If we are going to see some an amendment to the Draft ST3 Plan we need you to write in and tell the Sound Transit leadership that we need a commitment to build the 130th Street Station!
I am not sitting around hoping there will be a change, I am out here pushing every button and looking for all the possible ways to get North Seattle what it needs. I met with Sound Transit Board Members, Sound Transit Director Peter Rogoff, other Seattle City Councilmembers, King County Councilmembers, our Legislative delegation in the 46th District, the Federal Transportation Administration WA liaison and even Senator Patty Murray’s Office. We have been meeting with community groups representing Haller Lake, Lake City, Pinehurst and Broadview. We have met with advocacy groups like Transportation Choices Coalition. We have discussed the need for a station at a 130th with major employers like the University of Washington, North Seattle College, Northwest Hospital, Northgate Mall and Thornton Place. I recently wrote an Op-ed that was published in the Seattle Times. And through all these meetings I have learned that what is really going to change the course of the ST3 draft plans depends on the demands of the community. They need to hear from us, and we need to be loud.
I want to thank the North District Council, Lake City Neighborhood Alliance, Olympic Hill Neighborhood Council, Pinehurst Community Council, 46th State Legislative delegation and all the individual neighbors that have sent in their survey and are sending in letters to Sound Transit.
Please consider attending the next Sound Transit Board meeting on April 28th at 2pm to testify in person about the importance of Sound Transit making a commitment to build the 130th Street Station. The meeting will be held at the Union Station building at 401 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104.
We need to keep the pressure on. The public’s opinion really does matter, I need your voice! Fill out your survey and send in a letter of your own to: soundtransit3@soundtransit.org, EmailTheBoard@soundtransit.org and cc: me at debora.juarez@seattle.gov
Write in as an individual, as a representative of your community council, as a business representative, as a person who uses public transit or as a person wants to! Feel free to use our sample letter below, and thank you for advocating with me!
Response Letter from the community to Sound Transit
To Sound Transit:
We need a commitment to build the NE 130th Street Station. North Seattle is a growing community, one which already lacks adequate transit service. We appreciate that the Sound Transit draft plan has included the recognition that the 130th Street Station could serve thousands of people. However, the current “provisional” designation for the 130th Street Station, with zero dedicated funding and no timeline, is unacceptable. We need a commitment to build. The ST3 draft is only half done. To get this draft ready for the ballot we need the 130th Street Station funded, as well as a timeline for station completion.
Not only will this station serve the immediate surrounding communities, like Pinehurst and Haller Lake, it will also act as the focal point of a powerful East-West connection, working in concert with buses to provide light rail service to Bitter Lake and Lake City, the fastest growing Urban Villages in North Seattle. North Seattle’s solution to light rail should not be to walk or drive to Shoreline’s station. The 130th Street Station is a common sense move for the Sound Transit Board as it requires no extra track and no new tunnel; we just need a platform for a stop. This is the most cost-effective possible addition in the entire ST3 proposal. We are calling on the Sound Transit Board to make a commitment to build the NE 130th Street Station.
Other key issues to mention:
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Station Spacing – Best practice for high capacity rail lines in other cities have stations averaging every 0.4 mile. North of the ship canal we will be looking at an average of 2 mile spacing getting as high as 2.5 miles between the Northgate and 145th stations. This is unacceptable.
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Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative – Bitter Lake Hub Urban Village and Lake City Hub Urban Village are the fastest growing urban villages in North Seattle while remaining some of the most affordable places to live in Seattle. High numbers of low-income families and seniors live in these communities. They also represent the areas with the highest concentration of neighbors who are English language learners in North Seattle
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130th is an ideal place to build out better pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. In fact, some of that work has already started along this corridor. This station could prove to be the most accessible via bike above both Northgate and 145th street stations.
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Car ownership is below the city wide average in these areas. This is a transit dependent community
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Based on Seattle’s 2035 Growth Analysis, the Bitter Lake Hub Urban Village has new growth capacity of over 10,000 residential units and nearly 20,000 jobs. Lake City Hub Urban Village has new growth capacity of 4,000 residential units and 5,000 jobs. These growth numbers will only be attainable and successful with access to reliable transit like light rail. These estimations don’t even touch the untapped capacity that could be attained with a transit oriented development (TOD) plan directly around the station area. With our current housing crisis can we really say no to this kind of growth potential?