[Transit] SLU station controversy - weighing in?

Tue Jun 13 10:10:10 PDT 2023

Hi all,

I made some suggested changes with an eye to:

*make it shorter / more concise / hopefully more readable
*avoid overstating facts
*better organized (our positive claims at the top)

Peter

On Mon, Jun 12, 2023 at 10:40 AM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
wrote:

> Hi All, just a reminder to review & leave any comments or suggestions on this
> draft letter
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing> by
> the end of the day tomorrow, so we can bring a final draft to Thursday’s
> Membership Meeting for approval.
>
> Thanks!
> Katie
>
> On Jun 9, 2023, at 4:36 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org> wrote:
>
> Thanks so much for drafting this, Peter! Looks really good to me too. I
> just pasted it in a google doc
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing> in
> case that’s a convenient way for folks to leave comments and suggestions.
> Everyone, can you review by next Tuesday so that we can bring this to the
> MM next Thursday for approval?
>
> On Jun 7, 2023, at 8:35 PM, Dave Schuldt <dave.schuldt at me.com> wrote:
>
> Looks good to me.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 7, 2023, at 3:07 PM, Peter Campbell <odell.campbell at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> 
> 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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>
>
>
>
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