(rshsdepot) Olympia, WA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The News Tribune.
 
Original story and photos at:
_http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/bus/2008/03/10/washington_s_worst_train_stati
on_ 
(http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/bus/2008/03/10/washington_s_worst_train_station) 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Washington’s Worst Train Station
 
Posted by Andrew Austin @ 11:45:33 pm 
 
When I think of a train station, I think of grand domed buildings at the  
heart of America’s cities. When rail ruled the world, train stations were the  
hub of business, density, and urban activity. As America begins to realize the  
high costs of the car, rail ridership is growing across the country as in our  
own back yard. Ideally, with the resurgence of rail, our rail stations would  
serve as urban, walkable, multi-modal city hubs like they did in the past. 
 
Seattle’s historic King Street Station is in heart of downtown. On a  weekend 
evening it is packed and ia ninter-modal biking, walking, and bus  terminus. 
Tacoma's Amtrak station is no longer housed in our beautiful historic  Union 
Station. Our station is nothing special, but it is near our urban core and  
functional. It is two blocks from the Tacoma Dome station, which is one of the  
largest inter-modal hubs in the South Sound. It is a five minute walk from  
Tacoma’s Amtrak to the downtown Link and Pierce Transit buses that can take you  
to nearly every major destination in the city on. Outside of Washington’s two  
biggest cities, other Washington train stations are also located in 
pedestrian  friendly town centers. Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Everett, and even freaking 
 Centralia all have stations in the center of town.
 
That brings me to my nemesis, the “Olympia” train station. I use quotations  
because the Olympia train station is not a practicable distance from downtown 
 Olympia. It is located in the middle of gross subdivision sprawl and a few  
remaining patches of farmland. The streets near the station don’t have 
sidewalks  or bike lanes because they are exurban highways. I have taken the bus out 
there  before, but it is very difficult because there are only two routes (the 
IT 64  and the 94). They run hourly, are not coordinated with train 
schedules, and  require a 40-50 minute trip from downtown. We know that people will 
choose  transit over driving when it is convenient and efficient; two things with 
the  Olympia train station are definitely not. 
 
Last Friday on my way to Portland one of my friends graciously agreed to  
drive me out to the train station. It was about a 20 minute trip by car. We  
rolled out of downtown Olympia at dusk. Within a few minutes we were passing  
Olympia’s great historic neighborhoods. A few minutes later we hit Tumwater’s  
busy strip malls. Between Tumwater’s commercial area and the train station we  
experienced the perfect example of Growth Management gone bad. Cookie cutter,  
subdivided homes, lot after lot, all rolling by with dizzying uniformity. As 
we  rolled down the once rural highway the unincorporated subdivisions seemed 
as  though they would never end. Finally we took a couple of turns, passed one 
last  brand new super subdivision, crossed the railroad tracks, and arrived at 
the  “Olympia” train station. The whole thing blew my mind. How many poor 
land use  rulings, shortsighted transportation planning, and historic lack of 
political  leadership lead us to this car-centric train station in the middle of 
nowhere? A  public train station in the heart of the geography of nowhere.
 
I won’t just moan and gripe about this situation. I will also offer  
plausable solution. The Pierce County taxpayers should pay for modest rail  
improvements up to the county’s southern border and a DuPont Sounder station.  Thurston 
County residents should enter a partial taxing agreement with Sound  Transit, 
which would allow Sound Transit to extend the commuter rail south to  Olympia. 
This would be a huge benefit for Thurston County and the entire Puget  Sound. 
As an unintended result, Amtrak could use the brand new, downtown  Olympia, 
multi-modal Sounder station. People are not going to use rail if they  have to 
drive or bus 25-50 minutes to get there. This reality was evident while  
waiting for my train in Olympia on what should have been a busy Friday  night.



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