The Sound Transit Board proposed a Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Draft Plan for public review on March 24. Included in the draft plan is a project to provide Bust Rapid Transit (BRT) service on State Route 522 from Bothell, through Kenmore and up Northeast 145th Street to the future light rail station to I-5.
Last January, Kenmore joined with four other cities – Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Bothell and Woodinville – to voice their strong support for including this project in the ST3 package.
Currently, Sound Transit is in the process of evaluating a large list of candidate projects and deciding which projects to include in its ST3 final system plan. SR 522/Northeast 145th Street is a major east-west transit corridor that is a key to connecting riders living in the north Lake Washington area to the light rail spine and making the overall transit system work. Including it in the final ST3 plan will ensure a complete network and transit system success.
The north end cities agree the SR 522/145th BRT project makes sense for north King County and for the sustainable growth of the entire region. They have cited the comparatively low economic cost, existing infrastructure, and rapid projected completion dates as early wins for Sound Transit and the region.
Sound Transit is asking the public to take time to review the information about proposed rail and bus improvements throughout the region and then record their opinions through a short online survey.
The deadline to provide feedback is April 29.
Here’s how residents can help:
Fill out the ST3 survey here http://soundtransit3.org/survey
The three projects for Kenmore and Bothell are:
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on SR 522 and Northeast 145th Street
Additional 300 stall parking structures along SR 522 – one in Bothell, one in Kenmore, and one in Lake Forest Park – to provide access to BRT
Light Rail Study for future SR 522 light rail
Send a short email to the Sound Transit Board, at: soundtransit3@soundtransit.org.
Other highlights of the ST3 draft plan include:
Completing the light rail spine from Tacoma to Everett
New Eastside light rail connections from Bellevue/Overlake to Downtown Redmond and from Bellevue to Issaquah
New light rail service to growing urban neighborhoods of Ballard and West Seattle
Early project delivery, including new Bus Rapid Transit on I-405 and SR-522/NE 145th street, and buses running on shoulders along I-5, I-405, SR 518, and SR 167
Improvements to Sounder South stations to serve longer trains to carry more passengers and extending the line from Tacoma to DuPont
