Comments

1

Our poor new Roosevelt station, already tagged by gangbangers.

2

Technically there is a Target and an H&K just a block away from the U Dist station, and a Trader Joe's 3 blocks but whatever

3

Echoing #2 Will in Seattle, there is a QFC TWO BLOCKS(!!!) from Capitol Hill Station, a drugstore across the street and plenty of eateries and such around the station, with many more to come. Oh, and a Safeway 4 blocks East. Charles, I get your well intended posts but -geeze- lay off the ganja!
Also, maybe, instead of proposing a whole new way to gum up our already snail's-paced transport-planning, maybe you and the SLOG/Stranger kiddies could just help us demand that Sound Transit DO ITS JOB and build the responsible service that's decades overdue right now, i.e. get West Seattle - Ballard built by 2030 as it should be. Indeed, the 'fine folks' as you say, at Seattle Subway aren't fine enough to make such a worthy, doable and reasonable demand. Too many children on both sides of this. No wonder Seattle languishes when it comes to having a proper subway system. So much for Seattle being 'green' and 'smart'.

4

And there's a QFC just north of the Mt Baker station.

5

There are no bars on the Ave? Look harder, Charles. Also, the new station is basically under the Neptune Theatre.

6

Charles, going out on a limb here, but I suspect the UW station site was selected due to it's proximity to a major university and affiliated medical facilities and sports venues, rather than the ease of purchasing eggs, milk, and bread nearby.

As for the "massive" parking lot at the Tukwilia Station, you should see Angel Lake, it has nearly twice as much parking.

7

I guess we all have our favorites. For me, it isn't even close, it is the U-District. The U-District has everything, in the same way that Capitol Hill has everything. Food, shelter, clothing, medical care, higher education, entertainment, you name it. It is both self contained, and worldly. It is constantly changing, yet much of it is been around for generations. It is an integral part of the greater transit network, with buses connecting it to neighborhoods as different as Ballard, Fremont, Magnolia and Lake City. It serves as the northern anchor of the large urban core -- with downtown on the other end. It is what we should have built first (with a lot more stops, especially at First Hill). Roosevelt and Northgate are just gravy. Very tasty gravy -- gravy I have already enjoyed -- but still gravy.

8

As far as your last point goes, I have to say: YES! Absolutely, 100% Yes. West Seattle is simply inappropriate for rail. It lacks the necessary density along the corridor, which explains why there is a giant gap with no stations. Travel follows a trunk and branch pattern, with people coming and going to places like Alki, High Point, South Seattle College and the Delridge corridor. It is extremely expensive, replicating an existing, very expensive bridge. With a relatively cheap investment, the freeway bridge could provide congestion free service from West Seattle to downtown. It is really a textbook example of where a BRT system makes more sense than rail.

The line to Ballard has a lot more merit, but it too is flawed. By traveling through Interbay, there is no possibility of crossing bus service, which means it can't provide the network found in the rest of the system. Worse yet, the current default plan is to put the station well outside the center of Ballard, at 14th. There is the possibility of moving the station to 15th, but none of the current plans include it to the heart of Ballard (to the west). It is extremely expensive, with very few high quality stations. Again, much of the route replicates a relatively fast thoroughfare (Elliott/15th), making high quality BRT a viable option.

We should pursue a BRT system, with the first step building a new transit tunnel. Like the other downtown tunnel, it should be built so that it can be converted eventually to rail. In the meantime, the central core would have much better frequency. Instead of a train running every ten minutes, you would have buses running every few seconds, as they do downtown. From West Seattle to Elliot would be completely congestion free, offering much the same speed advantage. The idea has been around before, and only lost favor because Sound Transit thought building rail was a lot cheaper than it is: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/second-bus-tunnel-proposed-downtown/.

Oh, and a new downtown tunnel should maximize coverage in the urban core, which means a station on First Hill (not Fifth Avenue).

9

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/10/13/61947667/i-anonymous-fuck-your-shitty-light-rail

10

Thanks for adding a link to josh feit’s essay, I don’t livw in Seattle anymore so it cheered me up today to read about how Capitol Hill has changed. People like to romanticize the past & while there were for sure lots of good stuff about old Capitol Hill honestly there was a lot that sucked too. What’s going on there today sounds way better.


Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.