June 15, 2015
Dear Sound Transit Board Members and Seattle City Councilmembers:
The Transit Riders Union strongly supports a Northgate Pedestrian/Bike Bridge over I-5. We urge you to develop a realistic finance plan for this bridge to ensure that it is designed and built in a timely manner as part of the Northgate station construction.
We also urge Sound Transit to site a station at 130th Street along the north corridor light rail extension, to improve access from Pinehurst, Lake City, Bitter Lake and other North Seattle neighborhoods using local transit connections; and to put the south Shoreline station at 155th Street with no parking garage. This will keep the station away from the I-5 interchange at 145th to minimize conflict and delay from congested traffic.
Sound Transit can provide more funding for the Northgate Bridge by eliminating the proposed parking garage at the Northgate station and transferring some of these funds to the bridge. The Seattle Comprehensive Plan discourages “the development of major, stand-alone park-and-ride facilities within Seattle.” We urge you to also consider cost savings from the University light rail extension for both the Northgate Bridge and 130th Street station. These complimentary investments improve access to light rail from growing neighborhoods east and west, spreading demand between Northgate and 130th Street with an emphasis on local transit, biking, and walking access.
Northgate is one of Seattle’s regional growth areas. It is also one of Seattle’s least safe and accessible neighborhoods for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders. The sidewalk network surrounding Northgate is limited and in disrepair, and I-5 presents a formidable barrier and a treacherous twelve lane freeway crossing experience for pedestrians. Pedestrians and bicyclists must either travel north crossing beneath I-5 at Northgate Way or head south to cross over I-5 at 92nd Street, then walk the remaining five to ten blocks to North Seattle College or other destinations west of Northgate. There are bus options to and from the North Seattle College area, but using the same Northgate Way or 92nd Street, this is time consuming. The Northgate Pedestrian/Bike Bridge will save a great amount of time for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders alike.
More people will be living, working and traveling in and out of the Northgate area in the not too distant future. We have an opportunity right now to determine what kind of neighborhood Northgate will become. If we choose to build even more parking and fail to improve infrastructure that unites the neighborhood from the vantage point of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders, new residents of Northgate will be forced to drive cars, and the chronic problems of traffic congestion, road safety, pollution and climate change will all be exacerbated.
We believe these recommendations to be consistent with Sound Transit access policies, the Puget Sound Regional plan, and local and state growth management policies. We look forward to working with you to make this happen.