Written by There’s some frustration out there about the current state of transit in our region.
Here is one of the more passionate letters we’ve received at city hall recently:
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Subject: Eastside Passenger Rail – GET IT RIGHT!
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:21:06 -0800
Listen (PLEASE!),
I’m getting sick and tired of politicians being clueless about mass transit
in the Seattle area and Washington state in general. You people haven’t gotten
the hint for DECADES now! Tell me – are you BOUGHT AND PAID FOR AGENTS OF THE
AUTO INDUSTRY OR WHAT?
Get this through your heads…
IT WOULD BE INSANE TO TURN THE EASTSIDE RAILROAD INFRASTRUCTURE INTO A BIKE
TRAIL!!!
Anyone who can’t see the benefits of passenger train service throughout the
state in general, and especially for Renton, must have gotten hit in the head by
a toy train set growing up.
The rail link between Sea-Tac airport and Seattle is the first thing you guys
have done right in a long time. I still wonder to this day how you ever managed
to bring yourselves to get that one correct. Please don’t screw this one up –
follow one bright moment with another. Let’s start a trend of actually serving
the real transit interests of the electorate, shall we?
I am normally of calmer mind when writing my elected officials, but this voter and his family have
reached such a point of frustration, I have a hard time expressing myself any
other way.
Whether it’s the obviously less-than-half-hearted efforts by Nickels to save
the monorail, the complete failure to include Renton in the Sound Transit 2
plan, or this latest bit of lunacy courtesy Ron Sims, you politicians are
amazing. You folks have proven that the old, uninformed, misled, (corrupt?),
and stupid ways of the past can still be foisted upon the people of Washington
state, despite their increased suffering and frustration.
Oh yes, and then there’s the environment, which our people care deeply about,
and about which cities like Portland are putting us to shame regarding transit’s
effect on it. Relying completely on the pollution machines we call buses and
cars and their overburdened highways (many of which aren’t even highways but
rather quaint roads being pressed into service as such) DOES NOT WORK!
Suggestion – try doing more homework on the transit problem on your way to and
from work. God knows, you should have MORE THAN ENOUGH time to do it!
A. Bufort
Renton, WA
i completely agree
turning that rail line into a trail is simply worthless. I have to commute from renton to UW daily and Id rather catch a light rail which connected me from renton to bellevue then across the lake. 405 is one of the most congested freeways, especially in the renton to bellevue area. dont let that railway go to waste.
All I have to say is I vote yes on pretty much all transit bills i can spare an extra ten bucks a month even if it doesn’t directly help us in Renton it helps clear up those trouble areas and then Renton doesn’t turn into a short cut as much for people.