Light Rail the RantWoman Station Tour

RantWoman has now at least visited every station along the current Link Route. Among the high points:


The bus tunnel is old-hat. On last night's right, RantWoman and Travelling Buddy encountered a couple visiting from out of town who made one perfectly obvious observation: there is nothing at the tunnel stations to indicate where to wait for the train. The answer: basically in the middle of the platform between the two existing bus stops.


RantWoman is not even going to speculate about how a need for some indication of where to catch the train in the tunnel got overlooked. Well, RantWoman supposes that this is based on an assumption that buses will soon no longer be in the tunnel and signs can then be relocated. RantWoman actually, speaking only for herself, unencumbered by full details of whatever thinking is behind this intent, actually wishes buses and trains could co-exist in the tunnel at least until other links of the Light Rail get added to the system. Why? The tunnel channels a lot of people away from really crowded surface bus stops. When rains set in, the tunnel is dryer and more sheltered. With the trains, the tunnel is open anyway so why not use it?


But onward on our stop-by-stop tour:

Stadium station: RantWoman has not actually disembarked at Stadium Station, but she has ridden other transit in the same area and the effect is similar: lots of buses and traffic, and ways to cross the street at only one end of the station. This area is not a place one would expect a lot of pedestrians but in addition to two Metro bases and the stadiums, there are a couple businesses. RantWoman can more or less live with long walks to visit these businesses but the cumulative effect would not make RantWoman want to locate a business that depends on a lot of pedestrian traffic in this area.

Stadium proximity is a different point. RantWoman herself is thoroughly sports- challenged. RantWoman does not even feign interest in more than offbeat commentary about any sport where the ball is smaller than her head. RantWoman also is decidedly unconvinced about stadiums' priority in deciding how to allocate scarce taxpayer dollars. But RantWoman makes game efforts to stay present in conversations where some of her friends wax enthusiastic distressed or whatever the team status at the time demands about local sports teams.


More interestingly for RantWoman's fixations on pedestrian vigor and the joys and benefits of walking, RantWoman notes one story she read somewhere about people who attend professional sports events actually being comparatively healthier and more fit than the general population and this despite the sedentary nature of sports spectating and the array of calorific snacks on sale at the average stadium. RantWoman notes that merely being able to afford tickets can be an indicator of comparative affluence, also associated with better than average health status. However, professional sports events, (RantWoman has attended exactly one in her entire life, but has also observed a lot of game-goers assembled at various bus stops) are intrinsically social. More to the point, by the time one parks many blocks away or rides transit and walks several blocks between transit stop and stadium, one has certainly wracked up a good dose of one's recommended daily walks. This alone sometimes causes RantWoman to mellow out about other commentary.


Sodo:
More loud noises, trains, buses, place to cross the street at only one end of the station. RantWoman tolerates a certain amount of urban rumble. Mainly, RantWoman really likes speedy travel to many different things in Sodo though she also notes the routes to Sodo destinations are darn short of things like awnings for when the winter rains set in.



Beacon Hill:
RantWoman finally visited the Beacon Hill station the other night. She really likes the artwork and the go with the underground theme. RantWoman has the feeling that this station is one of several where a lot more out of station interest will bloom now that the Light Rail is open. RantWoman likes this part of Beacon Hill and hopes to visit often.


RantWoman did decide just to walk down the hill from the Beacon Hill station toward home. RantWoman needed the walk, but the sheer grade of her path reminded RantWoman the night of the walk and via her upper thighs for several days after that she is no mountain goat. RantWoman would like to see some more pedestrian-friendly routes evolve between Beacon Ave S and Rainier in this part of town. That is not necessarily the problem of Light Rail, but RantWoman is enjoying some fantasies.


Mount Baker: this is the station closest to where RantWoman lives. RantWoman has so much to say about this station that it gets its own rant(s)!


Columbia City:
RantWoman would really like to be able to walk away from the station reasonable on either end, especially since she likes being able easily to go to the Columbia City commercial district.


Othello:
RantWoman visited this area several times. The traffic signal timing is difficult, too short for many people to get across the whole street. RantWoman and others have commented extensively about this in person. RantWoman is unclear why the problem is so much more obvious at Othello than at other stations; perhaps RantWoman just has gone both directions, east and west, more times than at other stations.


RantWoman actually took RantMom to an Othello station public event last summer. RantWoman and RantMom needed a cheap excursion and the weather was wonderful. RantWoman really likes the diversity of the area. RantMom was a little less charmed than RantWoman partly because one food store had odors a little past RantMom's definitions of food. RantMom can enjoy diversity at other destinations; RantWoman will keep her eyes out for her own reasons.

Rainier Beach station:
RantWoman for some time inexplicably thought the Rainier Beach station was at Rainier and Henderson instead of MLK and Henderson. RantWoman had a recent Sunday night misadventure based on this misapprehension but her internal maps are reset. Now that bus routings will soon switch to nodes around the new station, RantWoman could theoretically check a little more carefully. Well, she could but the route switches do not kick in for a couple more weeks....


Tukwila International Boulevard. RantWoman has already ranted here: http://rantwoman.blogspot.com/2009/07/light-rail-tourism.html and has nothing new to add.

Stay tuned