[Transit] SLU station controversy - weighing in?

Fri Jun 16 18:38:07 PDT 2023

Do we want to try to get others too?

(I have no opinion on yes or no)

If so who?

On Fri, Jun 16, 2023 at 15:28 Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org> wrote:

> Doug, I think following last night’s meeting you can share the letter with
> The Urbanist, Seattle Subway, and Sierra Club, and see if they’d like to
> sign on. (But let me know if you think it’s better for me to email those
> groups.) Maybe we can aim to send to ST next week?
>
> On Jun 15, 2023, at 5:16 PM, Doug Trumm <doug at theurbanist.org> wrote:
>
> 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.
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+S.+Jackson+St.+Seattle,+WA+98104?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>> Seattle, WA 98104
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+S.+Jackson+St.+Seattle,+WA+98104?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>
>>>
>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Transit mailing list
>>> Transit at transitriders.org
>>> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>
>
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