Lynnwood City Council adopts resolution favoring ‘C3 Modified’ as Lynnwood Link Extension option
By David Pan/Lynnwood Today editor
The Lynnwood City Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution recommending C3 Modified as the preferred alignment and station location for the Sound Transit Lynnwood Link Light Rail Extension during Monday’s business meeting.
The resolution stated, in part, that the city-developed C3 Modified option “minimizes impacts to Lynnwood residents, businesses, development potential, parks and environment, while still offering the transportation benefits of Light Rail Transit service and the implementation of economic development planning policies.”
City Councilmember Mark Smith noted that options C1 and C2 do the most harm to the city’s residents, businesses and parks.
“The City has looked at this extensively, taken a tour of the different sites, looked at the different alternatives,” Smith said. “There are conflicting and competing needs for the location of this light rail station and none of these (alternatives) service all the needs.”
In objecting to the proposed C1 alignment, the resolution noted that alignment would require the removed of a condominium development and numerous businesses along 200th Street. The resolution also noted that the C1 alignment is routed through Scriber Creek Park. The proposed C2 alignment has impacts similar to C1 to homes along 52nd Avenue and businesses along Cedar Valley Road, the resolution stated.
The resolution added that the proposed C3 alignment would result in significant property damage and loss of development potential on the City Center block located east of 44th and adjacent to I-5 and also would result in a station location remote from the bus transit center, existing residential development, public streets and the City Center. The C3 alignment also would require reconstruction of the existing bus loading areas at great expense, would impact the City’s ability to maintain and expand Sanitary Sewer Lift Station 10 and fails to address flooding and odor issues in the immediate area.
In addressing the issue of the walking distance between the current bus station and the proposed C3 Modified Light Rail Station, Smith noted that this will be a commuter rail system.
“They’re going to walk those two or three minutes,” Smith said of commuters. “I don’t see, and my colleagues concur, the distance from the current bus station to C3 Modified as a huge obstacle to significant use of the rail system.”
To see a PDF of the four proposed routes go here.