Shoreline City Council Meeting Monday August 12, 2013

Devon Vose Rickabaugh
Photo by Jerry Pickard

Shoreline City Council Meeting Monday August 12, 2013

Brugger's Bog Maintenance Facility

The Shoreline City Council adopted an Ordinance authorizing the issuance of a $3,565,000 Limited Tax General Obligation Bond to provide permanent financing for the acquisition and improvements to the Brugger’s Bog Maintenance Facility.

This number includes an increase by $165,000 to cover closing costs on the bond issue, escrow fee and title insurance plus fencing and gateway improvements to make the facility more attractive to the neighborhood. An audience member questioned the increased cost without an open meeting. Councilmember Eggen said that the study leading up to the ordinance had been an open process. City Manager Underwood said before the city issues debt they need to make sure everything is covered so as a project’s projection unfolds the cost needs to be reevaluated. She stressed that immediate improvement to the site to make it functional as a maintenance facility costs $600,000. More work and planning needs to be done to make it a permanent facility. 

Lynnwood Link Extension - Light Rail

Sound Transit has released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Lynnwood Link Extension. The DEIS identifies and evaluates the impacts of several different alignments for the project, including six possible options in King County.

The alignment through Shoreline is along the east side of I-5 and includes elevated and at-grade options. Potential station locations in Shoreline include NE 145th Street, NE 155th Street and NE 185th Street. The DEIS examines the impacts associated with several topics including transportation, land use, noise, visual and acquisitions. Review of the DEIS includes a 60 day public comment period that ends on September 23, 2013.

Kirk McKinley, Transportation Services Manager and Alicia McIntire, Senior Transportation Planner, told the Council that the Sound Transit Board will use the information developed in the DEIS, Council’s input, as well as feedback received from other jurisdictions and the public, to develop a Preferred Alternative that will be carried through the process. Staff is seeking direction from Council regarding development of DEIS comments and recommendations for the alignment, stations and mitigation.

Alignment concerns for the Council to consider are: an elevated alignment is more expensive than one constructed at-grade; the visual and noise impacts associated with an at-grade alignment are less than those associated with an elevated line; the property acquisition and residential displacement impacts are greater with an at-grade alignment as more property is needed than for an elevated alignment; all elevated sections of the alignment need to be designed in a manner that does not impede any future modifications to the interchanges at NE 145th Street, NE 175th Street and NE 205th Street.

Using previous Council direction (Scoping comments, Guiding Principles, Transportation Master Plan, Comprehensive Plan), staff offers the following conclusions:

• NE 145th Street station: The option that relocates the northbound on-ramp provides for a more compact station and parking structure layout, shortening walking distances for riders that park vehicles and in the garage. This also provides more flexibility in developing areas for bus service
• NE 185th Street station: An at-grade station with a parking structure on the west side of I-5 will minimize the visual and noise impacts. The required improvements to 5th Avenue NE that will accompany the parking structure development will include new sidewalks and bicycle lanes, per the City’s adopted plans for this street segment. Reconstruction of the bridge will present the greatest opportunity to improve facilities for all users – bicyclists, pedestrians, bus riders and drivers; because an at-grade alignment is less expensive and has fewer visual and noise impacts, the line should be at-grade as much as possible; the issues identified above for each station, the alignment and system-wide will need to be appropriately mitigated. Staff plans to return to Council with a more refined recommendation, including suggestions for mitigation, at the September 9 meeting.

Councilmember Roberts suggested working with the School District to utilize parking at the stadium on 185th for transit as well as stadium parking. Councilmember Eggen said he would rather see a multilevel parking garage to preserve open space. Also he said if 185th is reconstructed he doesn’t look forward to having “one of the four east west routes cut off  for a year.” 

Councilmembers Winstead, Eggen and Mayor McGlashan were concerned that bus routes to the transit stations be increased, coordinated between the city and Metro and that bus transferring take place on site.

McIntire assured Councilmember Eggen that all of the property owners have been notified if their property has a chance of partial or total acquisition to accommodate the light rail system.