Federal agency OKs $500 million for Sound Transit

[Ediacara]

Friday, July 11, 2003 - Page updated at 07:22 P.M.

Federal agency OKs $500 million for Sound Transit

By Alex Fryer
Seattle Times staff reporter

On the same day that Sound Transit got stiffed by a congressional chairman, the Federal Transit Administration notified Congress that it intends to sign a $500 million grant agreement for Sound Transit.
The agreement now goes to Congress for a 60-day review. Unless Congress asks for further information or a delay, Sound Transit will be awarded the agreement, which calls for annual appropriations to total $500 million, which will enable the agency to break ground on light rail.

“The light-rail line will expand travel options and capacity in the corridor, providing a practical alternative to driving on increasingly congested roadways,” wrote Federal Transit Administrator Jenna Dorn in a letter to congressional leaders.

More at the Seattle Times

[Fovea]

1. President Karl Says Mass Transit Causes Terrorism!

particularly if you buy a bag of weed while on the train.

[He loved Big Brother]

2. This pisses me off to no end.

I moved here September of 200o and started hearing all these things about Sound Transit and it's big plans. I thought Sound Transit was the name of the public busline. Nope. So I figured they ran the monorail. Nope. What the hell do they do then?

They run a train from Seattle to Tacoma that nobody rides, and they've been sucking up funds and elected official's energy and time for at least the almost-three-years I've lived here.

I love Seattle, but the people running it are the most inept bunch I have every encountered. Sound Transit is proof of that.

[Ediacara]

3. If I was king of Seattle....

I would have built a subway in 1985. No light rail trains. No monorail. A SUBWAY.

First, a central loop around downtown, roughly coinciding with 3rd Ave, Yesler St, Broadway, and Denny. Off of the loop would be four spokes, one going north to the U District and Northgate, another going north through Lower Queen Anne, Upper Queen Anne, Interbay, Ballard, and north to the Edmonds Ferry terminal. A third spoke would go south from the stadiums, then west to West Seattle, possibly branching into three or so lines, one terminating at the Ferry Dock. The final spoke would travel southeast to Beacon Hill and the Rainier Valley, then eventually to Tukwilla and the Airport. There would be an east-west line from Ballard to the U District through Greenlake, Fremont, and Wallingford, and another east-west line from West Seattle to the airport.

Light rail lines could run from downtown under Capitol Hill, and east across SR 520 and into the eastside, as well as south to Olympia, and north to Bellingham.

I would also build a westward extension of I-90 to Bremerton with a fantastic suspension bridge across the sound. Seattle-Bremerton ferry service would be reduced to high speed foot ferries.

And while we're at it, add an eastern bypass from Everett to Tacoma, but with no local exits, only freeway interchanges. Sort of like a complete metropolitan bypass express lane.

We may as well extend SR-520 west to NW 15th in Ballard, where it would connect with an extended SR-99 freeway (underground).

Ya, if I had $500B half of that could be done LOL