WHEREAS, in November 1996, the voters of the three-county Sound Transit district approved Sound Move, the ten-year regional transit system plan, which includes a 23-mile new electric light rail line connecting SeaTac, Tukwila, and Seattle; and

WHEREAS, Sound Transit (formally known as the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, or RTA) is proceeding to implement the Sound Move plan, including the Link light rail component; and

WHEREAS, the City of Seattle is approaching Sound Transit with a "can do" attitude to help balance the budget for the SeaTac to N.E. 45th Street light rail segment and to be aggressive and creative in finding ways to finance the Phase I light rail line north from N.E. 45th Street; and

WHEREAS, the City Council adopted Resolution 29738 on April 27, 1998, stating the City's position as to the light rail alternatives that should be included in Sound Transit's draft environmental impact statement; and

WHEREAS, on December 4, 1998, Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to satisfy the requirements of both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and included a preliminary staff-recommended Locally Preferred Alternative in the DEIS to help citizens and government agencies focus their review and comments on the DEIS; and

WHEREAS, on January 26 and 28, 1999, the Seattle City Council and the Sound Transit Board held joint public hearings in north and southeast Seattle to receive public input on the light rail route and station location alternatives, and on February 11 held an additional public meeting and hearing in southeast Seattle to receive additional input; and

WHEREAS, on February 25, 1999, the Sound Transit Board preliminarily identified the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the light rail alignment and station locations; and

WHEREAS, during 1999, Sound Transit staff and City staff produced additional technical information, and elected officials and staff attended numerous public meetings to discuss the project with interested citizens and neighborhood groups; and

WHEREAS, in August 1999, Sound Transit and the FTA issued a Draft Environmental Assessment on new alternatives for the N.E. 45th Street station, the Capitol Hill station, and the north Duwamish maintenance base; and

WHEREAS, on November 5, 1999, Sound Transit and the FTA issued a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) to satisfy the requirements of both NEPA and SEPA; and

WHEREAS, on November 8 and 10, 1999, the Seattle City Council and the Sound Transit Board held joint public hearings in north and southeast Seattle to receive public input on the light rail route, station location, and maintenance base alternatives; and

WHEREAS, on November 18, 1999, the Sound Transit Board is scheduled to make its final decision on the Locally Preferred Alternative for the light rail alignment, station locations, and maintenance base location; and

WHEREAS, the City has a huge interest in ensuring that the light rail system gets built, both because it will provide numerous benefits to Seattle's residents, workers, and visitors, and because it is critical to helping the City meet its Comprehensive Plan goals for dense, mixed-use urban centers and urban villages connected by high-quality public transit; and

WHEREAS, the Link light rail line has the potential to greatly benefit the region as well as Seattle's residents, businesses, workers, and visitors if it is developed in cooperation with these groups, and thus the City of Seattle has a tremendous stake in ensuring that the light rail alignment and station locations respond to local desires and needs; and

WHEREAS, the City recognizes the importance of Sound Transit's principle of subarea equity, under which Sound Transit's local tax revenues will be used to benefit the subarea in which the taxes are generated, and the City commits to adhering to this principle in Phase I; and

WHEREAS, the City Council and Mayor want to provide formal input into Sound Transit's decision-making process to identify the Locally Preferred Alternative; NOW THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, AS FOLLOWS:

I. The City of Seattle recommends that the following light rail alignment, station locations, and maintenance base location be identified as Sound Transit's Locally Preferred Alternative, and also includes input and suggestions to Sound Transit as to how the light rail system should be built and operated. The City's position is based on a review of the draft and final environmental impact statements (DEIS and FEIS), the environmental assessment (EA), public comments, including oral comments at public hearings and meetings and written comments submitted to City and Sound Transit elected officials over the past months and years, and on a review of the City's Comprehensive Plan, neighborhood plans, Transportation Strategic Plan (TSP), and other City goals and policies.

In selecting this alignment and these station locations, the City intends that Link light rail serve the highest-density existing residential and commercial areas in the City. This strategy will yield highest ridership for the light rail system and will also provide a competitive alternative to the car for people traveling to and from these dense areas. The light rail line will benefit riders throughout the region by providing fast, reliable access to major employment centers. In addition, this alignment and these station locations serve areas where the City and its citizens can use light rail to help spur economic redevelopment of particular neighborhoods, as an opportunity to implement neighborhood planning.

The preferred route and station locations, and related comments and suggestions, are presented from north to south, in six segments from Northgate to SeaTac, followed by a section pertaining to the light rail maintenance base.

A. Segment A (Northgate to University District)

1) Although the November 1996 Sound Move ballot measure committed only to reach N.E. 45th Street in the University District in Phase I, the City believes it is important to extend this first phase to Northgate, and the City has helped develop a plan to make this possible. This will have numerous benefits, including increasing daily light rail boardings in 2010 by 16,500, reducing impacts in the University District that would arise if the interim terminus were located there, and allowing more bus riders to be intercepted by rail, thereby reducing bus volumes on downtown Seattle streets.

2) Route: Elevated out of Northgate station, then at-grade within I5 right-of-way to N.E. 76th Street, then via a 12th Avenue N.E. tunnel through Roosevelt business district (Alternative A1.1)

3) Stations:

Northgate, Option B or Option C at the Transit Center, elevated

12th Avenue N.E. at N.E. 65th Street, cut-and-cover tunnel station

4) The Northgate station must be physically and operationally integrated into the surrounding development, both existing and future, to foster effective transit-oriented development. There must be seamless pedestrian access connecting the light rail station with the park-and-ride facility, shopping areas, and other nearby activities.

B. Segment B (University District to Westlake Station)

1) Route: Tunnel under University District, ship canal, Capitol and First Hills (Alternative B1a)

2) Stations:

15th Avenue N.E. south of N.E. 45th Street, tunnel station on east side of 15th

15th Avenue N.E. at N.E. Pacific Street, tunnel station

Broadway E. near E. John Street, Option C cut-and-cover tunnel station (under Broadway)

First Hill -Madison Street near Broadway, tunnel station

3) The City supports the ongoing three-way working relationship among Sound Transit, the University of Washington, and the City to address concerns and develop workable solutions.

4) The City supports omitting the possible mezzanine at the N.E. 45th Street station provided that improved, at-grade pedestrian crossings of 15th Avenue N.E. at N.E. 43rd Street and at N.E. 45th Street are included as part of the light rail project.

5) The cross-over track planned for north of the Capitol Hill station should be constructed with cut-and-cover methods similar to the construction of the station itself. Sound Transit must provide mitigation to the businesses along Broadway and to other neighbors that will be affected by this construction to minimize disruption of the neighborhood and maintain pedestrian access to all businesses. The mitigation plan for the cut-and-cover construction will be implemented in conjunction with the business and residential communities on Capitol Hill and will include programs to promote the business district during construction and preserve, to the greatest extent possible, auto and transit access to the business district, as well as replacement parking.

6) The Capitol Hill and First Hill stations must be physically and operationally integrated into the surrounding development, both existing and future, to foster effective transit-oriented development.

7) The City supports the decision not to have stations either at Broadway E. and E. Roy/Aloha Streets or at Convention Place in downtown Seattle. The low numbers of additional riders that would be drawn to these stations do not justify the very high cost of constructing these additional tunnel stations. Because of topography and the location of freeways, parks, and other features, a Roy/Aloha station would not draw a significant number of additional riders. Riders in the vicinity of Convention Place can be accommodated at the First Hill or Westlake stations, perhaps via circulator bus service on Pike and Pine Streets. (See section C. below about future improvements to Westlake Station.)

8) Sound Transit should work with the City, King County Metro, and the Denny Triangle neighborhood to explore options for redeveloping all or part of the existing Convention Place bus tunnel station as a mixed-use, transit-oriented development with open space, while preserving direct bus access to and from the I-5 express lanes at this location.

C. Segment C (Westlake Station to S. McClellan Street)

1) Route: Use existing Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT). South of downtown, use E-3 busway rising to elevated structure turning east along south side of S. Forest Street, and then to tunnel under Beacon Hill (Alternative C1.4)

2) Stations:

Westlake

University Street

Pioneer Square

International District

E-3 Busway, north of S. Lander Street

Beacon Avenue S. at S. Lander Street, tunnel "shell out" station in Phase I so it can be built in Phase II

3) The City supports the decision to postpone until a future phase an at-grade station on the E-3 Busway at S. Royal Brougham Way. Sound Transit should build the basic concrete slab for the station platform, conduits, supports, etc. in Phase I to preserve the opportunity to build this station in a future phase. The City urges Sound Transit to seek public-private partnerships to complete this station as soon as possible.

4) The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) should operate with light rail only. The City makes this recommendation based on analysis of bus and light rail travel times, safety issues, estimated cost to retrofit the DSTT, and the cost to King County Metro to replace its fleet of dual-mode buses.

5) The City of Seattle owns the right-of-way through which the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) passes, and intends to approve the transfer of the DSTT from King County Metro to Sound Transit. The City recognizes that surface street improvements will be needed on multiple downtown streets to accommodate more buses running on downtown surface streets, both during construction and during light rail operation. This will require a three-party agreement among King County Metro (current owner of tunnel, bus operator), Sound Transit (future owner of tunnel, light rail operator), and City of Seattle (grantor of easement for tunnel, responsibility for surface streets).

The City is committed to implement bus priority measures on downtown streets to provide safe, efficient, and reliable service to bus riders while also maintaining the flow of traffic for cars and trucks, and the environment for pedestrians and bicyclists as well as for local businesses that rely on downtown streets. The City intends to grant to King County Metro and Sound Transit the authority to implement capital and operating improvements on downtown streets, subject to permitting, licensing, and easement requirements. Sound Transit will be responsible for paying the costs of implementing needed surface street improvements and transit priority measures, with goals that include minimizing bus travel times; maximizing safety, security, and passenger comfort for bus riders; improving the pedestrian environment; providing adequate access for downtown businesses; and minimizing noise and air pollution. Sound Transit must include enough funds in its final plan to pay for whatever improvements are needed, as a result of the buses displaced from the DSTT and Sound Transit's own bus service, to make downtown surface streets operate smoothly and efficiently. This includes improvements that may be required in the future according to guidelines established jointly by King County Metro, the City, and Sound Transit.

The City will continue to work with King County Metro, Sound Transit, and the Downtown Seattle Association to design bus priority measures, and to seek public review and comment on the proposals. The goal is to develop a final traffic plan and bus priority improvement plan to maintain good transit service within downtown Seattle. The City anticipates executing formal transfer agreement(s) regarding the DSTT with King County Metro and Sound Transit.

6) If there is no Convention Place Station in segment B (see part B above), Sound Transit shall provide, in a future phase, improved pedestrian access points into Westlake Station. These might include escalator access to and from the east of Westlake Station to provide better access to the east toward the Washington State Convention and Trade Center and the Denny Triangle neighborhood.

Also, with the loss of Convention Place Station, which is one of the two downtown tunnel stations where bicyclists are currently permitted to load and unload their bicycles on and off buses, Sound Transit must provide a convenient way for bicyclists to access and egress the light rail system at Westlake Station.

7) The City commits to work with Sound Transit and industrial businesses in the north Duwamish area to address freight mobility and industrial access issues.

8) The City commits to work with the industrial businesses in the north Duwamish area to maintain the integrity of the industrial district. To this end, the Lander Street station should be designed to be attractive and utilitarian, but is not intended to be the focus for new non-industrial transit-oriented development in the vicinity of the station.

D. Segment D (S. McClellan Street to Boeing Access Road)

1) Route: Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S., at-grade in median, with a 93-foot right-of-way and a 72-foot curb-to-curb width that accommodates four traffic lanes, or two traffic lanes plus parking (Alternative D1.1e)

2) Stations:

S. McClellan Street, elevated

S. Edmunds Street, at-grade

S. Othello Street, at-grade

S. Henderson Street, at-grade

3) The City will continue to work closely with Sound Transit, King County, and the neighborhood around the McClellan station to integrate together the light rail station, a bus transfer facility, and mixeduse development at this complex location.

4) The City supports the decision to postpone until a future phase an at-grade station along Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. at S. Graham Street. Sound Transit should make whatever improvements are needed now in Phase I to preserve the opportunity to build this station in a future phase. In addition, Sound Transit should, as part of Phase I, provide effective pedestrian, bicycle, and bus access for riders from the area around S. Graham Street to reach the Othello Station to the south.

5) The City commits to working with citizens, affected property owners, community organizations, and Sound Transit to finalize the design of both the at-grade light rail line on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. and the street itself. The design should allow Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. to operate with either four lanes of traffic, or two lanes of traffic with on-street parking, without requiring changes to the planned 72-foot curb-to-curb width. Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. should become a "Great Street," meaning it should be a place that people want to be, with wide sidewalks, room for bicycling, reliable transit service, underground utilities, pedestrian lighting, trees, street furniture, and pedestrian-oriented commercial businesses that attract people and encourage residential development. It should have about 20 timed and signalized intersections from McClellan to Boeing Access Road, plus about 10 additional signalized pedestrian and bike crossings. In its design, Sound Transit should consider an option that would allow emergency vehicle access across the light rail tracks. The street and light rail tracks should be designed and built to balance the objective of maintaining emergency response times with the objective of providing adequate pedestrian safety. The light rail alignment must not be a barrier that splits the communities on opposite sides of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. The City recognizes its role to define the operating characteristics of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. for motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians, and to ensure that neighborhood traffic impacts and safety concerns are addressed.

6) To help serve bicyclists in the Rainier Valley, Sound Transit should contribute substantially to the cost to develop the Chief Sealth Trail system, including adequate connection to the Henderson light rail station.

7) Urban design enhancements and pedestrian and bus connections should be provided between Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. and Rainier Avenue S. to connect the light rail station at S. Edmunds Street with the Columbia City commercial core along Rainier Avenue S. Similarly, urban design enhancements and pedestrian and bus connections should be provided between Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. and Seward Park Avenue S. to connect the light rail station at S. Henderson Street with the Rainier Beach commercial core along Rainier Avenue S. and the development east of Rainier Avenue S. all the way to Lake Washington.

8) To help make light rail an asset to the community and to mitigate impacts of an at-grade alignment, Sound Transit must establish a $50 million Transit-Oriented Community Development Fund to make transitrelated improvements in southeast Seattle. The fund should be used to increase transit ridership on the system and/or to address project impacts. The City is committed to making a financial contribution above the amount provided by Sound Transit to expand the pool of funds available, and encourages Sound Transit to seek contributions from other entities, including King County, the State of Washington, the federal government, and the private sector. The City will work in cooperation with Sound Transit and the southeast Seattle community to develop a process to decide how funding decisions will be made.

E. Segment E (Tukwila)

The City of Seattle takes no official position on the light rail route and station locations in segment E through Tukwila. The City supports deferring until a future phase the park-and-ride lot component of the Boeing Access Road station, which was to be funded by revenues from the Seattle-North King subarea. Sound Transit should provide adequate infrastructure to allow bicycle crossing of I-5 via Boeing Access Road in the future.

F. Segment F (SeaTac)

The City of Seattle supports a light rail alignment that provides direct access to a station within Sea-Tac Airport at the Port of Seattle's proposed new North End Airport Terminal (NEAT). Except for direct airport access, the City of Seattle takes no official position on the light rail route and station locations in segment F through SeaTac.

G. Maintenance Base

The City supports a light rail maintenance base for the Phase I system at site M1-D (Rainier Brewery / Roadway Express), which extends from 7th Avenue S. to S. Airport Way, and from S. Forest Street to south of S. Hinds Street. This site has been identified based on input from the industrial businesses in the north Duwamish area, as well as on technical information developed during 1999. The City commits to work with Sound Transit and industrial businesses in the north Duwamish area to address relocation of existing businesses, freight mobility, and industrial access issues related to the light rail alignment and maintenance base.

II. As provided in the Sound Move plan, for each light rail station, Sound Transit's Link light rail project must include, as integral parts of the project, station access improvements within a minimum of one-half mile around each station for all modes of travel, including bicycles, pedestrians, kiss-and-ride, transit, and taxis, as well as community connection improvements that would knit the light rail line into the surrounding neighborhoods. The light rail system should recognize bicycles as a viable mode of transportation, and adequate bicycle storage should be provided at stations, along with room to expand bicycle storage space in the future as needed.

III. The City strongly encourages Sound Transit, in cooperation with the City, other jurisdictions, and the community, to undertake the following important tasks as work on Link light rail moves forward. Many details about station location, station entrances, alignment design, station design, etc. are being developed now, and the City will continue to make recommendations on these and other issues. Sound Transit should aggressively engage the City and its citizens so they can review and provide meaningful and timely input to light rail station design.

Sound Transit should involve local jurisdictions, community groups, and citizens to define appropriate mitigation measures. While it may be appropriate for some of these mitigation measures to be finalized at the time of land use and construction permit review and processing, others should be finalized at an earlier date. These should be finalized at the time of the FTA's Record of Decision based on information provided in the Final EIS as well as information provided by local jurisdictions and others. At a minimum, by the time of the Record of Decision, Sound Transit and local jurisdictions should have mutually agreed, in writing, on a process outlining the timing and methods whereby these mitigation measures will be finalized.

The following are some areas that are of special interest to the City:

A. Identify and evaluate ways to minimize and mitigate the impacts of light rail construction on businesses, particularly fragile businesses. In particular, Sound Transit should address concerns about customer and delivery access to businesses affected by the light rail route.

B. Provide early, proactive relocation assistance to property owners and tenants affected by the light rail line, perhaps by designating a multi-lingual ombudsperson(s) to begin work right away providing information and assistance. Maximize benefits such as providing opportunities for tenants to become building owners. The goal should be to give owners and tenants the maximum practical amount of time to review their options, seek new housing or business locations within the same neighborhood if desired, etc.

C. Sound Transit should be proactive and creative in its approach to property and right-of-way acquisition to support partnerships and to be an active participant in efforts to identify, pursue, design, and implement transit-oriented development around light rail stations. Station area development should build on the recommendations generated by neighborhood plans and further developed during the station area planning process. The City commits to work with Sound Transit to pursue transit-oriented development opportunities near light rail stations.

D. Continue to participate in the design review process established jointly by Sound Transit and the City whereby Link light rail alignment, stations, and other project elements are reviewed regularly by the Seattle Light Rail Review Panel (LRRP) with the goal of ensuring quality design. This review process supplants the review that would otherwise take place separately by the Arts, Design, and Planning Commissions, and offers a more streamlined and coordinated review effort from initial design through construction.

E. Provide opportunities for each affected neighborhood to have direct, frequent input on the design of Link light rail stations and other project elements in order to ensure community-sensitive design solutions. This input may take the form of community advisory committees, public meetings and workshops, or other mechanisms determined by the City and Sound Transit to be appropriate, and shall be coordinated with the ongoing efforts of the Light Rail Review Panel.

F. Sound Transit should provide public restrooms at light rail station areas. In particular, Sound Transit should focus on stations where operator restrooms are already planned, and stations where restrooms can be located in active places such as near concessions. Sound Transit should condition joint use development agreements on the provision of public restrooms to be built and maintained by the developer. The City commits to work in partnership with Sound Transit and other public and private entities to provide public restrooms.

G. Identify impacts on, and the access concerns of, industrial businesses, and evaluate ways to address these concerns and maintain industrial access and freight mobility.

H. Develop plans for community connections and for bus feeder service to light rail stations to knit the light rail line into the surrounding neighborhoods and to achieve desired light rail ridership levels.

I. Identify and evaluate parking management strategies to avoid "hide and ride" traffic and parking impacts around stations from light rail riders in neighborhoods.

IV. Support the use of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) to further the City's commitment to develop a skilled and diverse workforce to meet the needs of our regional economy and enable all communities to compete for and obtain family-wage jobs. The goals of the PLA shall be to:

A. Ensure that all people, including southeast Seattle residents, low-income people, workers of color, and women, benefit from the construction and operations job opportunities created by Sound Transit.

B. Increase apprenticeship opportunities.

C. Establish partnerships with the community to ensure community involvement in outreach, and oversight of hiring agreements.

D. Expand pre-apprenticeship training and other support needed to remove barriers to access to apprenticeship programs.

E. Increase access to permanent jobs for local residents.

V. In all light rail decisions, Sound Transit should carefully consider the importance of future connections, both to future phases of Link light rail, and to other transit investments in the region. Sound Transit should seek to hold a public vote on future extensions of, and improvements to, the light rail system as soon as is feasible so that planning, design, and construction of such subsequent phases, including deferred stations identified above, can get underway as soon as possible.

VI. Funding:

A. The City of Seattle recognizes the importance of Sound Transit's principle of subarea equity, and commits to adhering to this principle in Phase I. The City also encourages inter-jurisdictional cooperation to maximize the funds available to reach Northgate or beyond in Phase I.

B. The City further recognizes that federal funding is critical to the success of Phase I of Link light rail, and commits to working cooperatively with Sound Transit to secure maximum federal funding for this project.

C. The City supports reducing the subarea debt service coverage ratio requirement in Sound Transit's financial policies while retaining the required ratio for the agency as a whole.

D. To help bring this project in within its budget, and to acknowledge the benefits that the City and its citizens will realize from this light rail system, the City is willing to contribute assistance and revenues in the form of negotiated utility services, a rebate of the City's portion of the sales tax on construction, and an amount from the City's General Fund beginning in 2001. The success of this effort, the City believes, depends on King County's willingness to make a similar contribution to the project.

E. In addition, the City of Seattle strongly believes that the State of Washington must become a significant financial partner in the Link light rail system, in particular to help fund the Phase I extension from the University District to Northgate. Just as the State is responsible for funding improvements in the existing freeway corridors in the central Puget Sound region, it is imperative that the State contribute revenues to this important light rail investment in our region. State assistance might include a mechanism to credit the sales tax on construction back to Sound Transit so that all of the local Sound Transit taxes are applied to this important investment in our region.

F. Sound Transit should develop a clear strategic plan, along with a credible financing plan, for the coming months that includes issuance of a Record of Decision by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), completion of preliminary engineering, successful negotiation of a Full Funding Grant Agreement with FTA, and success in the FY 2001 Congressional appropriation cycle.

G. Finally, the City commits to continue working with Sound Transit to identify potential cost savings and will work cooperatively to minimize costs.

VII. The City has a strong ongoing interest in the development of Link light rail, and commits to continuing its successful working relationship with Sound Transit to address a variety of issues, concerns, and decisions that need to be made.

ADOPTED by the City Council the _______ day of ________________ , 1999, and signed by me in authentication of its adoption this _______ day of ________________ , 1999. ____________________________________ President .................. of the City Council

Filed by me this _______ day of ________________ , 1999. ____________________________________ City Clerk

THE MAYOR CONCURRING: ___________________________ Paul Schell, Mayor

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