Western Railroad Discussion > King County, WA sets aside $$ for Eastside rail corrido

The following was in today's King County Journal:

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Article published Oct 4, 2006
Sims offers $2.5M for rail corridor: Proposed deal would be largest single item in 'green infrastructure' package

By Dean A. Radford
Journal Reporter


He's still deciding how much it's worth, but County Executive Ron Sims has proposed setting aside $2.5 million to help buy the BNSF rail corridor on the Eastside, potentially for a trail.

It's just a drop in the bucket. In 2001, when a plan was floated by Eastside governments to buy the corridor, the price tag was about $300 million.

However, the county has yet to come up with its own estimate, which it should have by year's end after verifying that BNSF actually owns the entire corridor.

The county also hopes to get federal and state grants, but has yet to settle on how it would finance the purchase of the corridor.

The county already has $3.5 million in escrow to ensure that BNSF will only talk to it about purchasing the 47-mile corridor between Renton and south Snohomish County.

King County approached BNSF once the company decided it wanted to divest itself of the corridor to ensure it didn't fall into the hands of private developers.

The $2.5 million is the largest single expenditure Sims proposed Tuesday in announcing $20 million in new open space, trail and parks projects, what he called "green infrastructure."

"We are finding that natural spaces and trails are more than nice amenities, they are essential to a quality of life that includes clean air and water, a reduction in our contribution to global warming and infrastructure for people to live healthy life styles," Sims said in announcing the proposal.

Sims will present his 2007 budget proposal to the County Council on Oct. 16.

He wants to spend as much as $40 million over the next two years on greening the county.

The money comes from taxes or assessments earmarked for such purposes, the Real Estate Excise Tax and the Conservation Futures Tax. The county collects REET from the sale of property in unincorporated areas and the futures tax is an assessment collected on all properties in the county.

Time is running out to use the REET, as unincorporated urban areas either annex or incorporate and take those taxes to their cities.

The $2.5 million for the Eastside rail trail, as Sims is calling it, comes from the Conservation Futures Tax, which everyone pays.

The county has changed its focus away from local parks to providing such regional recreational amenities as Marymoor Park in Redmond and 175 miles of trails.

The BNSF rail corridor could become a regional trail that fulfills that vision.

The future of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, now based in Renton, has hinged on whether the tracks remain in the corridor if a deal is struck.

What seems certain, however, is that the dinner train will have to move its jumping-off point to Bellevue, if not farther north, because the rail line will get severed at the Wiburton Tunnel in south Bellevue as part of the Interstate 405 widening project.

The break also affects freight service, although BNSF has said it would serve its rail customers from the north. Eric Temple, who owns the dinner train, said he's interested in contracting with the county as a common carrier to continue providing that freight service — if the county buys the corridor. He has similar arrangements in Yakima and Clark counties.

That break in the rail line won't affect the county's plans for the corridor, which will remain physically intact, said Rod Brandon, Sims' director of environmental sustainability, who has taken the lead in the corridor issue.

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This issue has been ongoing for a while. What amazes me is that there has been very little talk about using this line for an Eastside light rail project. Sound Transit has already said its next expansion of light rail will be across the I90 bridge on Lake Washington to Bellevue. This line would be a natural funnel for commuters on overcrowded I405 to reach Seattle on the proposed line across the lake. The movers and shakers on the Eastside feel that the best way to take care of heavy traffic is to build more lanes on I405.

Of course, I have always felt that there should have been a light rail line on the old NP along the north side of the Lake WA Ship Canal, through the Univ. of WA. to Kenmore, Bothel and Woodinville. However, the county ripped up the tracks there as fast as they could and paved it for the bicyclists! It is ironic to listen to these leaders go on about "Greenbelt" this, and "Greenbelt" that, while with the other side of their brains they are figuring out more ways to get more cars on the roads!

BLS

Isn't it just incredible, though? Here is a railroad with heavier rail and pretty good track and King Co. wants to make it a bike trail and build more lanes on I405. Yeah, building more lanes on I405 will really help your precious bike trail reduce air pollution, Mr. Sims. In a logical world a rail cooridor that has connections to existing commuter train service (Sounder that goes through Renton) would be something to develop to help ease freeway congestion. I guess the bright lights in local governments over there will never understand that I405 will always be congested no matter how many lanes it has added. It's been that way for the last 30 years!

Then there is myopic BNSF who sees no value in maintaining an alternate N-S line that serves as a pressure relief valve in case the line through and under Seattle has troubles. They have plenty of experience getting burned from eliminating duplicate track -- what's one more line?

Mulebag Feed and Grain

It is unfortunate, mulebag, but many of those in government in WA, and especially on the East side of Lake Washington, are locked in a time warp from the 1940s. They think this is the new Los Angeles; more freeways! You would have thought that they would have learned from the California experience, a state which has become more and more enlightened about public transportation. Funny.... What goes around, comes around.

BLS

<Then there is myopic BNSF who sees no value in maintaining an alternate N-S line that serves as a pressure relief valve in case the line through and under Seattle has troubles.>

I agree with you that BNSF and other railroads have gotten rid of routes they shouldn't have in the past. I doubt that BNSF sees "no value" in this line. The point is they have to see $300 million of value. This is not a main line route. There has to be a lot of benefit to justify $300 million to retain an alternate route with very limited capacity through the back yards of million dollar homes "just in case". BNSF has three routes out of western Washington to the east, Stevens Pass north of Seattle and the Stampede and Columbia River Gorge routes each south of Seattle. It would certainly would be a major inconvenience if the downtown route had a closure, but it probably wouldn't be the end of the world. As a stockholder, I hope they get the $300 million (or whatever) to invest in more productive infrastructure elsewhere, maybe even in improving the capacity or reliability of the downtown route. And I hope Seattle politicians (and citizens, for that matter) see the light about light rail one of these days. Even down here in Texas, about the last place you would expect, cities like Dallas can't build new light rail lines fast enough now that they have seen the impact on increasing real estate values and bringing new development and condos around stations.

First, poffcapt wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This issue has been ongoing for a while. What
> amazes me is that there has been very little talk
> about using this line for an Eastside light rail
> project.

Then, mulebag responded:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then there is myopic BNSF who sees no value in
> maintaining an alternate N-S line that serves as a
> pressure relief valve in case the line through and
> under Seattle has troubles.


Before you guys go slinging mud on BNSF and the community, perhaps you should read through the information about the study the PSRC is conducting. Wouldn't you know it, among the options being considered are commuter rail and maintenance of the route as an emergency relief route in case of a shutdown of the Seattle Sub between Interbay and Everett! (Check the Fact Sheets.)

http://www.psrc.org/projects/bnsf/index.htm

-Dave

Well, Dave, if they were really serious then I don't think they would be letting WSDOT take out the Wilburton Bridge with no plans to replace it. They could still do light rail, since light rail can go places that heavy rail can't. But I can't really see a 100 car freight passing over a light rail shoofly, can you? And I haven't been bashing BNSF; everybody else, but not BNSF!

Barry

<<This is not a main line route.>>
It once was the NP's N-S main.

<<There has to be a lot of benefit to justify $300 million to retain an alternate route with very limited capacity through the back yards of million dollar homes "just in case".>>

Where is the $300 million figure coming from for a line they already own? Is that the cost to rebuild Wilburton Trestle? It's not like there are a lot of million dollar homes there who aren't used to noise anyways, they have the I405 mess in their backyards!

<<It would certainly would be a major inconvenience if the downtown route had a closure, but it probably wouldn't be the end of the world. As a stockholder, I hope they get the $300 million to invest in more productive infrastructure elsewhere>>

I guess you were happy with the investment that was lost in dumping the MRL trackage in 1987, or the investment to reacquire the WCRC and rebuild Stampede Pass, or the investment in the ex-NP line between Pasco and Spokane after the ex-SP&S line was pulled up. None of these missteps were "the end of the world" but they certainly affected BNSF's capacity and bottom line. Certainly such a critical chokepoint like Seattle deserves an alternate route. But hey, I'm just a RR employee who is looking forward in time at keeping the traffic flow moving and customers happy, not an investor who worries about this year's financials.

Mulebag Feed and Grain