4 ms·

Most of the Eastside cities desperately want to turn those into amenity trails. Kirkland, for one, is on record vehemently opposing any light rail in the Easts

Most of the Eastside cities desperately want to turn those into amenity trails. Kirkland, for one, is on record vehemently opposing any light rail in the Eastside Rail Corridor because they think jogging/biking/walking trails are a better use of that right of way. And the few spots that aren't being or targeted for being converted are still, technically, active freight rail lines so light rail vehicles can't run on them.

WalterBright 8y ago
It's a mystery why King County can't override Kirkland. And even if they can't, it can still be used to connect Bellevue to Tukwila, creating a loop around south Lake Washington. > technically It would be orders of magnitude cheaper for ST to buy them than to create new right-of-way. And I haven't seen a train on them for decades, ever since they tore up where it crossed over I405 in Bellevue.
- techsupporter 8y ago
  Sound Transit isn't King County. Sound Transit encompasses part of King County and part of its board are elected officials from King, but they are two separate government entities. And it's not that ST can't override Kirkland, it's that it won't override Kirkland. Pissing off a huge constituency of voters is a great way to ensure that not only they vote against, say, Sound Transit 3, they go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it. As for buying the tracks, there's no obligation for a freight railroad to sell and virtually none will because once that ROW is gone it will never come back. As for quantity of trains, there only has to be one sometime, someday. Look at all of the pushback the immeasurably tiny Ballard Terminal Railroad has done to stop these kinds of projects.
  - WalterBright 8y ago
    > there's no obligation for a freight railroad to sell That's why the government has the power of eminent domain. Besides, King County already owns it: https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/trails/regional-trails/popular-trails/eastside-rail-corridor.aspx https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/t...
    - stephengillie 8y ago
      > Besides, King County already owns it: It's the first line of the comment to which you're replying: > Sound Transit isn't King County.
  - tjr225 8y ago
    > And it's not that ST can't override Kirkland, it's that it won't override Kirkland. Pissing off a huge constituency of voters is a great way to ensure that not only they vote against, say, Sound Transit 3, they go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it. Honestly, who cares. These are the same people who are going to vote against it, and go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it anyway. At some point we have to stop letting a few people with the most money and the loudest mouthpieces run the entire region into the ground.
- jschwartzi 8y ago
  Some of the right-of-way is used at odd hours. For example the only time I've seen the railroad that runs through downtown Renton in use was to ship airplane wings at 10:00 on a Sunday morning, and that was a weekly occurrence.
  - c256 8y ago
    This is true, but mostly because the only destination of non-passenger rail in the area is the Boeing facilities (and the associated airport).
- stephengillie 8y ago
  No need to override Kirkland - the tracks currently being built swing all the way out to Microsoft on 520 - just loop it north through Woodinville or Kingsgate. Then to Bothell, Kenmore and around Lake Forest Park, back to Ravenna and the U District. Kirkland residents can keep their trails and commute to the rail.

WalterBright 8y ago

It's a mystery why King County can't override Kirkland. And even if they can't, it can still be used to connect Bellevue to Tukwila, creating a loop around south Lake Washington. > technically It would be orders of magnitude cheaper for ST to buy them than to create new right-of-way. And I haven't seen a train on them for decades, ever since they tore up where it crossed over I405 in Bellevue.

techsupporter 8y ago
Sound Transit isn't King County. Sound Transit encompasses part of King County and part of its board are elected officials from King, but they are two separate government entities. And it's not that ST can't override Kirkland, it's that it won't override Kirkland. Pissing off a huge constituency of voters is a great way to ensure that not only they vote against, say, Sound Transit 3, they go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it. As for buying the tracks, there's no obligation for a freight railroad to sell and virtually none will because once that ROW is gone it will never come back. As for quantity of trains, there only has to be one sometime, someday. Look at all of the pushback the immeasurably tiny Ballard Terminal Railroad has done to stop these kinds of projects.
- WalterBright 8y ago
  > there's no obligation for a freight railroad to sell That's why the government has the power of eminent domain. Besides, King County already owns it: https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/trails/regional-trails/popular-trails/eastside-rail-corridor.aspx https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/t...
  - stephengillie 8y ago
    > Besides, King County already owns it: It's the first line of the comment to which you're replying: > Sound Transit isn't King County.
- tjr225 8y ago
  > And it's not that ST can't override Kirkland, it's that it won't override Kirkland. Pissing off a huge constituency of voters is a great way to ensure that not only they vote against, say, Sound Transit 3, they go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it. Honestly, who cares. These are the same people who are going to vote against it, and go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it anyway. At some point we have to stop letting a few people with the most money and the loudest mouthpieces run the entire region into the ground.
jschwartzi 8y ago
Some of the right-of-way is used at odd hours. For example the only time I've seen the railroad that runs through downtown Renton in use was to ship airplane wings at 10:00 on a Sunday morning, and that was a weekly occurrence.
- c256 8y ago
  This is true, but mostly because the only destination of non-passenger rail in the area is the Boeing facilities (and the associated airport).
stephengillie 8y ago
No need to override Kirkland - the tracks currently being built swing all the way out to Microsoft on 520 - just loop it north through Woodinville or Kingsgate. Then to Bothell, Kenmore and around Lake Forest Park, back to Ravenna and the U District. Kirkland residents can keep their trails and commute to the rail.