The city of Kent’s continued fascination with a grade separation with the Union Pacific’s (UP) secondary single track right-of-way at South 228th Street is puzzling.
(“City seeks state transportation funding for South 228th Street”, Dec. 20, Kent Reporter).
Lobbyist Doug Levy’s concern about a crossing gate arm “going up several hours a day” is even more puzzling, as the gate arms normally go down when a train approaches. Most importantly, the total time the gate arms are down at this crossing in a day can be measured in minutes for the limited number of trains on that track.
It would be more germane to the discussion if UP could provide the number of trains and average total time per day (say 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) the crossing gate/lights are engaged instead of making up fictitious numbers. The number of trains and time reported for 2013 will surely drop after the opening of the enlarged Panama Canal in 2015.
What would be of more assistance to a seamless connection for the limited amount of truck traffic east of the UP tracks heading to I-5 or SR 509 on South 228th Street would be a grade separated crossing of SR 181 (West Valley Road/68th Avenue South).
For readers who have not spent the last 30 years working in transportation, as I have, in the Green River Valley, and specifically along the South 228th Street corridor, it is the SR 181/West Valley Road intersection that is a constant, hours long impediment to cross valley movement. The prevailing traffic signal sequence along West Valley is for north/south traffic, not east/west, especially during morning and evening commutes.
If we can obtain signal time data from UP, let’s also obtain it from the city of Kent for the SR 181 intersection and compare the delay time.
Additionally, it is important to note that the one to three minutes waiting for a train to pass is not wasted by truck drivers. It is used to check electronic messages, make a call, adjust a mirror or maybe just grab a snack, all prohibited while driving.
Lastly, if there is funding available for corridor improvements and railroad grade separations, please direct it at the BNSF/South 212th Street crossing first.
– Don Villeneuve
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