Transit planner defends taking lanes for Seattle trolley

Change is definitely coming to transit in South Lake Union, but in how drastic a manner is less certain.

Even though the Seattle Department of Transportation is reportedly moving ahead with a plan to take away two lanes of Westlake Avenue North to dedicate to streetcars, SDOT Transit Manager Ethan Melone told KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show that plan is far from a done deal.

Related: Seattle considers closing stretch of South Lake Union for streetcars

Melone stressed that SDOT is still at the beginning of the study phase, but Rantz believes the department is just making a veiled push for people to ditch their cars and take transit into South Lake Union – at the expense of drivers.

“Westlake right now carries a little over 22,000 cars a day and we’re now degrading the options for those drivers,” Rantz said to Melone. “You’re forcing that. I find it disingenuous to suggest that SDOT is not trying to force people onto these alternative modes. Just admit that, and I have no argument then. Because my big issue with SDOT is you’re pretending that you don’t want to force people onto these modes because you see that as the future of the city.”

Melone responded: “I think it’s just that framing of forcing people. And I think you raise a point that is absolutely fair and that is exactly why we’re doing a study and not just saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to change this.’ Which is where is traffic gonna go? How well is it gonna work?”

Melone’s comments seem to come in direct opposition to those of SDOT Director Scott Kubly in an earlier interview with KIRO’s Dori Monson Show, where Kubly seemed to suggest the dedicated transit lanes are SDOT’s priority.

“It seems like regardless of what the study was going to suggest, you guys are going to move down this path. You’re not even waiting for the study to come out before committing to this idea,” Rantz said. “This idea that it won’t help because we can’t widen roads, what we’re instead doing is not leaving the roads the way they are, you’re actually taking away roads, you’re taking away lanes from cars with the promise of less congestion.”

“Most of us will only believe that if people who are currently driving choose to then take the streetcar, bus or bike,” Rantz said. “Is the purpose behind all this to basically force our hand, to force us into alternative modes of transportation?”

“No, I don’t think so,” answered Melone. “I think, though, that we have, in government, a responsibility to give people a good option. We can’t just say ‘Hey, why don’t you take the bus?’ if our buses aren’t on time. And you know in some ways, if you peel back from the headline, this isn’t that radical.”

To make that point, Melone argued, “We have bus lanes on Second Avenue, we have bus lanes on Fourth Avenue, we have periods of the day on Third Avenue where you can use it as a car, but only if you’re going one block and turning right.”

Rantz said that those dedicated transit lanes are part of the downtown traffic problem, and soon it could be the same story in South Lake Union.