No Loss for Words

In the aftermath of the Oso/Darrington land slide there has been plenty of comment about possible litigation against Snohomish County because they knew the hill side was unstable and didn’t adequately protect the property owners below. (I doubt the County is liable.)

The Snohomish County Council is trying to decide if there are changes to the development code it can enact that might prevent catastrophic loss of life incidents in the future and I would only encourage them to look west as well as east as they do their analysis.

The topic of landslides is one I’ve contemplated in the past and even wrote about on my blog several years ago but for a different reason; railroad safety and reliability.

For those Snohomish County residents that work in King County and who ride the train to work from Everett Station to King Street Station, the landslides that routinely cover the tracks along the Everett-Mukilteo-Edmonds water front are a constant reminder of the instability of the bluff overlooking the railroad tracks.

What kind of public outcry would there be if the bluff collapsed on top of an Amtrak passenger train or a commuter train? How many times during the past three winters has the railroad been closed because of landslides? How many times have we seen television pieces done regarding property owners whose yards are sloughing off, down the hillside?

When I wrote about this topic I was focused on the fact that there is only one north/south rail line through the Puget Sound corridor. A significant slide would close the line for days and maybe even weeks. Without consideration for the potential loss of life, the economic impact would be severe.

I’ve never monitored the Puget Sound Regional Council since I don’t think they have Snohomish County interests at heart so if they’ve been promoting an alternative rail corridor north, I applaud them, but I doubt they have. As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone in the legislature, Snohomish County government or any of the city governments have spoken to the issue.

The thing I find annoying with all these real and quasi-governmental agencies is the fact that they believe they are the only smart people in the room and if they didn’t think of it, it couldn’t have merit.

Establishing a rail corridor through east King County, east Snohomish County through Skagit and Whatcom Counties to Canada should be on someone’s radar even if the only reason is rising sea levels. There are bits and pieces of rail lines that are being considered as walking trails that could be refitted for freight and passenger rail service.

For those bright planners from PSRC on down to the counties and cities, this is a topic worth pursuing. Since there hasn’t been any loss of life in a slide event it’s not a front burner issue but will it take a fatality or two or twenty to increase its profile and be a hot topic? What if it was your husband or wife who was killed on the train when the bluff collapsed? Is there a warning on your ticked that riding the train from Seattle to Everett could cost you your life?

It’s about time that our elected officials had a little foresight and a lot less hindsight. Let’s see who can come up with a workable plan to get passenger trains off the waterfront to prevent the loss of lives and freight trains onto a rail line that is safe and reliable year around.

There is no doubt that the cost will be high but we have Capital Facilities Plans that demonstrate how a project can be completed over time in phases with funding coming from many sources.