Editorial | Having our (final) say

Islanders have just two more chances to have their say about light rail coming to I-90, Mercer Island and beyond. The first is to comment on the Sound Transit East Link Draft Environmental Impact Statement released last month. The Draft EIS is to inform the public and decision-makers about the project’s benefits and impacts prior to identifying a preferred alternative for the multi-billion dollar project. It is available in hard copy at the library, on line or by calling for a free CD, mailed without charge to your home (go to www.soundtransit.org). We say, pour a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, load it up on your computer and take a look. Comments are due by Feb. 25.

January 20, 2009 3:48 pm

Islanders have just two more chances to have their say about light rail coming to I-90, Mercer Island and beyond. The first is to comment on the Sound Transit East Link Draft Environmental Impact Statement released last month. The Draft EIS is to inform the public and decision-makers about the project’s benefits and impacts prior to identifying a preferred alternative for the multi-billion dollar project. It is available in hard copy at the library, on line or by calling for a free CD, mailed without charge to your home (go to www.soundtransit.org). We say, pour a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, load it up on your computer and take a look. Comments are due by Feb. 25.

The giant tome presents a detailed picture, in terms of both need and design, of an 18-mile rail line that will reach from Central Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond. Readers will find alternative designs, potential environmental impacts and solutions, and perhaps most importantly, the checkered history behind how light rail became the preferred way to improve the overloaded transportation network between the Eastside and Seattle. Islanders should note that despite the possibility of some changes along the route, the location of light rail is already set in the center lanes of I-90, with a station on the Island near the Park and Ride on North Mercer Way.

A second way to comment is to attend the open house and public hearing on the DEIS set between 4 and 7 p.m., with the hearing to begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at the Community Center at Mercer View.

Perhaps the biggest single impact of the project to Islanders and the population of Puget Sound is the significant shift of resources to this multi-billion dollar project ­— resources that will not be available to be used elsewhere.

And the DEIS cannot show the dramatic change that this represents to all of us simply with words and charts.

When the DEIS is finalized, and the permits are in place, the project will move ahead. Those concerned about possible impacts on SOV access, congestion, impacts of construction or the location of the new rail station here, should pay heed.

There will be no going back.