Conserving the Seattle's Eastside Rail Corridor for long term best use.
Eastside Trail Advocates' mission is to create the region's premier pedestrian and
biking trails along the Eastside BNSF corridor.
On July 9th there were over 150 people at the Port of Seattle open house at Kirkland City Hall.
The turnout impressive, and everyone's remarks and
were fabulous! The Port,
Sound Transit, the PSRC and our own city realized there are real
concerns about the corridor and the robust public process that's
been promised all along MUST be a part of the plan.
No passenger rail
and no dinner train!
I urge you to continue to preach this message
to the Port, ST and our elected officials!
While the Port waffled and
struggled with an answer to our questions about utilizing the rail south
of Woodinville prior to this public process, we did speak with Mike
Merritt (Local Government Relations Manager of the Port). Mike holds
firm that the promised public process WILL occur prior to any decision
being made on utilization (or not) of the track south of Woodinville.
It's very possible that the dinner train could run north of Woodinville
to Snohomish.
If you were unable to attend the meeting, I urge you to listen to it.
The audio can be
accessed here.
Eastside Trail Advocates is a grass-roots community organization.
We're focused on trail development as a long-term asset for all the citizens of
the Puget Sound region. We are comprised of citizens who desperately want an
overall reasoned regional transit solution. We are a group of King County
taxpayers who want any resources (financial or human) dedicated to the BNSF
corridor to be focused on long-term investment, not simply short-term "easy"
solutions.
Eastside Trail Advocates participate in advocacy activities at the city, county,
regional, and state government levels, as part of the long-term transportation
planning process for the Puget Sound region.
We foster partnerships with other advocacy and social organizations
targeting similar objectives.
We conduct educational efforts targeted at individuals and communities affected
by the BNSF corridor, including neighborhood associations along the corridor.
We lead public outreach initiatives aimed at generating broader community
participation in the ongoing evaluation of public use of the BNSF corridor.