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Millions of dollars were allocated in Sound Transit 3 to study a link light rail connection between Renton, Tukwila, and West Seattle. The study must be prioritized. Photo credit: Sound Transit
As I’ve covered in previous blog entries, Renton taxpayers have paid between 1-2 billion dollars for Sound Transit, and have received very little benefit.
When Sound Transit 3 (ST3) was approved by voters, it included several million dollars for a planning study of a light rail connection to Renton. Renton must continue to push for this study to be completed, to ensure we are not left out of link light rail if a Sound Transit 4 is proposed in the future.
Many transit insiders believe there will be an ST4 proposed within a few years, as Sound Transit 3 funding isn’t covering all of the ST3 commitments, with one of the latest challenges being the quantity and cost of new trains. While the Sound Transit Board has a fiduciary duty to deliver as best they can with the funds they are allocated (making necessary compromises to design, operating frequency, implementation schedule, etc), the public could bring forward a new proposed ST4 bond issue to resolve these issues and enhance this service at any time. The last I heard, the buzz was that it may happen between 2024-2026.
We must have a Renton Link Light Rail connection in any future ballot proposals. I worked hard along with Renton’s Mayor and several council colleagues to get the Renton study into Sound Transit 3, and we then worked to jump-start the study by hiring a consultant to help us identify potential station locations and potential alignments. We now need for Sound Transit to take this good work, and finish the job.
According to approved ST3 Documents, :
“The planning studies would help to identify the range of alternatives, evaluate potential routes and station locations and terminals, inform local
comprehensive planning, prepare for formal environmental review and engineering, and position the Sound Transit Board to evaluate options and
establish priorities for implementation in future phases of high capacity transit investments in the region. The studies will include public outreach,
preliminary environmental assessment, ridership forecasting, and conceptual engineering and cost estimating.
The studies include:
HCT Study: Light Rail Extending from West Seattle to Burien, connecting to Renton via Tukwila
This study would examine a light rail extension from West Seattle to Renton via Burien and Tukwila. The study would be completed in
coordination with local transit partners to examine a variety of options for service provision and to maximize opportunities for regional
integration.”
The Issaquah-Kirkland line is an example of a completed study. It includes 4 new stations and was funded with Sound Transit 3.
Part of the approved (and funded) plan for a Kirkland to Issaquah line
It’s way past time for Renton to get on the Sound Transit Link Light Rail long-term plan. Unfortunately there are Seattle-based transit interests that don’t think Renton deserves a light rail line and they still want our tax money. Renton officials must push back against these opinions. For example, prior to ST3, the popular Seattle Transit Blog published an article which said:
‘The “tell” of excess focus on new regional connections is the heavy emphasis on the east-west Burien/Renton corridor. To put it mildly, this is not a corridor where existing demand suggests a need for true high-capacity transit.’
Renton officials must be firm advocates for Renton when working with Sound Transit, so that Renton taxpayers do not spend many more billions of dollars while receiving very little benefit.
Part of the ST3 commitment to voters. Source: Sound Transit
Sound Transit’s 2023 Progress report does not include any discussion of these planning studies.
Randy Corman testifying to the Sound Transit Board in 2016. One of the board’s commitments was the study of a Renton-Tukwila light rail connection. The full story is here.
More Sound Transit 3 documents and reports can be found here.
will the city of Renton allow migrants settle in tents in Renton ?
a helmick, I suspect you asking because of the declaration of emergency in Tukwila yesterday for the 180 people being sheltered on a church property with diminishing resources. (See this news item): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nyCF3BPvWY
The state legislature has superseded local (city and county) authority in most major aspects regarding camps on religious properties. Cities and counties do still enforce health and safety violations. This is a complex topic and I can cover it more in the future. Here is the state law on the topic. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=36.01.290
Thank you for being and advocate for the City of Renton! Sometimes I feel like the stepchild of King County and Sound Transit! We have property on the old rail line waiting for something to happen. Light Rail through Renton and down to Kent and Auburn would be a plus for King County!
Renton not having trains is a legacy of Marcie Maxwell not representing us. This is starting to be a theme, frankly.
If anything, extending the Eastlink southward to Renton, would be a much wiser plan- seeing as there is already a Right-of-Way, that could be easily adapted to a Multi-Modal Corridor, paralleling 405. As far back as the Mid-2000s, (2005-2008), there was serious consideration to having a DMU (Diesel Multiple-Unit) all-day service on the Woodinville Sub.
Considering that Mr. Corman fought so hard for the Eastside Trail, a Tukwila to Renton Branch- is more to “save face” than anything else.
Thank you for the comment NJHB,
Renton protested loudly when the State Department of Transportation and Burlington Northern reached a deal that abandoned the eastside rail line. Council Member Marcie Palmer and I were leaders in the fight. Here are two of the many articles I wrote on the topic at the time:
A branch line of LINK Light Rail that connects Tukwila to Renton’s new Rainier and Grady Transit center or the Landing could be a first phase of a southern-eastside line that runs from Tukwila to Bellevue. Since taxpayers in Newcastle and Southern Bellevue are also contributing to Sound Transit, they also deserve a future rail connection.
The Eastrail is actually a federal “rail bank,” that keeps the corridor right-of-way intact so that it remains available as a trail or for potential future rail. The alternative to a trail was that BNSF would sell the corridor piecemeal to all the adjacent property owners, and the right-of-way would be gone forever. This was one of the reasons I so adamantly favored a trail after we lost the fight to keep the eastside rail in operation. An extension of the Light Rail from Renton to Bellevue would likely go down the center of I-405 (which is preferred by regional forums for safety and ridership density reasons) or potentially share the rail-banked corridor with the trail. Both of these concepts have been discussed in regional transportation planning meetings, and the I-405 alignment is preferred.
It’s not equitable for Renton taxpayers to pay for nearly every other jurisdiction to enjoy the benefits of light rail while not being served ourselves. I have worked hard to remedy this inequity in the past, and I will continue to do so.