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A Renton reddit user recently posed a question on a Renton reddit page asking “could we please have light rail connectivity in Renton?”
Click here to see the complete Reddit thread on this topic.
One commenter says Renton Councils and residents of the past didn’t want light rail, some point to unfair lack of Renton representation on the Sound Transit board when key decisions were made, some point to Renton’s lower density than Seattle, some say our topography is to blame, and some say we’re not working hard enough to get it today. One made an interesting point that Boeing, our largest employer, has many workers with shifts starting too early in the morning for Sound Transit trains (although Everett has a similar workforce and it is scheduled to eventually get Link light rail).
I’ve covered Renton’s concerns regarding Sound Transit extensively in the past, and I don’t agree with some of the reddit comments. For instance, I always wanted Link light rail during the time I was on council (first writing about Renton’s struggles with the agency in 2007), and I don’t think our topography or density are less suited than other areas like Redmond or Issaquah. I also agree with many of the comments, and I’m happy to see our community discussing it. I’m impressed with the level of interest and engagement by our community.
As I’ve said in my previous blog entries, I would like to see Sound Transit complete the five million dollar study that voters agreed to as part of Sound Transit 3 to determine an alignment and layout for a future Link light rail station in Renton. This study should be completed soon, to make sure Renton is not left out of any future Sound Transit 4 planning.
All my articles on Sound Transit can be found here.
The last part of the (long) reddit post includes this comment:
“You cannot even fill Triton towers, your biggest existing office supply. Your city hall leadership and council is anemic and inexperienced when it comes to managing and implementing any big vision. Right now your biggest vision for economic redevelopment is converting Longacres to office and housing and creating a downtown concrete park for a 1-time soccer event that will be celebrated in Seattle. The council and mayor cower at the slightest of citizen complaints and they dont resolve interagency issues outside of Police dept politics. You lack a proper city manager and city engineer to make hard decisions about infrastructure. You lack a savvy director of finance with experience and skill in infrastructure financing and overall city hall operations for a 100k+ sized city. You lack a savvy city attorney’s office skilled and experienced in the type of agreements needed to make rail happen. Their ignorance results in risk-averse shortsighted decision making. All of the ingredients adding up for why you’re never getting light rail.”
Wow. Someone knows this city well.
Well said Marcie. Such weak leaders Renton has.
This person should run for council.
The idea that Sound Transit does not have to serve Renton because at one point a few residents opposed it is wrong.
Renton taxpayers have paid $1.9 billion in Sound Transit taxes and deserve to see most of that money invested back into transit service for our community. When a government collects taxes from a community, it has a clear duty to return value by providing services to that same community.
I would support Renton, Kent and Auburn suing Sound Transit to secure the fair share of funding we provide. They have taken our money and used it to serve more affluent areas instead of investing it here.
I completely agree Ben. We’ve spent too much and waited far too long to be included in the Link Light Rail plan. 1.9 billion dollars is A LOT of money from the hardworking people of Renton.
BALTIMORE REGIONAL INITIATIVE DEVELOPING vs STATE OF MARYLAND
Title VI complaint that was filed after Gov. Hogan abruptly cancelled Baltimore’s proposed Red Line in June 2015 and redirected almost a billion dollars in “rail” money into highway and bridge projects outside the city. The complaint was brought on December 21, 2015
In that complaint they showed how MDOT/MTA had carved the region into “corridors” (city east–west, suburban north–south, etc.) and then claimed “each corridor” was getting roughly the same level of investment. In reality, nearly all of the newly freed-up funds went to road-building in wealthy, predominantly white suburban areas—while the inner-city, overwhelmingly Black east–west transit corridor was left high and dry. They argued that this disparate impact on African-American Baltimoreans who depend on transit violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
I know somebody; or am related to; someone who is friends with someone very close to someone who was on city council then. They said that mayor Law dropped the ball and didn’t want it. Yes, strictly rumor mill with this degree of separation. It actually makes way too much sense for Renton to get light rail. Initial Google reviews blame geometry (not geography) whatever the effff that means. One could argue geometry proves we should get light rail too.
Thanks Anonymous for this comment, and I’m going to amplify it. Just as you are saying, the reason I keep hearing today for Renton not having light rail is that supposedly somebody in Renton in the past said they didn’t want it. Unfortunately, I’ve heard this reasoning attributed to some current Renton officials.
In my 28 years at City Hall, I never heard any of Renton’s elected officials say we didn’t want light rail. Everyone worked to get us a fair share, to the best of my knowledge.
But more importantly, as you say Anonymous, this reasoning makes no sense. Every light rail line that Sound Transit has extended has been mired in controversy, with hundreds of businesses and homeowners protesting virtually every alignment. From Bellevue, to West Seattle, to Kent groups have formed to specifically try to block certain alignments and get the rail moved.
So the idea that Renton did not get light rail because some unknown person decades ago said they didn’t want light rail makes no sense. Even if someone in Renton said it, and I don’t think any elected officials did– such a statement would not be a reason to create an inequitable light rail plan.
And even if Renton didn’t want it, we should have gotten BRT immediately. We were even told that we were lucky and would get BRT before all the others would get rail.
Yes but isn’t it true that people and groups not wanting light rail – isn’t that very different from someone in political office not doing enough to get it and/or not wanting it? Seems like two different things to me.