[Transit] SLU station controversy - weighing in?

[Peter Campbell]

Hi all,

Here is a draft to get us started. No worries if it isn't useful. I
probably don't have the capacity for revisions, so putting this here for
others to cut up / make shorter more concise / change as you all will :).



Transit Riders Union
P.O. Box 20723
Seattle, WA 98102

Board of Directors
Sound Transit
401 S. Jackson St.
Seattle, WA 98104


Dear Board Chair Constantine and Members of the Board:

We write as the General Membership of the Transit Riders Union to urge the
Sound Transit Board move ahead with the Denny Westlake (DT-1) preferred
alternative for Ballard Link construction.

As Doug Trumm reported in *The Urbanist* on June 1, the DT-1 alternative
"continues to rank highest" among the four options under consideration when
it comes to "rider performance and risk."  In his written statement to the
May 25 meeting, Mayor Harrell also underscores the Harrison Street
station's "projected...high ridership and...critical connection to many bus
routes."

We cannot overstate the importance of the ridership and route connection
represented by a station sited at Harrison Street. This station—as the
Board well knows—will provide a vital connection between Link riders and
the Aurora bus corridor. Proposals to further delay Ballard Link
construction in order to examine the Shifted West or other alternatives are
rooted in short-term thinking that risks permanent damage to Seattle's
future as a fully accessible, mass-transit city. We share Trumm's
puzzlement as to how such an outcome can be consistent with the public
decarbonization commitments made by Amazon and other South Lake Union
opponents to the DT-1 site.

Mayor Harrell suggests further study of the Shifted West alternative
without abandoning the idea of a station sited on Harrison Street. However,
while the Board has not completed a full assessment of rider performance
for the "Shifted West" alternative discussed at your May 25 meeting, we
already know that the Shifted West alternative is incompatible with current
plans to site a station at Harrison Street with transfers to the Aurora
Corridor.

Further, as King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci stated at your May
25 meeting, it is increasingly apparent that the continued delays required
to assess additional proposals for preferred alternatives are incompatible
with completing the Ballard Link project within a reasonable timeframe.

"Rider performance and risk" should be the core priority of this Board.
This Board has already been presented with a clear path forward to a
Ballard Link extension that most efficiently balances the impacts of
construction and the benefits of reducing emissions and economic insecurity
through increased transit ridership.

The Transit Riders Union strongly urges the Board to stay true to its
stated commitments to the people of Seattle and King County and move
forward on this project with no further delay.

Sincerely,

[    ]

*The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of more than [MEMBER
#s] working and poor people committed to preserving, expanding, and
improving the public transportation system in Seattle and beyond so that
every human being has access to safe, affordable, and reliable public
transit.*



On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 11:26 AM Peter Campbell <odell.campbell at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I can draft at least a skeleton statement and will post it here.
>
> Peter
>
> --
> Teamsters Local 763
> SPEEA IFPTE Local 2001
>
> On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 10:44 AM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Blake Trask from CM Balducci’s office called me to ask whether TRU is
>> planning to weigh in on the SLU station siting controversy that Doug
>> wrote about here
>> <https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/06/01/harrell-advances-new-denny-station-options-that-could-delay-ballard-link/>.
>> It sounds like they think it could be helpful— at least giving Balducci
>> some backing to continue the fight to preserve plans for a station at
>> Harrison St. with transfers to the Aurora corridor. Two ways we could
>> weight in:
>>
>> Write a letter to the board. Anyone want to draft something? I could run
>> it by the GC and/or we could bring it to next Thursday’s MM.
>>
>> Testify at upcoming board meetings. There’s a System Expansion Committee
>> Meeting this Thursday, June 8th at 1:30pm. And the full board meeting later
>> this month on Thursday, June 22nd at 1:30pm. Anyone want to testify? To do
>> so on behalf of TRU we should make an official decision first, so the 22nd
>> may be better timing, though if anyone wants to testify this Thursday I
>> could try to rush a GC decision.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> - Katie
>>
>> Katie Wilson
>> General Secretary
>> Transit Riders Union
>> https://transitriders.org
>> 206-781-7204
>>
>> *The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and
>> poor **people, including students, seniors, and people with
>> disabilities, taking control over our own lives, and building up the power
>> we **need to change society for the good of humanity and of the planet.
>> We will **fight to preserve, expand, and improve the public
>> transportation system in **Seattle and beyond, so that every human being
>> has access to safe, **affordable, and reliable public transit.*
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Transit mailing list
>> Transit at transitriders.org
>> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>>
>
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