Is this Northgate Link extension actually going to be built? (buses, trains)

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by mkarch

The Rainier Valley route was built to increase the value of dozens of square miles of "underutilized" (under-taxed) real estate. Obvious compromises were made. It'll be interesting to see if future plans straighten that out, though I suspect we're stuck with a single, slow, curvy track swinging out to Rainier Beach for some time. Potentially the Ballard/West Seattle branch coming up for a vote could send another route down the 509 corridor through Burien to the airport. That's a long way off though.

The routing actually makes a lot of sense in my book. I'm glad it runs on MLK and not down the median of I-5, isolated by a sea of highways and industrial sites. This means the light rail is actually useful for destinations other than the airport.

The big mistake came with the decision to make it light rail instead of grade-separated rapid transit. The meandering between Rainier Beach and TIBS is much less of a time suck than the fact that the trains barely crack 30 mph before that.

[fnh]

I love the Link. Even with the meandering and slow speed, I am unlocking my front door in the CD within 45-50 minutes of landing, and that includes pitstops with the kids, baggage claim, the 'schlep' to the train platform and a bus transfer at the Mt. Baker station (another 'schlep' for the unfamiliar).

It's a fantasy thinking you can get to SeaTac from downtown in 15 minutes in a private car. That would require zero traffic and driving 70+mph, neither of which are possible at most times. I have been anxiously trapped in traffic en route to/from the airport too many times to count (the stress of which once precipitated early labor with DC1.) No thanks! I hugely prefer to take the Link and glide along for the extra 15 minutes it costs me - that plus the $5 fare for me and two kids. Easy-peasy and super cheap, too.

[CrazyDonkey]

Speed is worth less, if it is not reliable. What I like about Link is I know it will arrive and get me to where I can go on time. The old express bus to the airport, taking a more direct route, might have been able to beat Link's time on some occasions, but was woefully slower on others. Hauling a suitcase onto a bus is a royal pain.

[Polymorphist]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

The routing actually makes a lot of sense in my book. I'm glad it runs on MLK and not down the median of I-5, isolated by a sea of highways and industrial sites. This means the light rail is actually useful for destinations other than the airport.

I agree on the MLK routing. What's strange is the meandering from the Rainier Beach station to the Tukwila station through a lot of nothing. Would have been nice to route it from Rainier Beach to Southcenter, then over to SeaTac. But that's just me

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by fnh

It's a fantasy thinking you can get to SeaTac from downtown in 15 minutes in a private car. That would require zero traffic and driving 70+mph, neither of which are possible at most times. I have been anxiously trapped in traffic en route to/from the airport too many times to count (the stress of which once precipitated early labor with DC1.) No thanks! I hugely prefer to take the Link and glide along for the extra 15 minutes it costs me - that plus the $5 fare for me and two kids. Easy-peasy and super cheap, too.

If there is no traffic, it takes no more than 16 minutes at 60 mph. It is 12 miles from downtown to the airport and at an average speed of 60, that is 12 minutes. Add a little more time for entering and exiting and that's 16 minutes.

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

If there is no traffic, it takes no more than 16 minutes at 60 mph. It is 12 miles from downtown to the airport and at an average speed of 60, that is 12 minutes. Add a little more time for entering and exiting and that's 16 minutes.

I think this is about right. When I have visitors with early morning flights (i.e. before Link runs... sigh) I get a Zipcar for an hour and run them to the airport myself. I don't think it's ever taken me more than 40 minutes to go there and back. It would certainly be a different story at rush hour, and for certain holiday peak periods, the queue of cars trying to get to the airport backs up for several miles onto I-5.

[AmFest]

Maybe I'm missing something.

With the extension, the rail will attract more passengers, especially those going to and from the airport. Isn't this going to jam the trains because of the lower turnover rate unless they build another set of tracks?

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by AmFest

Maybe I'm missing something.

With the extension, the rail will attract more passengers, especially those going to and from the airport. Isn't this going to jam the trains because of the lower turnover rate unless they build another set of tracks?

Over the long term, yes. But the main issue is with the tunnel downtown because it's shared with buses. The Bellevue portion will open sometime around 2023, and it will be using the same tunnel. The buses will be kicked out at some point, probably around 2019 for complicated political reasons.

The airport won't be the main driver of ridership growth. There's huge latent demand for transit from Seattle neighborhoods into downtown. Commuters far outnumber people going to the airport, and future Link extensions will be aimed at getting people to downtown Seattle and Bellevue for work.

All the platforms are able to accommodate four-car trains, but Link is only running two-car trains now. Link also has headways around 10 minutes now, though many other transit systems are able to run trains every two or three minutes. There's plenty of room for the system to carry more riders.

[sean98125]

I drove down MLK the other day and was surprised at how little development the light rail system brought in. Looks like there was a flurry around the time that it opened, but not much since then.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by sean98125

I drove down MLK the other day and was surprised at how little development the light rail system brought in. Looks like there was a flurry around the time that it opened, but not much since then.

Did you drive MLK when the rail first started going in? It looked like a bulldozed path through a 3rd world shanty town. Development definitely slowed during the housing downturn and hasn't picked back up to the degree it did when the line opened. But it's far more developed than it was when the road was lined with tar paper tin roof shacks.