The last thing the Puget Sound region needed was another transportation debate. As our Fix Your Commute project is illustrating, the choices already are difficult, and figuring out how to pay for them is even tougher.
Now Burlington Northern Santa Fe comes along with an offer to sell 40 miles of rail line running north from Renton, roughly parallel to I-405. The track then juts northeast from Bothell to Snohomish. For some $300 million, the railroad company would sell the line in one piece, and the public would own a potential commuter corridor to serve future growth, perhaps moving thousands of people each day.
If no one steps up, the right of way probably will be sold in pieces, and its value as a major travel route — whether for a highway, heavy rail or light rail — will be lost.
Some planners are excited about the prospect of holding the route in reserve, noting that the supply of intact corridors is almost non-existent. They also point out that other regions have later regretted letting such opportunities go.
Others are highly skeptical, citing costs that will go far beyond the original purchase price, the status of property along the route that might be needed for stations, and the already troubled dialogue over regional transportation priorities.
Still, it doesn’t hurt to consider the possibilities. Wisely, the Puget Sound Regional Council, the planning agency soon to be headed by outgoing Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel, has agreed to spend the next six months studying whether a purchase makes sense.
The PSRC is the perfect agency to study the issue. Its membership already includes the jurisdictions that would be served — or perhaps trampled, depending on your point of view — by the addition of a commuter route. As the regional distributor of federal transportation dollars, it’s in a good position to study the possibility of financial help from the other Washington. And because it isn’t a funding agency itself, it can do an objective job of suggesting creative ways of paying for the route.
The PSRC’s challenge is to study this quickly and come up with a solid list of pros and cons in the next six months. Too many other critical transportation decisions are pending to let this one slow things down. Potential uses, costs and funding sources must be studied, and planners must take a hard look at legal challenges that could be brought by neighbors along the route, many of whom own expensive properties.
It’s a daunting task as Drewel comes aboard, but an important one. Buying a corridor for some future use may be a long shot, but it’s too promising to be dismissed out of hand.
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