Need it or keep it?
>>2049487why are people allergic to building subway lines?? so far this century we've got miami airport line, second ave subway, and tren urbano lmao. is that really it? meanwhile there's been like 20 new light rail lines and I guess the wmata and bart extensions
>>2049492Digging is expensive, and a lot of big cities are too flood-prone for tunnels filled with electronics to make economic sense. Meanwhile, you just slap a couple tracks on the street and you have a new light rail.
>>2049494yet many of these light rail systems have tunneled sections; miami system is fully elevated to avoid water issues. I guess I should clarify I mean subway in the american usage meaning heavy rail metro regardless of height relative to ground level. nyc subway is iconic for it's elevateds after all. and none of this is cheap, look at the new hawaii system or the pittsburgh north shore connector. as for just slapping tracks on the street, yeah there are way too many useless new streetcars
>>2049492Why would you need a subway line in American cities which have such low density? Better build LRT and make it more extensive
>>2049500sunbelt cities are fucked by density to the point where anything built will get no ridership until there is a comprehensive network. but ny dc chicago miami could easily support multiple new subway lines, and I'd argue seattle, msp, and la would have been served better by a subway system instead of light rail
>>2049492Well we are on the ring of fire in WA, and getting ST-3 built at all has been a major challenge due to funding and legal issues. I imagine a subway would have made it even harder. Major tunnel projects around Seattle have been shitshows as well.
>>2049487It's cool. I rode it a few times while living in Federal Way years ago.I'm looking forward to riding across the floating bridge on the Link when they've finally finished that section. Pretty neat knowing it will be the first of its kind.
>>2049492heavy rail gives me the icklight rail is much more healthy, eco friendly and nice because 1) it's light 2) it reminds me of European tramssubways are ugly, loud and scary
>>2049487Well if you needed it you'd keep it, right?
>>2049492I had a look at this Seattle line and it seems almost entirely grade separated, but it has a couple sections that run in the middle of a street. I guess that's the benefit, in a tight spot you can just have it on a street like a tram which makes it slightly cheaper and easier to construct
>>2049596>heavy rail gives me the ick>light rail is much more healthy, eco friendly and nice because 1) it's light 2) it reminds me of European trams>subways are ugly, loud and scaryI know you are playing the straw man, but I still wanted to reach through my computer screen and strangle you. Good job, I guess.
>>2049487What Link looks like right now
>>2050098What it's supposed to look like in 19 years (probably more like 25-30)
>>2050099So the most important station will be Chinatown? What's the area like? Offices?
>>2050111It's just south of downtown. That place has been a transit hub forever.The clock tower on the left side of the pic is King Street Station for Sounder and Amtrak. Left/middle is Union Station, which is unused right now. The green archways middle/right mark the Chinatown entrance down to the transit tunnel for Link.
Anyone here live in Seattle? I’m moving there next month to look for a job, bike life is getting tiresome. No experience/work history/college but I don’t drink or smoke and i’m 30 so i can still work. any tips on where to go to find some work where my noble steel steed wont get stolen by fentfiends?
>>2050116So the Link station is right next to Union Station, but they didn't name the Link station "Union Station"?
>>2050137>where my noble steel steed wont get stolen by fentfiends?Good luck. My sister took some classes at UW for a few months and they cut through her bike chain and stole her bike.>>2050138It's being discussed to use Union station for a different stop in the future. The transit tunnel was built for buses originally and then converted for light rail. When you go up stairs, one of the first things you see is the pic.
>>2049596>subways are ugly, loud and scaryPussy
>>2050080>but it has a couple sections that run in the middle of a streetWhere the poors live.
>>2050111>What's the area like? Offices?Fent dealers.
>>2050080>>2050803How many miles is the at-grade section? Should they just build a new viaduct?
>>2051006>How many miles is the at-grade section?About 4 to 5 miles along Rainier Valley (the poor neighborhood). But they put a one mile section at grade in Bellevue (light industrial zone in a wealthy town).
>>2050098The Redmond section layout turned out kinda dumb. It does a U-turn around into downtown from the other direction, which makes it hard to ever lengthen the route if they want to go further east. There's a pretty big business park in Redmond Ridge, SpaceX has an office and factory there... it would have made sense to extend the line up that way.
>>2050143For a few years they even had buses and light rail both using the transit tunnel, but now it's exclusively for light rail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX2cbp56TSY>oopsy, we need $20 billion more, paypigs
>>2049487>Need it or keep it?The people of King County (where Seattle is) originally voted against it. But the county board of supervisors then used their emergency powers to override the public vote to have it built anyways. There must have been a lot of money "under the table" at stake for the board members and sinecure jobs and "pass through dollars" for their families. The people voted against it. Lo and behold, it had billions of cost overruns and here we are now still paying for it.
