Metro invites us to comment on the SW Corridor route through our neighborhoods. The following are my personal views on the two routes the MAX Trains could go through our neighborhoods
from just east of Terwilliger to the Barbur/Capitol Hwy/I-5 intersection further South and West.
I think staff is biased toward the Barbur Alignment. For example, the text notes that the travel time might be slowed due to traffic on Barbur, while the summary matrix shows no difference. With this obvious bias, the whole report is not creditable! At some point in the recent past staff showed that slower trails decreased the number of people willing to ride the train.
Staff shows possible traffic impacts along Barbur. I suspect they will be significant as they are along Interstate Avenue Yellow Line. If the train is placed on Barbur I suspect the impact on the adjacent neighborhoods will be significant as slowed Barbur traffic seeks alternative routes. This will have a significant effect on our adjacent neighborhood livability. Staff makes no mention of this fact.
No consideration of noise effect on the adjacent neighborhoods is provided. I believe the noise of the train will be less when it it further down the I-5 gully than when running along Barbur.
As I understand the placement of stations, they will be placed almost at the same locations, maybe a couple hundred feet further toward I-5 if the I-5 route is selected.
In addition, no information is provided about cross sections of the street with the train and current conditions. How is it that wider sidewalks would be provided with the Barbur alignment and not with the I-5 alignment? We are not told the assumptions used in coming to these conclusions.
They have not provided any estimate of the cost of disruption of businesses and the neighborhoods during constructions for the two alternatives. That will be a major issue for many small businesses.
Don Baack
Here is the link to look at the summary and express your personal views on the website.
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