Notes from meeting of the 145th Street Station Citizen's Committee

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Notes from June 25 meeting of the 145th SSCC
By Robin Lombard, Co-Chair

The 145th Street Station Citizen’s Committee met on June 25. Eighteen people attended. The entire meeting (and more) was devoted to talking with Roger Iwata from Sound Transit. We came away with a lot of information. Below is a summary of what was discussed:

  1. Changes to the light rail route. Some small changes have been made in the route between Northgate and Lynnwood (such as the decision to elevate the rail line over 130th instead of put in the line at grade), but no changes between 145th and 185th streets. Roger brought a large map to help explain the route. Other updates:
    1. They will build infrastructure for a 130th Street station and 220th Street (Mountlake Terrace) station to keep those options open, but the stations themselves are not yet funded.
    2. 185th station design – parking on west, station on east, and improvements will be made to 185th
    3. Big change in Lynnwood – Terminus at Lynnwood Transit Station
    4. More details (aerial photo + rail/station overlay) of the final route in Appendix F of the FEIS
  2. Field work. From now until early 2017. Sound Transit workers (or contractors) will be doing tree surveys to determine trees that need to be removed, geotechnical boring, utility potholing (locating utilities) until the end of the year and intermittently all the way through the final design. Final design starts at the beginning of 2016.
  3. Funding. A portion of Lynnwood Link Extension is funded but Sound Transit is waiting for federal grant funding (through a federal funding partner, Federal Transit Authority). The federal funding partner provides approval for final design (then you get the money). For ST2 – what percentage of funding will come from the voters? The majority of the cost is funded by taxpayers.
  4. Property acquisition (people losing homes due to the rail line and station). This was a high-emotion topic. Sound Transit must abide by the federal Uniform Act (an entire web site devoted to regulations and policy about property acquisition in cases like this).
    1. Sound Transit notified 150 property owners (both in and outside Shoreline) that their property may need to be acquired. Roger explained that there is a negotiation with Sound Transit. There is also a real estate agent who will work with homeowners to find suitable housing to move to.
    2. Note that Sound Transit pays moving costs. But this is still very difficult for those who will have to move. Since the final design is not finished there is still some uncertainty about which properties will need to be acquired.
  5. Citizen input/feedback. There will be input opportunities after the final design team comes on board (early 2016). Feedback on preliminary station plans (several opportunities). Early and late opportunities. Roger specified that Sound Transit will hold feedback meetings (open houses) in the Shoreline area. Roger also specified that at major milestones (such as the recent approval of the FEIS) mailers are sent to residents within about ½ mile of the rail line on each side of I-5. He brought handouts to the meeting that had identical information to the recent mailer.
  6. Construction 2018 – 2023. Yes, there will be construction. Roger indicated that Sound Transit must abide by state and City laws and ordinances that govern how noise, dust, hours, etc. must be handled. There was some discussion about where construction workers would park. Roger said that the contracts Sound Transit has with the constructions companies stipulates that the company must provide parking for its employees.
  7. Parking garage. A parking garage is planned to hold 500 spaces. There will be security at the garage (and on the trains). It is undecided whether people will have to pay to park. Sound Transit has several mitigation ideas if the garage is consistently full (see the FEIS). Many of the decisions about how the garage will operate have not yet been decided.


5 comments:

Anonymous,  June 27, 2015 at 10:35 PM  

Good grief! 150 property owners? Boggles my mind how it was not possible for them to tunnel. Oh wait, these are middle and lower class homes in the path of the light rail, that's why. Easy pickens for those who have no means or resources to fight back. Just like what happened between Beacon Hill and the Airport.

Sound Transit sure has frick better replace the trees that their demolishing at a high replacement ratio... and not just with shrubs.

And what's the plan to replace the sound barrier on the East side of I-5? Let me guess, Sound Transit "can't afford it".

Unknown June 28, 2015 at 5:37 AM  

Tunnel??? Look how well that's working out for Seattle! And we the tax payers are funding that fiasco!
And who says Good Grief? "Charlie Brown"

Anonymous,  June 28, 2015 at 6:30 PM  

There was an armed robbery at the Northgate Transit Center in April. The City should redirect all these resources they've been wasting on out of scale upzoning and start working on a plan for security at the station and at the future garage. With the daycare, co-op pre-school, stadium, Spartan Center/Senior Center all nearby, you already have a high concentration of vunerable seniors and kids of all ages with a block or radius. Will ST be providing security employees? Is there a plan to work with the Shoreline Police Dept? Metro transit police are constantly responding to problems at the Aurora Transit Center. What's the plan to keep our neighborhoods safe? http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Ground-air-search-nabs-4-armed-robbery-suspects-near-Northgate-298584781.html

Anonymous,  June 28, 2015 at 11:06 PM  

@ Chuck Nelson: Tunneling worked out just fine for the Capitol Hill -> U-Dist -> Roosevelt -> Northgate route. Ahead of schedule with minimal disruption to established neighborhoods.

Anonymous,  June 29, 2015 at 12:22 AM  

Robin, I know you have a link to the information, but do you have a link to the look and design of the "recent" Sound Transit mailer so I will know what to watch for in the future?

Sound Transit must be relying on the same service or people who last year didn't send out rezone mailers to the Station Subareas.

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