Originally published Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Editorial
Rails as placeholders
King County Executive Ron Sims has produced a portfolio of purchase and easement agreements for the Eastside Rail Corridor with enough details and caveats to make a lawyer swoon with giddy affection.
King County Executive Ron Sims has produced a portfolio of purchase and easement agreements for the Eastside Rail Corridor with enough details and caveats to make a lawyer swoon with giddy affection.
For the plainspoken, there are also multiple, unvarnished commitments to preserve the 42-mile BNSF freight corridor for future use as a high-capacity passenger-rail line.In the spirit of safeguarding — in Sims' words — this tremendous regional asset, there are no immediate plans to remove the existing rails, even though their useful life may have expired. They represent a valuable placeholder to reinforce the passenger-rail potential.
The continued, purposeful physical presence of the rails will help guide and shape public discussions as plans proceed with a parallel and complementary hiking-and-biking trail.
In places where joint uses of the corridor might be squeezed and congested, the rails help define the cooperation needed and the accommodations to be anticipated. Questions also lurk about unknown legal complications with federal rules on rail and trail proximity. Does one trump or preclude the other?
Scrutiny of Sims' agreement with the railroad and the Port of Seattle falls to the Metropolitan King County Council, which has been receptive to the regional transportation potential the corridor represents. Council members have a complex deal in front of them.
This is a long way from the initial proposal for the county to swap Boeing Field for the rail corridor. The Port will buy and hold the corridor in the new arrangement. The desirable goal of a future conversion of the corridor for rail and trail is unchanged.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: New York trial a propaganda coup for terrrorists

Raw Video | Real Salt Lake receives the MLS Cup trophy
Real Salt Lake is handed the 2009 MLS Cup trophy at Qwest Field, November 22, 2009.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Husky Men's Basketball Blog | Saturday's Pac-10 games in review
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
134 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
129 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
123 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
122 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
90 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
89 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
83 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
64 - Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
54
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Protect yourself from baggage loss
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Northwest Living | On Whidbey, a unified home from multiple recycled parts
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'





