Nickels pushes Sound Transit for '08 vote

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is urging Sound Transit to go back to the ballot in 2008, to take advantage of a larger and younger group of voters.

His comments come after the failure this week of Proposition 1, which would have funded light-rail lines and road lanes. Voting patterns aren't yet fully understood, but this was an off-year election, when a low turnout traditionally favors older, anti-tax voters.

"In this case, the projects will take five, 10, 15 years to build, and young people understand that having a project in five, 10, 15 years still has a benefit," he said at a transit-board meeting Thursday. In actuality, the light-rail lines promised by Proposition 1 — to reach Tacoma, north Lynnwood and Overlake near Microsoft — were to be finished in 2027. Partial segments to reach Northgate, downtown Bellevue, and Kent-Des Moines Road could open in 11 to 13 years, Sound Transit estimates.

At some point, Sound Transit intends to propose another ballot measure.

Joni Earl, the agency's chief executive officer, said her staff has enough information on cost estimates and ridership to prepare by next year. But Chairman John Ladenburg, also the Pierce County Executive, suspects that the state would block a re-vote until at least 2009. This week, Gov. Christine Gregoire and legislative leaders said they want to focus intensely on funding a Highway 520 replacement bridge.

Nickels recalled that Sound Transit lost its first attempt to pass a regional package in 1995, revised its plan, then won in the 1996 presidential year. (President Clinton, the Democratic incumbent, defeated Republican challenger Sen. Bob Dole.)

Nickels hasn't decided whether to back another combined roads-and-transit plan, or transit only. This year's measure would have spent $38 billion through 2027 to add 50 miles of light rail, 186 miles of road lanes, and other projects in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.

Meanwhile, an exit poll indicates that at least 6 percent of voters opposed Proposition 1 because of concerns about global warming. They are a new bloc of "pro-transit defectors," said pollster Thomas Riehle of Washington, D.C.-based RT Strategies, which surveyed 5,000 voters for the Sierra Club. If they voted yes, the contest would be a dead heat.

The Sierra Club, which opposed the plan, promised to help craft a transit-heavy alternative. However, among those who voted against the plan, the poll found higher taxes played a bigger role than environmental issues.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com