At Sound Transit’s Board meeting yesterday, ST staff reported on the results of a series of recent workshops held at Highline College, which were designed to elicit stakeholder feedback on the future Kent/Des Moines light rail station. The workshops brought together advocacy groups (such as TCC, Futurewise, and OneAmerica), students and faculty from Highline College, representatives from both Kent and Des Moines, as well as agency staff and consultants.
The aim? Develop the best station design possible.
In July, when the Board selected the I-5 alignment for the Federal Way Extension, some of the loudest voices of dissent were students of Highline College. The I-5 alignment drove down the chances that a station serving Kent and Des Moines would be located close to the college entrance, which is on the west side of SR 99.*
Indeed, during one of the workshops, Sound Transit staff discussed technical and financial challenges with bringing the track that far west — a long and potentially awkward detour from its newly chosen I-5 alignment. Yet participants had the chance to explore for themselves: in one group exercise, teams were given maps and sets of paper ‘moving parts’ — the main components that comprise a station: guideway, waiting area, bus turnarounds, kiss ‘n’ ride, new streets, and parking lots/structures. The teams experimented by placing the parts on the map in order to design the most intuitive, convenient stations with the smallest footprint and the biggest potential for turning surplus property into transit-oriented development.
Ultimately it came down to two station locations: west of SR 99 (which the students favored) and 30th Ave West (which aligned with the City of Kent’s long-range plans). In their report to the Board, ST staff presented final recommendations from the group, which acknowledged the advantages of the 30th Ave West station (including greater TOD potential). In order to mitigate the additional walking distance and necessary crossing of SR-99 to get to Highline, the report requested that Sound Transit and other stakeholders commit to a variety of features intended to create a world class pedestrian environment and connection between the college and the station.
While the recommendation was a compromise, we think everyone who participated in the workshops agreed on one thing: this was meaningful, sustained, and interactive engagement. Having transit riders and advocates working alongside city planners, agency staff and technical experts made for productive conversations and increased understanding on all sides. We hope that Sound Transit can put more resources into similar engagement efforts, especially early on in the planning process. Such efforts would be rewarded with projects, alignments and station designs that make the most stakeholders happy, driving up ridership and winning votes at the polls.
* Although the Federal Way Extension will ultimately go all the way to Federal Way, it is currently only funded down to the station in Kent / Des Moines.
Senate
Returning Senators Steve Hobbs (44th) — Chair Rebecca Saldaña (37th) — Vice Chair Marko Liias (21st) Freshmen Senators Mona Das (47th) Joe Nguyen (34th) Emily Randall (26th)House
Returning Representatives Jake Fey (27th) — Chair Sharon Wylie (49th) — 1st Vice Chair Vandana Slatter (48th) — 2nd Vice Chair Javier Valdez (46th) — 2nd Vice Chair Beth Doglio (22nd) Mia Gregerson (33rd) Shelley Kloba (1st) Mike Pellicciotti (30th) Marcus Riccelli (3rd) Freshmen Representatives Debra Entenman (47th) Jared Mead (44th) Bill Ramos (5th) Sharon Shewmake (42nd)Hot issues for 2019
A cleaner transportation system
After the defeat of I-1631 at the ballot box, environmental, climate and social justice advocates, as well as electeds, are pursuing legislative options to build a cleaner, healthier state. Policies like a low-carbon fuel standard, a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, or a legislated fee on carbon are already circulating as potential options for legislators to champion.
House Transportation Chair Jake Fey has stated an intention to pass a “green transportation” bill. In December he pulled together a variety of transportation, utility and industry stakeholders to discuss ideas. TCC will look to ensure this effort supports growing transit, transit electrification, and uses an equity lens.
A more just environment
With many strong progressive legislators, including new legislators of color, there is momentum to advance equity policies at the state level. Representative Mia Gregerson is leading the charge, with a bill that would create a new Office of Equity within the Office of the Governor to improve state services and improve outcomes across issues like health, education, and environment.
Senator Saldaña, along with our partners at Front & Centered, are specifically targeting environmental justice with a bill that would create a governing council to embed environmental justice principles into state agencies, including transportation. From the placement of roads and highways, to how stormwater is managed, the transportation sector has significant environmental impacts that disproportionately impact some communities over others — this bill is taking a step to recognize and correct for this.
A new transportation package
Finally, legislators and advocates will begin discussions around a new transportation package. The State’s last transportation package, Connecting Washington, passed in 2015. How to create a cleaner transportation system will continue to be a key theme of discussions around a new transportation package. TCC will look to grow investments for the multimodal account, which funds transit, walking and biking projects, and important grant programs like Safe Routes to School and special needs transit.
Budget negotiations
The State of Washington passes a new budget every two years, and this is a budget year. In late 2018, TCC advocated for increased investment in the State’s Commute Trip Reduction program, active transportation, and I-5 corridor planning. Governor Jay Inslee released his initial budget in December, reflecting several of our asks. The legislature will now take up budget deliberations, with opportunities to advocate for additional investments and policy direction. TCC’s top-of-mind is to ensure any work or planning involving new technologies (like autonomous and connected vehicles) studies the impacts on health and safety.
Our priorities
In addition to engaging in the big discussions around environment, equity, and funding this session, we’ll be supporting several other bills to help keep transit moving and better manage our current system:
- Bolstering High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) enforcement through increased penalties, in order to maximize efficiency of these lanes and ensure reliable trips for transit and carpools
- Expanding traffic camera statutes to include automatic enforcement of bus lanes and crosswalks (especially important for the Seattle Squeeze)
- Authorizing tolls on 405 and 167 to help manage congestion, improve transit reliability, and raise revenue for facility improvements
See our full list of priorities here. Download our priorities one-pager here.
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Stay engaged
Here are ways to stay engaged and participate in our state’s policy-making process.
- TCC Bill Tracker.The bills we are closely tracking along with status updates and actions.
- Sign up for our Action Alerts.Be the first to know when a bill is at risk and take action to keep our transportation moving.
