On Thursday, June 28, the Sound Transit Board will consider a motion that would commit up to $10 million to improve pedestrian and bike access to the future Northgate light rail station; the City of Seattle has agreed to contribute another $10 million. The proposal still includes the construction of a 450-stall parking garage. City of Seattle Council Member Richard Conlin and Mayor Mike McGinn have been working on this proposal, encouraged by public pressure; it isn’t perfect, but it is much better than the original plan!
Thank you to everyone who wrote letters and attended meetings, pressuring the board to spend less money on a bigger-than-needed parking garage and more on making it easier to access the new station by foot, bike and transit. You can send a final message encouraging the board to pass the new proposal here.
The motion will do the following:
— Commit Sound Transit to fund 25% of the cost of the pedestrian/bicycle bridge across I-5 up to a maximum of $5 million. The City of Seattle will match Sound Transit’s $5 million contribution towards the I-5 pedestrian/bicycle bridge costs. The City will also seek other funding partners to secure full funding to complete design and construction of the bridge (total cost approximately $20 million). If a full funding agreement for the implementation of the I-5 pedestrian/bicycle bridge cannot be completed by July 2015, the Sound Transit Board will reallocate any unspent bridge funds to other priority pedestrian/bicycle projects identified through the connectivity and access study processes.
— Commit Sound Transit to match up to $5 million in City investments in pedestrian/bicycle facilities in and around Northgate Station consistent with the improvements identified and recommended by the access study.
— Limit investment in park-and-ride facilities to a new parking garage that accommodates 450 P&R stalls, preferably in shared use. The 450 stalls and any additional stalls funded by private investment may be used to replace parking now provided at the King County owned park and ride surface lot currently east of the proposed station to allow that lot to be made available for transit oriented development that will bring ridership to North Link and support the added vitality of the Northgate Urban Center.