By Joe McDermott
King County Councilmember

Anyone who commutes anywhere in our region knows that our transportation infrastructure is not keeping up with the region’s rapid growth. Too many of us are spending hours in our car when we could be spending time with our families.

Estimates suggest delays on our region’s freeways increased 95 percent between 2010 and 2015. Commuters who leave the north end and drive to the eastside wasted $3,300 in time and gas sitting in traffic. Those of us who live in West Seattle are all too familiar with wasted time and gas as we sit in long lines on the West Seattle Bridge waiting to get anywhere we need to be. With the growth only expected to continue (1 million more people in our region by 2040!), we must make bold and meaningful investments in our infrastructure.
Sound Transit is meeting that call to action. The Board released its vision for a regional system made up of expanded light rail, commuter rail, and bus rapid transit. The plan will continuously deliver major light rail projects and other regional transit investments over the next 25 years. When complete, light rail will connect West Seattle and Ballard to downtown Seattle and beyond to Everett, Tacoma and the Eastside.

The plan proposes three light rail stops serving West Seattle -- at the Junction, in Delridge, and Avalon -- and a light rail line from Downtown Seattle to Ballard. Riders from Ballard, West Seattle, and the entire system will be served by a new, second downtown transit tunnel dedicated to just light rail. This tunnel has the potential to double our current capacity to ultimately carry several hundred thousand people each day. Despite the challenges some tunnel projects have faced in Seattle, Sound Transit’s recently completed U-Link project opened ahead of schedule and under budget.

The Sound Transit 3 plan is not just a transportation plan. It is also a plan to create many family wage jobs and to increase affordable, walkable, communities throughout the region. A bold package like this will transform our economy and our neighborhoods.
Since announcing this plan, I’ve heard from many who are disappointed by how long it will take to deliver light rail to these neighborhoods. This only confirms that demand for light rail is strong, and many know that expanding this service will ease their trying commutes.

We saw just how strong demand is for rapid transit when in just its first week in operation, the light rail expansion to Capitol Hill and the University District smashed ridership expectations. Extra train cars were added to many trains to meet the demand. And this record-breaking usage happened while UW was on spring break, Seattle Central was in finals, and before Metro implemented service changes that routed even more riders to light rail.

I’m looking for ways to speed up the timeline for delivering light rail throughout our region. In the meantime, the Sound Transit 3 plan invests in near-term improvements that will begin to ease congestion immediately. For West Seattle and Ballard that means improvements to Rapid Ride C and D that will increase speed and reliability. And Sound Transit is working with state and federal partners to enable buses to use our freeway and highways’ shoulders during peak commute time.

Now, Sound Transit wants to hear from you. Visit www.soundtransit3.com to voice your opinions to help shape the final proposal. And ultimately you, as voters, will decide if our systems grows to match the size of the DC Metro or San Francisco’s BART.

Joe McDermott serves as the Chair of the Metropolitan King County Council where he represents West Seattle, parts of Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, Burien and North Highline. He also is a member of the Sound Transit Board and a resident of the Morgan Junction in West Seattle.