Swapping Boeing Field for Eastside rail line faces rough road

King County Executive Ron Sims has a tough job ahead as he tries to persuade skeptical County Council members to trade county-owned Boeing Field for a 40-mile Eastside rail line.

So far, only one council member, Julia Patterson, D-SeaTac, enthusiastically supports the three-way deal in which the Port of Seattle would pay BNSF Railway $103 million for an underused Renton-to-Snohomish freight-rail line, then trade it for King County International Airport (Boeing Field's formal name), and give the county $66 million to build a biking and walking trail.

Republicans and Democrats generally support the idea of the county turning the southern part of the rail line into a trail, a rail-transit route or both.

But some of Sims' political allies, fellow Seattle Democrats, fear that putting the airport into the hands of the Port would eventually bring noisy commercial airline operations into the city.

Most Metropolitan King County Council members say they haven't made up their minds on the deal, which Sims hopes to put in final form by June. But some say they won't support trading away the county airport without assurances that the Port won't bring more large jets over their constituents' neighborhoods.

"The real deep concern, the real fundamental concern, is that Port ownership at Boeing Field would mean that the effort to site a new regional airport elsewhere once Sea-Tac [airport] is full, would be short-circuited," said Dow Constantine, whose council district includes Boeing Field and West Seattle. "It would give the Port the ability to expand its operations into Boeing Field rather than having the region take on the difficult task of siting a new airport elsewhere."

If a vote were held today on the land swap, Constantine said, he would vote no. "I don't say that lightly. My constituents need more than mere promises and wishful thinking. They need real, concrete, legally enforceable assurances that I don't think will be forthcoming."

Sims will obtain some kind of written assurances for the airport's neighbors, but it isn't clear whether those assurances will be "ironclad," as Constantine wants, said Sims' chief of staff, Kurt Triplett. "That has to be addressed in some way."

Reservations

The issue has echoes of Southwest Airlines' attempt two years ago to move from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Boeing Field — a move that Sims at one point championed but then scuttled in the face of intense opposition from neighbors and some County Council members.

One reason Port officials are interested in Boeing Field is to prevent Southwest or other airlines from leaving Sea-Tac. But even some officials have reservations — and Port approval is needed for a Boeing Field takeover.

Port Commission President John Creighton said he isn't enthusiastic about acquiring a second airport when the Port needs cash for other freight-mobility projects.

"In that sense, I think we need to keep our powder dry. Boeing Field is nice to have, but with these other necessities, I don't know if it's a prudent project to go forward with."

Commissioner Pat Davis said it makes sense for the Port to run both airports but the key question will be the cost "and whether that is worth it to, mainly, the Port. We have to consider why would we want to take over another airport."

Creighton and Davis said Boeing Field is too close to Sea-Tac to function as a second regional airport because their flight paths are too close to each other's.

Under the tentative land swap outlined in February, the county agreed to sell a Harbor Island property it owns to the Port, while the Port and BNSF would develop a regional truck-to-train freight yard at a yet-undecided location.

Fine print

County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, R-Redmond, said she will vote against the deal if Sims can't answer her concerns that the county would be trading an airport for a less valuable rail line and then tearing out track that should remain in use.

"It sounds good, but the fine print isn't good," she said.

Councilwoman Jane Hague, R-Bellevue, said her constituents on Mercer Island are worried that any corporate and private jets moving from a Port-owned Boeing Field to Renton Municipal Airport would fly over the island.

"I think executive staff have got a lot of tough questions ahead of them," Hague said.

Democratic Councilman Larry Phillips, whose Magnolia neighborhood is under the flight path of Boeing Field-bound cargo planes, is dead-set against the airport-for-trail swap. Councilman Bob Ferguson and Council Chairman Larry Gossett, both Seattle Democrats, say they want to see the details before they decide.

Sims and his staff have spent less time talking to council members in recent weeks than to key interest groups. "It's our goal to have the support of labor and business and the environmental community and the cyclists and the freight users and the Eastside cities," Triplett said. "We're definitely in our outreach phase now."

If the County Council doesn't agree to the land swap, what then?

Constantine and Ferguson want the council to consider purchasing the BNSF Corridor outright.

"While the cost is large — a little over $100 million to purchase it — I think it may be doable without giving up Boeing Field in the process," Ferguson said.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com