…in 2035 LOL if that’ll even be useful for me or we even stave off mass destruction but HEY… let’s talk about this.

Light rail is coming to Ballard in 2035, so says Sound Transit. I read about it here, which you should too if you have any vested interest in Seattle, Ballard, or for that matter West Seattle! The build out, at least this initial idea, looks great. Here’s a simple little map of the plan (from the post I linked). Overall I’m super stoked for it to be done!

Which brings up another point, get registered and GO VOTE THIS UPCOMING ELECTION SEATTLE! You candidates are Cary Moon and Jenny Durkan. I’m going for Cary Moon, as she seems to have the most legit interest in this and the city. She’s also the only one of the two that wants to put forth a bond to push the scheduled start date for construction up by a gazillion decades. This would be huge, and would help and benefit us currently alive and breathing souls in a huge way.

The major points I see right off, which would add thousands and thousands of new LINK riders per day, would be South Lake Union to Westlake and Midtown. That connection alone would likely add more than most of the other connections, which will be great for overall ridership number. Throw that in with the added mobility to Alaska Junction, Ballard, and the respective commuter contingent that would happily opt for LINK over the Red Line Faux BRT routes! Anyway, I’m looking forward to it.

The other aside, as I ponder being 60 years old or some other older age when these routes are finished, is the increased bike-ability of the metro area. Right now, if I want to go anywhere outside of my current commute (Ballard to downtown Seattle) then things get treacherous really quick. Getting U-District and locations off of the Burke Gilman Trail are pretty easy, and very nice trips, but elsewhere; SODO, Alaska Junction, West Seattle anywhere, White Center, and elsewhere are a serious pain. They’re often fraught with dangerous intersections and areas where motorists are very unlikely to be paying attention or behaving and operating safely. This connections resolve and huge number of those points.

But I digress, not a lot to really say about it all until design and related efforts begin. I will be getting involved in those efforts, and hope to see more of my fellow Seattleites there. In the meantime, happy transiting.