Notes from 145th Station Citizens' Committee

By Robin Lombard

On Thursday May 28 there was a meeting of the 145SCC. Here are the meeting notes:

Parking plans. We discussed the importance of parking and the likelihood of some neighborhoods losing parking to construction workers, new buildings that do not supply parking (or supply less than needed) and/or commuters. We considered several ideas for a parking proposal to the City:

• Timeline: Need to have a parking plan implemented before construction starts.
• Sidewalks: How to handle parking on streets without sidewalks/curbs. Can sidewalks/curbs near the station be prioritized?
• Construction parking: Where will/should construction workers (Sound Transit and building construction workers) be allowed to park? Is there a plan? Where do we want them not to park? 
• Neighborhood (block) parking permits: Ensure homeowners have a certain number of permits. City sells permits that residents don't want/need/buy (several ideas here). Ensure that there are no more permits distributed than spaces available to park. 
• Need to calculate much more precisely how many parking spots will be needed for each proposed building and ensure that there is that much parking available. 
• Parking enforcement: The best plans won't work if there is no plan for parking enforcement.
• Who pays the cost of the parking signs, enforcement, etc.?

Next steps: Putting together a letter (probably drawing from existing work of committee members).

June 25 meeting. I have invited Roger Iwata, Sound Transit (North Corridor Community Outreach Lead) to speak about the progress Sound Transit is making and the updated schedule as it stands in late June.

At Thursday’s meeting we brainstormed several questions for him:

• What will the construction of light rail involve? We see a lot of buildings in the FEIS plans and wonder if you can explain.
• We hear that the University station will be opening earlier than expected. How will this impact the schedule for the 145th station? 
• Can you please tell us about the truck routes for construction that appear in the FEIS.
• What about the idea of a pedestrian bridge across I-5 since WSDOT will not be able to improve the bridge by the time the station opens? 
• Parking during construction – where will construction workers park? What is ST policy?
• Are you planning to charge for parking in the 145th Street Station Garage?
• What about metro lines busing people to 145th Street Station Garage? Are you working with them?

Roger has already said he will have limited information on June 25, just because Sound Transit is only beginning to make the plans for the station. As a result, there is no update on station planning and design (this work has not started) and nothing to say yet about the general construction process. He will be able to share the updated schedule and plans for citizen involvement and feedback.

I've sent him the above questions (and I will send any other questions you send to me before the June meeting).

July/August meetings: We had some discussion about changing the day of the meeting (fourth Thursday of each month), but no strong opinions. For now we will continue to meet on the fourth Thursday at Shoreline City Hall, 17500 Midvale Ave N, 3rd floor.