The following is by Sumner’s Mayor Dave Enslow:
Monday night, the City Council felt they had hashed and rehashed station access improvements for Sound Transit, and they voted to approve a letter of recommendation. Their recommendation follows your response to put a garage on the existing parking site. (You chose that 2 to 1 over the next most popular site, the Washington Tractor site). While where to put the garage has been the burning question for some time, I think the real beauty of the Council’s recommendation is in its comprehensive look at traffic and traffic solutions.
Before they mention the site of the garage, the Council asks Sound Transit to improve the SR 410 interchange. We all know it’s a mess. What came out in the study is that it would be a mess with or without transit. It turns out those interchanges are outdated and overtaxed before you even factor in commuters. They may not have caused the problem, but they have to be part of the solution because a garage isn’t going to do anything of nobody can get to it.
The Council also asked for improvements around the station like lighting improvements, sidewalks and handicap curb cuts where they’re missing, and wayside horns to minimize the noise pollution from train horns. My belief is that station and its transit access brings a whole lot of positives to those of us who live in Sumner. It also brings some negatives, but with these efforts, we can perhaps mitigate some of those negatives, if not eliminate them altogether.
The final decision for all this remains with the Sound Transit Board of Directors. I am lucky enough to serve on that Board, so I’m taking the Council’s very thoughtful recommendation and will bring it to the Board to get the best possible package for Sumner. I’m very hopeful because I’m heading into these meetings armed with the wishes and desires of our Council, our citizens, our local businesses and you. Thank you for your patience in this rather extensive process. I think we’re nearing the end, and it’s looking like a pretty good end for Sumner.
