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Sound Transit to hold five public hearings in January on the Link light rail draft environmental impact statement and preliminary staff-recommended route

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Sound Transit - The Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority - will hold five public hearings throughout the region in Jan. 1999 to receive comments on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 24-mile central Link light rail system that will connect the cities of Seattle, Tukwila and SeaTac. The EIS is a document required by state and federal environmental laws that analyzes the economic, environmental and financial impacts of major projects in communities. 

The draft EIS was officially issued by Sound Transit on Dec. 4 with a final EIS due in Aug. 1999. To help create more opportunities for people to share their ideas and concerns, Sound Transit extended the public comment period beyond the legally required 45 days to a full two months, closing on Feb. 5, 1999. 

All public hearings will be held from 6-9 p.m.:

    Wednesday, Jan. 13 - Tukwila

    Tukwila Community Center
    12424 42nd Ave. S. 

    Thursday, Jan. 14 - SeaTac

    SeaTac City Council Chambers
    17900 International Blvd. 

    Wednesday, Jan. 20 - Redmond

    Lake Washington Public School District Boardroom
    16250 NE 74th St.

    Tuesday, Jan. 26 - Seattle

    University of Washington 
    Kane Hall, Room 110

    Thursday, Jan. 28 - Southeast Seattle

    Filipino Community Center
    5740 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.

The public hearings will also allow opportunities to comment on the preliminary staff recommendation for the route and station locations for the central Link light rail system. The staff recommendation was distilled from nearly 40 potential routes that were initially considered, many of them suggested by local communities and citizens. 

While the final route for the central Link light rail system will not be identified by the Sound Transit Board until late Feb.1999, the Board directed the staff to develop a preliminary route recommendation to help focus public discussion on the central Link light rail system. A separate analysis of routes and stations is being conducted for Tacoma's 1.6 mile Link light rail system.

For people who are unable to attend the hearings but wish to comment, written material may be mailed to James Irish, environmental project manager, central Link draft EIS, Sound Transit, 1100 Second Ave., Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98101. E-mail messages will not be accepted due to the inability to verify the actual author of the source Internet address.

Executive summaries of the draft EIS and the preliminary staff recommendation are available from Sound Transit by calling Rebecca Withington at (206) 398-5000 ; 1-800-201-4900; or TTY/TDD (206) 398-5086 . Copies of summaries and the full draft EIS document are also available for review at many area public libraries.

Sound Transit is on track to implement a three-county region-wide transit system plan known as Sound Move. Approved by voters in 1996, Sound Move will be a seamless blend of three regional transportation systems. Along with Link light rail, Sound Move includes Sounder commuter rail, running 81 miles from Everett to Tacoma/Lakewood and Regional Express, a bus transit system that will connect the major metropolitan areas of Bellevue, Everett, Tacoma and Seattle with numerous cities and communities with 17 new, fast, limited-stop bus routes and numerous improvements to transit centers, park-and-ride lots and HOV lanes throughout the region.


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Sound Transit plans, builds and operates regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for Central Puget Sound.