HOT Lanes on I-405 Coming Soon

In the buildup to the entertaining specter of trains and bikes butting heads for space on the BNSF corridor between Renton and Snohomish we have a distraction. WashDOT will be installing HOT lanes on I-405. OK, the title gave it away.


A HOT lane is a restricted High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane that charges a toll for non-HOV users. If you and all your passengers add up to less than 3 people you can’t use the HOT lane unless you have a Good To Go! Pass (or one of my cunning fakes).

But that’s not all: you can only enter the HOT lane at certain places along the route so the overhead antenna can read your Good To Go! Pass. They use a double white line with bumps to divide the traffic and boy do I hope you have a lot of money if you get caught driving across those lines.

The State Patrol is gearing up for this. They’ll have unmarked radar cars on overpasses and each violator they spot will be run down and ticketed. Read the signs. They will clearly point out what’s illegal and what’s OK.

The overpass spy car will be looking for the highly visible Good To Go! Pass (my fake will work) or enough bodies to qualify as a car pool. That means if you and the spouse head off to the submarine races in Snohomish you’ll need to pick up that panhandler at the on-ramp to make three. Take an air freshener.

In other distractions, Mayor Mike (Seattle) is taking a stab at delaying the SR-520 bridge replacement by about ten years. Microsoft took out an ad in the Seattle Times (it’s still in business) that exhorted everyone to please get on with building the new bridge right away please! It’s been in work for about 14 years and was declared a dire emergency in 2000. But not one brick has been cast.

Everyone this side of the Pecos has chimed in with opinions and suggestions. After a very long and arduous process the design is done and funding is arranged. The existing bridge will sink in the next moderate earthquake or bad windstorm.

But Mayor Mike thinks we need to go back and design it over again. He wants light rail tracks on it even though there are no plans for connecting light rail at either end. He says in 20 to 25 years when it’s finally built there could be.

In response to the Microsoft ad Mayor Mike accused THEM of “delaying” the project. Now I know why I don’t run for political office – I actually think about things.

Where was I? Oh yeah bikes and trains on the HOT Lanes. Or something like that.

We have HOT Lanes now on the Valley Freeway. Which kind of cuts into the meaning of “Freeway.” There are reader boards at each legal entry point that tell you how much it will cost to use that lane. Once the overhead antenna reads your Good To Go! Pass you will get a bill.

Actually it’s a little simpler after a complex startup. First you have to buy the thing. Really, they don’t give them away. Maybe that’s because it costs so much to paint all those bumpy double white lines. Mine will cost you more but in the long run you save money on tolls.

Second you have to prepay your account. You can give them a credit card number (I suggest someone you don’t like), debit card, or an auto-draft account. That means each time your prepaid account drops below $8 they go in and slurp more money out of your bank.

Third you can have up to six vehicles draining the same prepaid account. Give transponders as party favors and then draw straws to see which guests have to feed the prepaid accounts. Tell them odds of getting a free pass are six to one in their favor. Invite gullible guests.

Once you have the little goody in your hand you’ll need to peel the backing and stick it to your windshield. You’ll also need a shield (costs extra) if you occasionally carry a load such as the night you’re the designated driver.

Finally; once you’ve made all those decisions, paid good money for the pass and the prepaid account, and stuck it on your windshield its easy from there on. That is unless your prepaid account runs dry.

Or you can just order one of my custom fake passes and scotch tape it to the windshield and it’ll fool those overpass people counters. Or maybe the State Patrol reads blogs. Then I might be in trouble.

Al

Rails to Trails to Rails and Back

The 42 mile BNSF rail corridor from Renton to Snohomish is currently owned by the Port of Seattle. BNSF sold it. I’ve always speculated that the reason BNSF didn’t want the route was the very busy street crossings. To make these crossings safe would cost untold millions which BNSF would not recover running one small train a day. Even the fees paid by the old Dinner Train would never cover the cost.


Well some folks insist that the corridor would be good for light rail. If you don’t put much thought into it then it seems logical. Commuters run north and south on the Eastside by the thousands and many might be happier to ride the train or so they say.

I’m having trouble imagining NE 8th Street in Bellevue blocked off for a commuter train every 15 minutes. There are several other main streets that would be in the same boat. Sure, these crossings would be ripe for red light cameras so why not? And that might seem like good news to some cities. But running that light might get you more than a photo at police HQ.

Secondly it’s a single track line except for a few minor sidings. To make it a reasonable commuter rail you’d have to double track it. The advocates point out that there are 52 points along the route where property would have to be acquired to widen it. People who live there might not be too happy to sell a sixty foot strip just to get a train right outside their bedroom window. I’m just guessing.

The other big push is coming from the folks to want to turn the route into an urban bike and pedestrian trail. This was the original scheme for the corridor when BNSF first explored selling. Ron, the King County Exec, had the vision of hundreds of bikers and walkers meandering 42 miles a day rain or shine. He had a dream. Now he’s with HUD in Washington (the other one). Some dream!

It was a reasonable scheme. All over the country former rail routes have been turned into trails. It’s a nationwide activity. One of the reasons for doing it that way is that according to some obscure agreement railroads retain the right to buy those corridors back and use them for trains again someday if there’s an important reason. It’s called “Federal Rail Banking.” If you have a former railroad near you check it out. I’ll wait… See? I told ‘ya.

The program means that if anyone were to build a structure, like the Newcastle Library, and block off the roadbed it could get dicey to try and run trains on it. That’s why lots of places use the old roadbeds for trails.

However, laying tracks and running a commuter rail on the old roadbed might be OK. Seems logical. What could possibly go wrong?

The problem here is everyone has a point of view. When I say “problem” I don’t mean trying to decide between fries or rice pilaf. First we have enough governments involved to last several lifetimes. Probably around 20 if you count agencies as governments. Maybe more. Puget Sound Energy and Cascade Water Alliance are two I’m surprised to see on the list. But I’m surprised about lots of stuff.

There are many others not so surprising. Let’s have a meeting and figure out how many. Or a meeting to develop an agenda for the meeting to figure out how many agencies will be involved. Let’s just have a meeting to see who buys the beer at the preliminary pre-meeting.

The Port of Seattle (current owner) was looking at trading the corridor to King County for the airport. That’s Boeing Field King County International. Its name would have to be changed to something else but everyone would still call it Boeing Field.

Here’s something I don’t understand: Boeing Field is an airport where a lot of big and little planes land and take off. Qwest Field is where Mariners play baseball but they don’t fish or sail. There’s no way these two “fields” could trade roles. Also you can’t graze cattle on either one. Some say they don’t play much baseball either. Why are both named “Field?” Let me know, please.

Anyway, due to some nonsense about dump trucks and dirt hauling cost overruns at Sea-Tac’s third runway project the Port of Seattle is not in a trading position last I heard. Must have something to do with the value of the two properties and a requirement to get approval for the deal etc. Or maybe they just forgot. That was some time ago. I’ll have to see if I can find the current status. Naw, I’m too lazy.

We also have inputs from local bike clubs as well as another group called the Eastside Trail Advocates. And I’m sure the Audubon people will want to help.

The fancy Port of Seattle paver has been underutilized lately. Due to completion of the third Sea-Tac runway and reductions in the number of container ships stopping at Seattle they haven’t needed it much recently. It was advertised as being capable of paving 10 mph, but we think that’s an exaggeration. Probably more like five. That would mean it could take a couple days to pave a 42 mile bike trail. Use your calculator; don’t try this in your head. It hurts.

Well not so fast. If they decide to go ahead with the light rail plan there won’t be any room for a bike trial. On the other hand it they slap down a bike trail it would throw the light rail plans into a tizzy. Neither faction wants to come along and try to add their development after the other project is in place.

Therefore these people are proposing that everyone get together and do both. Make a nice quiet bike trail with a pedestrian path and lots of low maintenance native plants with a double track high capacity light rail line sharing a 20 foot wide corridor for 42 miles. Bird watchers rejoice. Never mind the 106 grade crossings with flashing red light cameras.

I have to say of all the fun stuff going on around the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Area I think this one might be the most fun. If you think getting all these agencies, departments, and councils around a table with highly motivated recreation clubs to reach a reasonable agreement that costs less than a freeway to Mars will be easy you might need to reevaluate. If you like run-on sentences you’ll love reading the meeting minutes.

So my next mission is to get into these meetings. They could last 40 years or more. I’d be over 100. Wait, do I really want that? Let’s have a meeting and decide.

Al

Bad Signs in Newcastle

We’ve visited the new sign motif in glittering Newcastle. Kind of a green on green with white lettering.


Well it turns out some people don’t like it. The base green is a lime hue and the white lettering is hard to see. The big park signs are essentially bent sheet metal which presents sharp corners. Some of the large park signs have been removed because they interfered with driver sight lines. People are saying it’s just not very cool.

Well, the backlash has arrived. The city person responsible for the “new sign” project has been fired. They didn’t specifically say it was the signs but the signs were mentioned prominently in reporting the personnel adjustment.

Two other directors resigned within days of the firing. Apparently the Parks Commissioner and Public Works Director were not thrilled over the firing and decided to pursue other opportunities.

The newly elected mayor, John, has created two new committees in Newcastle. One is the Library Development Committee. The purpose is to facilitate and ensure the groundbreaking of Newcastle’s library. The ground is already broken. Maybe the committee will fix it in time for the official ceremony in July.

This is the library that has bounced between a standalone library which is part of the massive King County Library System and a multi function behemoth. The lot size is one acre. At one point the plan called for a combination City Hall, Post Office, Library, 80 unit low income housing, car wash, and circus tent. With no parking.

The Postal Service repeatedly refuses to provide Newcastle with its own zip code so we won’t get a Post Office. The last appeal says that since sales tax revenues are distributed to communities based on the buyers’ zip codes Newcastle is losing money because it shares a zip with Renton. The Postal Service says that’s not the purpose of a zip code which means it’s a local problem and not their responsibility. So no new zip code and no Post Office. Maybe Newcastle can form a committee to sneak up on Renton and steal some sales tax revenue. Which brings up the other new committee:

The other new committee is called the Community, Communications and Outreach Committee. First agenda item: Pick a new name. The intent is to improve interaction with residents for decisions like the sign motif but the official purpose is a lot of committee doubletalk. The ground is already broken on this one too.

If you want to be part of the Renton Raid just drop a line to the Newcastle City Council and mention Glen the Lake Boren Carp sent you. I bet that gets you a seat on the committee right away. Or at least a place to sit.

Al

Light Rail in Bellevue - TBD

The Bellevue City Council met with the Sound Transit Board to express views on the downtown part of the Bellevue route. There are several opposing viewpoints.

One says they need to go underground and build a cave station right under the center of the business core. Then people can ride the coal gondolas into Bellevue and take an elevator up to street level. They will be issued one of those coal miner hard hats with the light on it. It’ll be easy; just get off and check the canary (if it’s flat on its back in the bottom of the cage don’t breath) and head for the surface.

Another says they should keep the rails above ground. Run them along streets and add several fancy stations with some of that odd “artwork” we see along Martin Luther King Way in Seattle. However opponents are fearful it will get in the way of traffic. Or something like that.

Then we have the folks who think they should avoid downtown Bellevue. A tunnel is too expensive, street rail is too disruptive, and we don’t want any Seattle people having easy access to our ritzy shopping center. By the way that last one is why I always try to look shabby when I go shopping. “Always annoy snobs” is my motto.

Never mind. It’ll never be allowed to get that far. First we have the law suit claiming it must be illegal to use I-90 for rail since it was allegedly built with gas tax funds. In our state you can’t use gas tax funds for anything but roads.

Also, there’s the big hassle over the segment from I-90 to the south edge of downtown. Surrey Downs and condo residents don’t want the rail near their homes. So an alternative plan says they shoot a diagonal line across the Bellefields Wetland. Wow, talk about waking up a dozen or so sleeping dragons. There is some doubt that will ever get approved due to all the environmental agencies and organizations.

This also means it would be hard to plan either a tunnel or a street route because they don’t yet know where the connecting line would end up. We also have only conceptual artsy schemes for what happens once the line heads east toward Redmond. The Overlake area has been designated as more or less “Urban Village” type of development. I hope they get around to telling the folks who already occupy that area.

The Urban Village concept (in simple terms) calls for residential, retail, and professional office all packed into low rise buildings. One main feature is to discourage cars. They want people to walk or use transit. The dream is the people who work there also live nearby and shop across the street. The problem is that to survive retail businesses need a lot more customers than just the people who live upstairs. That’s why they want some light rail stations in the midst of it. Get all those carless Seattle people shopping in the wilds of Bellevue.

OK, at this point we don’t know if the rail will be allowed to use the I-90 bridge across Lake Washington. We don’t know if there will be an acceptable route from I-90 to downtown Bellevue. We don’t know the mode or route through downtown Bellevue. We don’t know how it will leave the core and cross I-405 into the Urban Village dreamscape. So I’d say the plans are coming along just fine and dandy.

Construction begins in 2011. In Renton, probably.

Al