ST/Tukwila gives green light to 14-mile LRT line Options

[KevinKorell]

From Seattle, WA Post-Intelligencer, 9/21/04:

The last major hurdle facing Sound Transit's 14-mile light rail line fell as the Tukwila City Council last night approved three land-use permits and a transit-way agreement that will allow the line to snake five miles through the city to a station at International Boulevard and South 154th Street.

The full story is here.

[EvergreenRailfan]

I say all systems go. The more parts of the line are under construction, the less of a chance that do-gooders have a chance to stop it. If all goes well, it will carry it's first passenger by 2009, maybe earlier.

[NickG]

From the Seattle Times, 10/10/04:

"Essential public facility" label has kept light rail on track

A little-known provision of the state Growth Management Act probably saved Sound Transit's Seattle light-rail project from a serious — perhaps fatal — setback recently.

The full story is here.

[EvergreenRailfan]

On some issues up here, I was beginning to think the GMA had no teeth, as their is still rapid development in areas that only 10 years ago had still been farmland or wilderness areas. Now it seems in already urbanized areas, it still has teeth. Essential Public Facility, what a good label. If only Sound Transit had it as a negotiating tactic with BNSF.

I keep seeing signs of the construction in my nexk of the woods getting underway. Demolition of some properties to make way for MLK Jr. Way expansion and station sites is underway. The Elevated Structure that will take the SODO segment up to meet the tunnel is well under construction, and the former DSHS building's demolition is beginning, with Asbestos Abatement about to get underway. They must have got a good deal on the building from the state, because that is where the East Portal of the Beacon Hill Tunnel will go.