Comments on: Car vs. Train at MLK & Myrtle

By: Smitty

Smitty — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:54:57 +0000

I was there, and i have all the facts. The guy turned left from the inside S/B lane of MLK because he did not want to get stuck in traffic ahead of him. Plain and simple. If people obide by the law accidents would not happen. He wasnt even in the left turn lane and had he been the signal was red so legally he could not have turned left anyway. he is actually lucky that he was not killed.
“You cant fix Stupid”

By: dkl

dkl — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:14:41 +0000

hmmmm, were not the only ones…..

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009419669_stnoise05m.html

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:02:36 +0000

Sound Transit or DOT – whoever is footing bill for the stoplights – needs to invest in better technology. Currently the train seems to override the traffic lights with the cycle continuing in the background. This results in the cars or peds losing their turn in the cycle and having to wait longer than necessary. The light cycle needs to PAUSE while a train passes, so nobody loses their turn once traffic resumes.

Wondering if they skimped on technology or if they skimped on traffic flow consultants.

By: MarkB

MarkB — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:35:55 +0000

“Sometimes I sit there for 7-10 minutes with no changes……it’s irritating to say the least. ”

I’ve waited longer than that, just wait until the trains are running every 7 minutes and you know they are not going to hit the stations at the same 7 minute mark which will have you waiting 10 or so minutes for the 27 seconds you will have to get across.

By: dkl

dkl — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:04:47 +0000

@John L — sorry, but if they had invested in the market when construction was started on Phase I, they would still be whole as the DJIA was about 8500 back then. In fact, it wasn’t until October 2007 that the DJIA started it’s downward slide from 14000. By then, Phase II construction should have been well underway.

By: John Lonneve

John Lonneve — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:42:09 +0000

dkl — they probably invested the funds in the market, which tanked. Someone got bad financial advice. Someone believed the old man with gray hair TV commercials and trusted the brand name financial products. Someone trusts Wall Street, and is an idiot for it and deserves to lose money, but not money dedicated to the community.

By: dkl

dkl — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:37:13 +0000

@trellis Thanks. I’d read those articles actually when they came out, but what happened to the funds that were already dedicated to Phase II? If they are blaming it all on the credit and RE market implosion, that indicates they were underfunded to begin with. To blame those things for not having it done by now is silly. Those homes were tore down long before the credit and RE market tanked – and – construction should have started as Phase I was complete. Dare I say: mismanaged?

By: trellis

trellis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:25:07 +0000

@dkl – The “Again, the Valley gets screwed” meme is old and tired.

I found some info on Rainier Vista Phase II for you:

Housing authority short at Rainier Vista East due to unexpected issues, delays and the credit and real estate market implosion
http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/830/

SHA wins Federal stimulus money and uses it to restart Phase II
http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/2022/

I also wanted Phase II to be done by now. But it’ll get done.

By: dkl

dkl — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:01:40 +0000

It’s not the ding-ding-ding of the bells that is bothersome but, the screech. As you move away from MLK and UP it gets louder and louder. At my house, the train noise can at times be louder than the jets overhead.

I wonder if the rails are not spaced properly in spots causing the metal wheels to scrape on the tracks or something? The noise is obnoxious.

And what about Phase II of Rainier Vista? Wasn’t that to be completed by the time the rail line opened??? Good thing they demolished all those usable/livable low income houses. There is a waiting list years long to get into housing like that and SHA destroys it with no plans to rebuild now. Again, the Valley gets screwed.

By: sophyie

sophyie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:51:41 +0000

There’s cities all over the world that have light rails or trams going not only on street level, but side by side with car traffic (on shared lanes) and surprisingly, the drivers there manage.
When I told my family in Germany about the safety discussion around the light rail they asked “and what exactly is the problem, all you have to do is look”

I’m sure it’ll just take some time. And honestly- there’s no way to prevent people who want to do illegal turns from turning. There’ll be accidents involving the light rail just as there are accidents only involving cars – that still doesn’t make the light rail less save. Only time will tell.