12/23/2008 11:48:00 AM Light-rail construction
nears the starting line
Broadway’s north light-rail station entrance at Broadway and East John Street. Graphic courtesy of Sound Transit.
By Doug Schwartz
Yes, Virginia, Sound Transit really is coming to Capitol Hill. What had for so long been a rhetorical discussion about the prospect of bringing light rail to Broadway is no longer a vague discussion point. As the vacated buildings along Broadway attest, light rail construction will soon become a physical reality for Broadway.
To underscore that reality, Sound Transit returned to Capitol Hill last week for the final time prior to the start of demolition work on the properties the agency acquired over the last 18 months. Roughly 75 people attended the Dec. 10 forum at Seattle Central Community College, a gathering that was notable for the lack of heated or passionate discussion that characterized such forums years ago.
Signs of light-rail's impending construction have been increasingly evident on Broadway for most of 2008 as businesses vacated their locations and public art was, for several months, installed in the storefronts. But come January, environmental abatement work will begin on the Sound Transit properties on the east side of Broadway south of East John Street for roughly one-and-a-half blocks. Sound Transit will start tearing down the buildings by June or July.
"We've been at this for awhile," said Sound Transit Deputy Project Manager Ron Endlich. "We've now completed more than 90 percent of the station design and are ready to start our construction contracts."
To recap
The University Link consists of a 3.15-mile underground rail line that will connect downtown with the University of Washington. The segment includes a station on Broadway. The station will have its north entrance at the southwest corner of Broadway and East John Street, its south entrance at Nagle Place and East Denny Way, with an entrance along the west side of Broadway north of Seattle Central Community College (where Chang's Mongolian Grill used to be).
Sound Transit projects that the Broadway station will serve 14,000 daily riders. A ride between downtown and the University of Washington, stopping at Broadway, will take six minutes.
What to expect
In anticipation of the coming abatement and building demolition, a fence will soon be placed around the properties, though sidewalks will remain open. When the buildings have been removed, the site will be paved over and the fencing, which will block views of the construction site, will remain.
The next phase, which is set to begin next summer and last for roughly one year, involves preparing the ground under Interstate 5 to be able to handle the tunnel boring equipment that will dig the light-rail tunnels. During this period, the northbound I-5/Olive Way off-ramp will be closed, with Madison Street promoted as the recommended alternative.
The third phase, running through the end of 2012, involves the major tunneling work and dirt removal.
There will be work activity at the site 24 hours a day, seven days week. Since most of the work takes place underground, Sound Transit said the constant activity will not prevent people from sleeping through the night. Sound Transit Project Development Coordinator Michelle Ginder said a public process to go over the noise variances the agency requires will take place this spring.
"You won't hear the tunneling machines because they work so far below the surface. But you may hear pumps needed for the air supply," she said.
During daylight hours, though, there will be continuous construction traffic as trucks haul dirt away from the site. A circular flow is planned, with trucks entering the site along East Denny Way and leaving the site along Olive Way toward I-5. The truck haul route has been approved by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).
The actual construction process is slated to run from January 2013 through December 2015. During that time, Broadway will remain open, though traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Some bus stops may have to be relocated during that time.
Sound Transit said that details regarding future transit-oriented development will emerge during the construction period. Such development is of considerable importance to Broadway's future. The future stations, once built, occupy a small percentage of the land being used for the project. Sound Transit will sell the parcels when light-rail construction is complete; the future development of the sites has generated strong feelings among community members concerned that such development include elements the neighborhood said it values, such as affordable housing.
"We will be working closely with the community to discuss how these sites will be developed," said Endlich, adding that developers will be selected sometime in 2012 or 2013. He added that there is a possibility that one of the parcels could be made available to developers prior to the station's opening.
Broadway's light-rail station is scheduled to open in 2016 or 2017.
The trees
Trees within and surrounding the property need to be removed. The transit agency has said it would replace the street trees when work is complete and reiterated that the Chinese elm tree at the northwest corner of Cal Anderson Park would be protected during the construction project. The Chinese elm is a Seattle Heritage Tree, and as such there has been concern that the tree would not be able to survive the extensive work taking place so close to its root structure.
In all, 73 will be removed. Big Trees Inc. is working with the demolition contractor to see if relocating any of them is a realistic possibility.
Also discussed: the construction mitigation efforts Sound Transit will undertake in combination with the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. Such efforts will be directed at neighborhood promotion and marketing and will include technical assistance for businesses impacted by the lengthy construction period.
Audience concerns were mostly directed toward safety issues along Olive Way when the dirt removal begins in earnest. Some attendees advocated for additional crosswalks or even another stoplight. Sound Transit responded by saying that SDOT didn't want to add additional signals because of the traffic delays that new lights would generate. One man voiced concern that little would be done until someone was injured or killed.
"I jaywalk every day along Olive. It can be scary, and I'm sure it will get worse," he said.
More information is available at www.soundtransit.org. A 24-hour construction hotline can be reached at 1-888-298-2395.
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
