[Transit] SLU station controversy - weighing in?

Thu Jun 15 17:16:11 PDT 2023

Great work on this letter, Peter. Really hammers home the points well. The
Urbanist has been working on a letter to the ST board with Seattle Subway
and Robert Cruikshank from Sierra Club. We echo many of the same points,
but less succinctly and eloquently :)

If TRU is looking for co-signers, I think The Urbanist and others may be
interested.

*Douglas Trumm*, *Publisher*
Pronouns*: he, him*
The Urbanist <http://theurbanist.org/> | 320.237.4771

On Wed, Jun 14, 2023 at 2:28 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
wrote:

> Thanks, Peter!  This letter
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing> is
> what we’ll be considering at tomorrow’s meeting, so you all have one more
> day to review and suggest any final changes (please make sure you’re in
> suggesting mode if you do)
>
> On Jun 13, 2023, at 10:10 AM, Peter Campbell <odell.campbell at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> 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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