In a sense it’s a darned shame the transit to the eastside is moving so fast. In a short time (as these things go) public opinion would support twice as much transit for the same money.
This seeming miracle, of course, would be accomplished by using the land and right-of-way the public already owns. There’s no question that that land has been vetted for public transportation, and surely the environmental studies could largely re-use the work that was previously done.
Imagine, if you will, a line running east from Ballard to
Redmond over the Evergreen Point bridge, and another running east from the ID to Issaquah- the two intersected by a belt line on the old BNSF Renton to Woodinville line.
This leaves Bellevue west of the line, but, not to worry, Bellevue will shift east if this line were built, as witness this recent article in the Seattle P-I. Similarly, in Kirkland and further north are large parcels, formerly served by the rail line, and held by investors waiting to see what happens.
By this point some STB readers will be blowing their safety valves. Don’t worry- the chances that building the line would involve using a route where all the major earthmoving had already been done are about zero. You’ll get your massively expanded Park ‘n Ride on the Mercer Slough. And, as with almost every transit system in the world, the currently proposed line will stand forever as a visible-from-space testimonial to the power of deal-making.
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