SDOT Recommends Tunneling under Queen Anne but not including a Queen Anne station (Seattle: 2015, neighborhoods)

[Exlamatir]

SDOT's recent comments to Sound Transit regarding the upcoming light rail expansion are here: http://soundtransit3.org/Media/Defau...isdictions.pdf

They are proposing digging under Lower Queen Anne for the Downtown to Ballard Link route, but not actually including a station in LQA! Sorry, but Harrison and Highway 99 do not count as LQA. Write to SDOT and to city council to let them know this would be an outrage and greatly hurt mobility in the region if they don't put a Link station in LQA but spend billions to tunnel under it.

Here is the quote:
“…we request Sound Transit analyze an alignment that includes a below grade station with pedestrian connections to the existing Westlake Station platforms, a station serving South Lake Union in the area of Westlake N and Denny Way, a station at State Route 99 and Harrison Street, serving Uptown and the Seattle Center, a station in close proximity to the Elliot Trail Bridge (near the future Expedia site), a station in the vicinity of 15th Ave and Newton (near Whole Foods), a station in the vicinity of 15th Avenue and Dravus St., a Station in the vicinity of 15th Avenue and Market, and a station at 15th Avenue and 65th Street.”

[CrazyDonkey]

It is not a recommendation - they're just asking them to analyze it along with the other Downtown-Ballard alternatives.

http://stb-wp.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-co...raft-Draft.pdf

Living in Ballard, I do think that a station in the vicinity of Mercer St and Queen Anne Ave would be a no-brainer. What's on the west-side of the Center? The Gates Foundation, KCTS, Ride the Ducks, EMP, Space Needle, Chihulyseum...? Also, a lot closer to Amazon and SLU.

They've also got to figure out how to get workers to and from the new Expedia site - I can't imagine they committed themselves without getting some sort of commitment from the City. Current car-access is totally inadequate for the number of employees that are projected there.

[GatsbyGatz]

Overall, Sound Transit's plans to connect SLU-LQA-Interbay-Ballard seem pretty good. I also got very excited at the City's recommendation for Sound Transit to try to continue rail east of the U-District (the City of Seattle is obviously not eliminating the option to one day connect the U-District to Kirkland).

Where I feel like Sound Transit dropped the ball is with the lack of stations for Cap Hill, First Hill, and the Central District. Seriously, we got only one station in Cap Hill and it's by a freaking park (thereby creating a massive deadspace in terms of ridership within a half-mile radius of the station). Also, First Hill is the region's epicenter for medical facilities... And Sound Transit decided to skip it because they thought it was "too expensive to connect." These three neighborhoods represent such a huge number of the city's residents and jobs, but unfortunately Sound Transit failed to connect these essential neighborhoods.

[homesinseattle]

I guess they figure those QA people who want to ride can get a drop off near Whole Foods. This makes some sense, as Magnolia people would be equidistant. I do second the notion of a Lower Queen Anne station, if feasible.

[Hemlock140]

It seems like all of their plans are meant to move people in and out of downtown quickly, and the additional stops not only cost more but take time on the route, not only for the stops to load/unload, but it would never get up to speed with such short runs. For those going between Ballard and downtown, less stops is better. I know plenty of people that walk from downtown to lower Queen Anne or to South Lake Union. The buses between Ballard and downtown like the Rapidride D are often overcrowded at commute times, and will go right past stops to pick up more people. With rail passing through for those people, the bus will have much better service for those in between.

[GatsbyGatz]

Lower Queen Anne will be getting a station, but it is very unlikely that Upper Queen Anne would. The elevation is far too high for a station to be financially feasible. The problem with adding more stations is not that it would slow down the travel times from Ballard, but that the costs just to keep a station operational are quite pricy. The kind of station that Queen Anne hill would need would likely be an expensive one.

The technology to dig a deep hole vertically down is available, but I'm sure the city will find that a long elevator ride down Queen Anne hill to the train plus the costs of ventilation will not be worth the price. Unlike adding a bus stop where the only consideration is how it will affect travel time, underground stations are big money drains. The only reason Sound Transit even considers light rail tracks that run at street level is because it's much cheaper to have a train stop at street level rather than an entire underground station. This allows the City to include many more stops (which expands coverage) while not breaking its checkbook.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by GatsbyGatz

Lower Queen Anne will be getting a station, but it is very unlikely that Upper Queen Anne would. The elevation is far too high for a station to be financially feasible. The problem with adding more stations is not that it would slow down the travel times from Ballard, but that the costs just to keep a station operational are quite pricy. The kind of station that Queen Anne hill would need would likely be an expensive one.

Well then, since they added the First Hill Streetcar in lieu of a station, how about bringing back the Counter-Balance to reconnect Lower and Upper Queen Anne?

It is interesting to me how, in the request for analysis (not a recommendation, as such), Ballard Link is being "bent" to serve 1) Amazon/SLU and 2) Expedia/Interbay.

QA Ave & McGraw St has an elevation of 341 ft (3.3% grade from QA Ave & Mercer). See: Percent Grade between Queen Anne Ave & Mercer St, Seattle, Washington and Queen Anne Ave & W McGraw St, Seattle, Washington - veloroutes.org

[GatsbyGatz]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

It is interesting to me how, in the request for analysis (not a recommendation, as such), Ballard Link is being "bent" to serve 1) Amazon/SLU and 2) Expedia/Interbay.

Of course it is... Because that's where thousands of people work. Using your logic, I could say that all the legal/financial services in the Central Business District "bent" the areas that Link will serve, or that UW "bent" the path that Link took as it traveled north. It's simply a fact that SLU/Interbay will represent a huge number of jobs.

If we're going to focus on poor path planning, let's harp on the fact that ST couldn't come up with ANY station locations to connect the neighborhoods east of Downtown except for a single station near Cal Anderson Park. Neighborhoods east of downtown certainly represents more jobs/residents than Ballard, but they were all bypassed...

[Exlamatir]

Originally Posted by GatsbyGatz

Lower Queen Anne will be getting a station, but it is very unlikely that Upper Queen Anne would. The elevation is far too high for a station to be financially feasible. The problem with adding more stations is not that it would slow down the travel times from Ballard, but that the costs just to keep a station operational are quite pricy. The kind of station that Queen Anne hill would need would likely be an expensive one.

The technology to dig a deep hole vertically down is available, but I'm sure the city will find that a long elevator ride down Queen Anne hill to the train plus the costs of ventilation will not be worth the price. Unlike adding a bus stop where the only consideration is how it will affect travel time, underground stations are big money drains. The only reason Sound Transit even considers light rail tracks that run at street level is because it's much cheaper to have a train stop at street level rather than an entire underground station. This allows the City to include many more stops (which expands coverage) while not breaking its checkbook.

If what SDOT is asking for happens, the closest LQA will get to a station is Aurora and Harrison. Here is a map Seattle Transit Blog created of where SDOT wants the stations:

http://stb-wp.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-co...Ballard-DT.png

[Exlamatir]

Also, is it really worth it to miss Belltown just to have a stop at Denny/Westlake? Keep in mind, Belltown, is the densest neighborhood in the state.