningful and, if necessary, resourced engagement with the CID community. SODO Massachusetts Tunnel Portal Suggested refinement to shift existing and new SODO stations closer to Lander No This alternative would necessitate a cut-and-cover station on 5th Ave. in the CID, which conflicts with priorities for limiting disruption to the neighborhood. Impacts from and mitigation for removing buses from the E3 busway remain unclear. A consideration that has not been daylighted is the proximity of this alternative to the SODO multi-use trail. We strongly opposed any long-term impacts to this vital non-motorized facility. Any construction impacts must be mitigated with a well-signed and marked detour route that maintains an all-ages-and-abilities facility. Occidental Ave. Finally, in the context of this alternative, we support moving the existing (and any new) SODO station(s) closer to Lander to increase accessibility and safety. We strongly support a Westernly location for a new SODO station to increase mobility and access to major employment centers in this neighborhood. However, challenges with the proposed alignment remain, including crossing the BNSF tracks and the risk to displacing businesses along Occidental. As such, we encourage exploration of other Western options, including the SODO Solution option. A Western station location at Holgate, for example, could serve both the stadiums as well as employment centers and existing retail on 1st Ave.
Additional comments We would like to better understand neighborhood/stakeholder intentions around future land use in SODO. As ETOD is a top value for our coalition, it is imperative to consider both land use and transportation planning in coordination with one another. To plan major high-capacity transit without considering adjacent land use is a disservice to future generations. WEST SEATTLE Golf Course/Alaska Junction/Tunnel Suggested refinements to explore Junction station at 41st/42nd and north crossing of Duwamish We strongly support the community-identified station location at Delridge that presents the best options for ETOD in the future. Proximity of the Junction station to the heart of the neighborhood, as well as to existing and planned bus service, is very important for walkability, accessibility and transfers. We support the suggested refinement to move the station closer to 41st or 42nd. Pigeon Ridge/West Seattle Tunnel intentional consideration to the pedestrian environment around this station, future integration with the Delridge RapidRide line will also serve residents living South of the station location well. This alternative presents strong opportunities for TOD and limited disruption to current communities in West Seattle. ST3 Representative Suggested refinement to include Alaska Junction station placement near 41st/42nd and southern-facing terminus We have concerns about the cost of this alternative. The two priority options put forth by the SAG are estimated to cost significantly more than the representative alternative (+$500M-$1.2B). Thus, we believe adjusting the ST3 representative alternative to achieve basic system priorities -- including forward-compatibility with light rail expansion to the South -- is necessary for study in Phase 3. At the Delridge station, integration with the future RapidRide line is critical to providing access to people living along the Delridge corridor and farther south, including White Center. We recommend continuing to study multiple station location options in the Junction area, including placement at 44th. This option works well for transit integration and provides close access to retail and amenities in this commercial core. Finally, as the West Seattle segment will be constructed prior to completion of the entire project, it is imperative that people coming from West Seattle have a good transfer experience in the interim. This is critical for attracting ridership in the interim years prior to full buildout.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important phase of project development. We look forward to continued engagement around this project. Sincerely, Kelsey Mesher Transportation Choices Coalition Bryce Yadon Futurewise John Stewart Feet First Claire Martini Cascade Bicycle Club Patience Malaba Housing Development Consortium Beau Morton Transit Riders Union