Issaquah keeps stacking up W’s for getting light rail. Buried inside the article is a frustrating revelation: despite Ballard being fully phased, Seattle still hasn’t gone as far as Issaquah (and Redmond before them) in reforms to accelerate construction by approving full self permitting for Sound Transit. This should be the top priority for transit policy in the city of Seattle.
The Board is meeting this Thursday, and the Chair (Somers) is expected to present his proposed realignment plan. Any thoughts on what we should expect it to contain? I’m guessing, given his public statements, that it will feature cuts to every sub area except for Snohomish County.
Seems bad that the FTA is apparently acting in bad faith. This obstructionism may be much harder to fight than illegally yanking congressionally-approved funding like what happened with the Hudson River tunnels. After all, the FTA could simply keep the DEIS in “review” forever while costs skyrocket. Do we have any legal recourse to fight this?