Start over on rail corridor deal

At least one person with authority over the proposed land swap involving an Eastside rail corridor is opposing it. King County Councilman Larry Phillips says the deal would shortchange county taxpayers for Boeing Field.

More importantly, he calls for a new deal that would explicitly spell out plans for high-capacity transit through the corridor:

Preserving the rail corridor that Burlington Northern Santa Fe wants to abandon is imperative. The corridor is a regional transportation connection that crosses two counties and eight cities, and is of statewide and federal significance. A study undertaken by the Puget Sound Regional Council envisions the ultimate configuration of the corridor as a recreational trail alongside a high-capacity transit corridor.

I wholeheartedly support co-location of rail and a trail in this corridor, yet the current proposal leaves that vision uncertain and unfunded. What asset will King County need to give away to pay for rail transit in the corridor? Harborview Hospital? Marymoor Park?

Comments

[Ben Schiendelman]

It would be silly to choose this as an HCT corridor when we haven't built the high-density areas yet. It doesn't hit all of the urban cores we need to hit on that corridor, it runs through low-density residential and would face huge opposition, and we're already building in the I90-Bellevue part of the corridor on other right-of-way.

[brad]

Actually the route skirts several current and future job centers. It starts in downtown Renton (where it could join Sounder and extended light rail), hits the east side of central Bellevue (where it could intersect the eastbound light rail) and goes north to Woodinville, which is another growth area.