SR 522 planned construction draws concerns, lawsuit threat from Lake Forest Park residents
Sound Transit's project page says construction will begin in 2025 for 'Stride 3″ a bus rapid transit project that will add BRT along SR 522, as well as 145th in Shoreline, to connect Bothell, Kenmore and other communities to I-5 and the Link 1 light rail line. The total project runs around 8 miles from I-405 to I-5.
The group, under the acronym 'CORE' says they're concerned about a 12-block stretch from 153rd to 165th where there is no dedicated bus line for north/eastbound riders. They fear adding one is unnecessary, questioning the benefits for the cost of the project.
'We've mentioned this multiple times to them, and that is there is no need to build this roadway to build a dedicated lane, [It's] the most difficult terrain on all of Stride 3 and produces very little benefit to the bus rider,' said Jeff Snedden, a Lake Forest Park resident opposed to the construction.
During a press conference Saturday, Snedden says he supports transit options for the community, but questions the benefit. He believes the 2.6 minutes Sound Transit says is saved for bus riders through the 3,300-foot stretch of SR 522 is exaggerated, based on traffic data he and the group have sifted through. The group claims that there is a disproportionate share of the cost and property acquisition for all of Stride 3 that occurs in the 12-block stretch, though KIRO 7 was not immediately able to verify those claims.
'It's difficult with sound transit because almost every project they touch is delayed,' Snedden said, 'It's so difficult from a terrain perspective and it costs so much.
Then there are other projects that have the potential to start at the same time that the group worries could create SR 522 and 145th to become impassable. On the east end, a culvert replacement at 61st Ave Northeast to the west side where a new roundabout will be constructed at I-5 and 145th. The chief concern comes from the Revive I-5 project, a series of improvement projects along the Interstate stretching as far south as Renton, with the bulk of the projects between Boeing Field north to Shoreline.
Snedden points to a Seattle Times article that said 84,000 drivers will seek alternate routes from the I-5 to avoid the lane closures. While not all of those drivers will end up on SR 522—because the scope of the I-5 project is far outside just that corridor—he worries to combination of BRT construction and more volume will create a 'traffic Armageddon.'
'We began to worry about the impact on this road which is a major state thoroughfare,' Snedden said.
Snedden and his group have the backing of a law firm, claiming Sound Transit did not study the 'cumulative impact' of the construction projects occurring all at once. That is the basis of the threatened lawsuit.
Complicating the matter is the Revive I-5 timeline, which was originally slated to begin this year but has been pushed to 2026.
'We have been engaged in ongoing conversations with communities along all three Stride routes, including Lake Forest Park, since the program was approved by voters as part of ST3 in 2016,' said John Gallagher, a spokesperson for Sound Transit.
'We have not yet broken ground on the project. Since the timing of Revive I-5 is at present unclear, its impact on Stride 3 is speculation,' Gallagher continued.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2028, according to Sound Transit's project page. Snedden says, if their suit prevails, Sound Transit would likely have to redo it's environmental review, essentially relenting the project back to square one. KIRO 7 asked if that would be an unnecessary waste of taxpayer money.
'We don't want to have a lawsuit, we don't want to settle this in court, we think there is an elegant solution,' Snedden said. 'We believe that not doing anything here is the kind of mitigation we need.'
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