By Frank on September 16, 2007
Dogcaught has some interesting notes on the Port of Tacoma and Tacoma Rail, including the Port’s efforts to become the second largest port in the U.S. See here for more on Tacoma’s efforts to dethrone Seattle for the title of busiest port in the Northwest.
Posted in lightrail, monorail
By Frank on July 31, 2007
The Seattle Times‘ Bob Young was on KUOW’s Weekday this morning, discussing all things Port-related. He suggested that, although its true that the Port is no longer interested in owning Boeing Field (which it would get in exchange for the BNSF corridor), it might still be interested in managing the airport.
Also, Young noted that the Port commissioners’ pushback against the deal may have been motivated in part by a desire to push back against Ron Sims, who’s been giving them a hard time over the Lora Lake Apartments, low income housing that the Port wants demolished in advance of the third runway at Sea-Tac.
Sims seems to enjoy sparring with the Port. Two years ago, they fought over Southwest Airlines at Boeing Field and the implications for light rail at Sea-Tac.
Posted in i405, monorail, RTID
By Frank on July 30, 2007
A tax on shipping containers seems like an eminently reasonable way to pay for improvements to freight mobility, but apparently the Port of Seattle, the industry, and the Governor all disagree.
David Schaefer, spokesman for the Port of Seattle, said the unfunded rail projects are extremely important to the port.
“Freight projects are a big deal for us,” he said. “We’ve built the maritime infrastructure here for our port, and we have the capacity in our harbor to do double what we do now in terms of containers. We need to be sure we can get them in and out of Seattle.”
He said the port was one of the many voices against the shipping-container tax because it believed the tax would put it at a competitive disadvantage with other U.S. ports.
In other words, “it will hurt the port if we don’t get these new projects, but it will also hurt the port if we have to pay for them.”
I realize that the Ports of Tacoma, Portland, and Vancouver, WA, are all competing for the business. But the Port of Seattle’s in a pretty sweet position overall: it’s the fourth largest container port in America, and the 20th largest in the world. It takes a full day less to get here from China than it does to get to Long Beach, CA.
If these projects are really that important to the Port and its customers, aren’t they worth funding? It’s not like they’re being asked to foot the whole bill. For example, the tax would cover just $94M of the SR509 expansion, which is a billion-dollar project overall.
Posted in monorail
By Frank on June 10, 2007
This ought to help the Amtrak Cascades: a Port of Vancouver (WA) investment to ease congestion for trains coming from the Columbia River as well as North-South runs headed for Seattle.
Anything that can make speed up the Portland-Seattle passenger trains is welcome.
PS: the article contains this fascinating unsupported assertion: “Oregon rail support pales next to Washington state.” Per capita? Per ton of freight? Per rail-mile? Maybe all of the above. We’ll have to do some digging here…
Posted in BRT, lightrail, monorail
By Frank on May 5, 2007
When I first heard mention of a $1B line-item in the RTID to connect SR 509 with I-5, I assumed they were talking about eliminating the stoplight where 509 meets 518 and making it an “all freeway” exchange. It struck me as an odd thing to spend a billion bucks to get rid of a single traffic light.
But I was wrong! The proposed connection, which is nearing approval would happen south of Sea-Tac. The P-I article, though, still doesn’t answer the question of what problem the expansion is designed to solve.
WSDOT’s website, though, provides an answer:
Extending SR 509 will ease congestion on I-5, improve service between industrial districts by allowing up to 9,000 trucks per day to bypass I-5, SR 99 and local streets, and provide for southern access to Sea-Tac International Airport.
It also seems like calling it a “509 expansion” is a bit misleading: in addition to the 3 miles of new 509 freeway, the project will also add a lane to I-5 for the 6 miles approaching the 509 interchange. I’m sure the 509 piece is more expensive (because it’s brand-new freeway), but still, a good chunk of this project is widening I-5.
Posted in conservative theory, ferry, kingcounty, legislation, monorail
By Frank on February 26, 2007
Looks like a deal is inching ever closer:
The trail would be designed as a “dual-use facility” that could accommodate a high-capacity passenger rail line sometime in the future, said one of the architects of the deal, County Executive Ron Sims.
If a final deal is reached in the coming months, the Port would pay $103 million for the rail line, then swap it with King County in exchange for county-owed Boeing Field.
The Port would also give the county $66 million to build a biking and hiking trail south of the Snohomish County line. Freight trains would continue to run between Woodinville and Snohomish.
So the Port is paying $169 million for an entire airport, or roughly one-tenth of the cost to add a third runway at Sea-Tac. Not a bad deal! The county gets to divest itself from the airport business, which makes sense, and it gets to preserve the right-of-way for transit use down the road.
The P-I adds:
Operations [at the airport] would not change at least until 2022, when SeaTac Airport, which is owned by the port, is expected to reach capacity, Sims said.
That’s when the pedal hits the metal. Remember that Sims was able to halt Southwest’s proposal to build a passenger terminal at Boeing Field in 2005. The Port objected to Southwest’s proposal, mainly because Alaska Air would have moved to match it, and the resulting decrease in gate fees at Sea-Tac would have hurt the Port’s funding for the afore-mentioned third runway.
Now, with the Port in control of Boeing Field’s destiny, it will be able to dole out passenger service as it sees fit. And, wouldn’t you know it, 2022 is just about the time Sea-Tac, third runway and all, is expected to reach capacity. Georgetown residents probably ought to get ready to fight again.
Posted in bus, HOV Lanes, i405, kcmetro, lightrail, monorail, RTID
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