However, the consensus of the Committee announced June 28 is to proceed with light rail, although not in the Seattle bus tunnel until service begins to Northgate. Click here for June 28 Recommendations of the Project Review Committee (PDF Document)
Following written as the Project Review Committee was getting underway in March 2001:
Seattle Mayor Paul Schell is one Sound Transit Board Member who wants the new Central Link Project Review Committee (CLPRC) to consider alternatives to the Central Link Light Rail plan. King County Councilman Greg Nickels is a second Board Member who wants the same thing. This CLPRC is a technical advisory committee initiated by Sound Transit at the Board meeting of January 11, 2001. The CLPRC chairman appointed by Sound Transit is former Seattle mayor Charles Royer.
In separate interviews with Steve Scher of Seattle radio station KUOW on February 13 and February 15, 2001, Councilman Nickels and Mayor Schell clearly called for the Royer Committee to look at alternatives for Central Link Light Rail that go beyond the specifications for the project as defined in the Full Funding Grant Agreement between Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration.
The Greg Nickels interview went like this, as heard on an audio recording on the KUOW website:
Steve Scher of KUOW: Are you still committed to that [Sound Transit Link] light rail spine?
King County Councilman Greg Nickels: Light rail, monorail, buses and vans, there is no magic
solution. I think your caller a minute ago said that you are going to need to have that right of way. That right of way, regardless of what technology you use, is going to be expensive. We are going to pay the piper for the failure to act in the past. And if this generation doesn't act, all we are going to do is pass the mess on to our kids.
Scher: We could save some costs by cutting that tunnel and putting whatever system we build on surface...
Nickels: Well, if there was any opportunity not to do a tunnel, I would be all for it. And, I think we need to go back and we need to make sure that tunnel makes sense at the new cost levels. But frankly, creating that new right of way, whether it's tunnel, aerial, or even down the middle of a wide boulevard, is going to be an expensive proposition. We've got to figure out what makes the most sense, and then we are going to have to pay the piper.
Scher: So, ... does this six month advisory review that Charles Royer is going to steward, actually going to be looking at -- do you want it to look at alternatives and come up with some suggestions, or is this going to rubber stamp the process as we have it now?
Nickels: I think the assumptions that have been made need to be looked at. We need to make sure that they are still valid. And once you have done that, if they are still valid, we need
to find a way to move heaven and earth to move forward.Scher: And that's this advisory review?
Nickels: That advisory review and the public debate around it. I also think that it's important that we bring in other transportation providers and advocates; this shouldn't just be a one way conversation. It needs to include the monorail, which can be a very important part of the solution. It needs to include efforts like the County Executive bringing the bus providers together, and figure out how we are going to integrate the system. When we have light rail or monorail, that's going to free up some buses to move people east and west in the city. How are we going to do that? How are we going to make sure that downtown doesn't get shut down by the buses that Kate [Joncas of Downtown Seattle Association] and her folks are afraid are going to shut downtown down?
These words from Councilman Nickels clearly imply that alternative technologies (monorail, buses, and vans) and significant alignment changes (such as elimination of the Capitol Hill tunnel) are in his judgment part of the Royer Committee review.
The relevant portion of the Mayor Schell interview -- also questioning the Capitol Hill tunnel -- is as follows, also available as an audio recording on the KUOW website:
Steve Scher of KUOW: ... Do you still support the idea of tunneling under Capitol Hill?
Mayor Paul Schell: I think we need to take a look at it.
Scher: And this new technical advisory committee that Charles Royer is going to [lead]; do they look at monorail, do they look at these alternatives, or is this just going to look at the feasibility of that tunnel?
Mayor: No, the whole idea of that -- and I've pushed that whole committee going through, and I think former mayor Charlie Royer is absolutely the right person to chair this -- [is] to bring all of our community leaders together, the skeptics as well as the proponents, and explore options to see whether there is a better way to do this. That's the way we validate the choice we have already made. And we need to have a solution that takes that corridor far enough so that we don't overcongest the U District, or Downtown. We need to be sure we do this without losing the promise we made to the folks in the south end of our City and southeast. And I think it's a big challenge for us....
In the answer to another question in the interview, Mayor Schell implies that he is not looking to validate the choices made for Link Light Rail with anything less than a full, critical review:
Steve Scher: Who should be on that advisory committee?
Mayor Schell: Well, I think there will be members of the Sound Transit Board. I'm going to serve on that committee. I feel strongly about making sure that we come up with a solution that doesn't wreak havoc on our City. But also, skeptics, as well as supporters, and as well as some technical people, so that we're taking a thorough hard look at what our choices are in terms of the long term solution for our community....
The announcement of the Central Link Project Review Committee from Sound Transit indicates a broad scope for the Committee that is consistent with Schell's view. The Sound Transit press release of February 8 provides this list of what the CLPRC will look at:
The Seattle Times reported on January 13, 2001 that both Paul Schell and Greg Nickels were in the group of Sound Transit Board members questioning the plan laid out in the FFGA immediately after voting for it. According to reporter Andrew Garber, "Sound Transit board members Greg Nickels, Jane Hague, Jack Crawford, Rob McKenna and Seattle Mayor Paul Schell all want to consider alternatives to light rail during the next six months." At the same time, Board Chairman David Earling is characterized in the report as wanting to keep the agency focused on light rail: "'The board is going to have its hands full' with the light-rail project, he said," according to the Times.
That the CLPRC review should question the existing definition of the Link Light Rail project is advocated by several newspaper editorial boards in the central Puget Sound region. Editorials in both the Seattle P-I and the Puget Sound Business Journal have called for continuing the examination of alternatives to light rail even though the FFGA has been put in place.
The Seattle P-I published an editorial on 1/11/01, "Transit grant merits OK" that declared:
It's imperative that the board preserve the political courage to re-evaluate the existing plan, even if that evaluation could eventually lead to the conclusion that the plan won't work -- or won't work as well or as inexpensively as another approach -- and thus the grant money must be abandoned. The worst possible reason to forge ahead with a questionable project is the mere fact that there is federal funding to help do so.
The Sound Transit Executive Board's acceptance of this federal grant should open the door to continued public scrutiny of the light rail plan, not close it.
Mike Flynn wrote in a Puget Sound Business Journal editorial on 1/26/01 titled "Light rail must have citizen review:"
It's becoming increasingly clear that the planned Link light-rail system, focal point of this area's transportation plan, can't proceed without getting the imprimatur of a full-blown community review of the concept.
By voting to accept a $500 million federal grant for Link light rail, then calling for a six-month citizen-panel review, key members of the Sound Transit board have now made a commitment to the community.
The commitment, most visibly from Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, is not to spend any of those federal dollars until a full technical view of the plan, including a serious look at alternatives to light rail, has been completed.
The promise from key board members, and the fact that the current Sound Transit plan is coming under questioning both in Olympia and in D.C., makes the citizen-panel review imperative.
In fact, an honest and open review of the plans by an outside body may help keep the decision about this area's transportation future a local one, and address the congressional call for putting a hold on the federal dollars until questions are answered.
Earlier editorials from The Seattle Times and Eastside Journal called for halting the Link Light Rail and refocusing on alternatives.
Contributing to the atmosphere of criticism surrounding Link Light rail are:
Proponents of alternative transportation systems that would substitute for Link Light Rail include:
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Last modified: October 21, 2008