By: Cascadia Staff
KOMO-AM 1000
November 8, 2007
MP3 audio file of interview.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (KOMO-AM 1000, Seattle, 11:05 a.m., Thurs. Nov. 8, 2007)
Announcer: A lot of questions about the future of roads and rail projects. On the Eastside, there's a lot of talk about the best way to use the 31 miles of train tracks formerly used by the Spirit of Washington dinner train between Renton and Woodinville. King County plans to rip out the tracks and put in a hiking and biking trail. Joining us live on the KOMO 1000 News Line is Bruce Agnew, Director of the Cascadia Center here in Seattle. Ron Sims, ah, pushing using that rail area for (a) bike trail. Ideally, what would you like to see in that area?
Bruce Agnew, Cascadia Center: Well, we would like to see bikes and a train operating on that corridor for the 31 miles. And while we're very pleased that King County and the Port of Seattle reached a Memorandum Of Understanding for public ownership so we can keep that corridor - which actually stretches on up to Snohomish - we think that with the failure of Prop. 1, this is a great opportunity to put commuter or regional rail, (a) low-impact rail system along...the corridor (and) have it co-exist with the trails.
Announcer: Now, if we get private developers moving in there, would you think that they'd probably be trying to encourage people to live, work and play in this area so they could use that line?
Bruce Agnew: Oh sure. In fact, we've had several developers come to us and talk to us about contributing capital for train stations and track improvements on that corridor. Which, by the way, is a perfectly good rail corridor. There are speed restrictions of 25 miles per hour, but we're taking a look, with retired BNSF executives, at what it would take to upgrade the corridor to allow what's called a DMU unit - it's a low impact train that could operate every half-hour in that corridor (at 40 mph) - and developers are very interested in contributing to the capital expenses.
Announcer: And Bruce, any idea about when we might hear something concrete about a proposal?
Bruce Agnew: Well, for those that wants rails and trails, they need to communicate that directly with the King County Council and Port of Seattle. Otherwise, burlington Northern Santa Fe will be ripping up those rails in several months to make way for the trail. So if you think that it's a good idea to have rails and trails, co-exist, you need to contact your elected officials.
Announcer: Alright Bruce, I appreciate your hopping on with us. Bruce Agnew, Director of the Cascadia Center here in Seattle.
RELATED OP-EDS FROM CASCADIA CENTER
“Preserve Eastside Rail Line For Snohomish Transit Link,” Bruce Agnew, Seattle Times, Oct. 31, 2007
“Rails And Trails Could Easily Co-exist On Eastside,” Bruce Agnew, Puget Sound Business Journal, October 5, 2007
EASTSIDE RAIL STATION SKETCHES
Below are links to preliminary conceptual sketches by artist J. Craig Thorpe of Eastside commuter rail line stations. The sketches were commissioned by Cascadia Center.
Bellevue
Snohomish
South Kirkland
Totem Lake
Woodinville
