On Friday, The Seattle Times reported a possible change to the three way swap/cash deal for the airport and BNSF railroad between King County and The Port of Seattle. The deal has been in the works for quite sometime, in fact, in an earlier article I wrote this month, I talked about the BNSF dealing with only the county at this point.
A little history here...last fall King County Executive, Ron Sims, and the then Port of Seattle Commissioner, Mic Dinsmore, announced plans for the 3 way swap. The rail line, BNSF, would sell the 33 mile rail line from Renton to Woodinville to the county with the help of some cash from The Port. The County, in turn, would give Boeing Field to the Port of Seattle. The Port would also gain some waterfront land on which rail lines could be built to help The Port grow Seattle's shipping industry to compete with other west coast cities.
It sounded like a terrific deal. For those of us in The Highlands, having a walking/biking trail next to The Highlands would be a great asset to the neighborhood.
The latest wrinkle in the plan appeared last week when the new commissioner, Tay Yoshitani, mentioned in a speech that The Port was not interested in purchasing Boeing Field. There is concern that Boeing Field would take on commercial flights and compete with SeaTac Airport. According to the new commissioner, The Port may be interested in managing Boeing Field, but not purchasing it. Mr. Yoshitani still thought it was a good idea for the rail line to be sold to the county, the public. Of course, new negotiations will ensue.
What are your thoughts about this new wrinkle? Has anyone talked with the county or have any other information about the rail line. Oops, gotta go, here comes The Dinner Train on one of its last Eastside runs.
No comments:
Post a Comment