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Peter Callaghan is a local columnist. He’s covered the
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That's what Tacoma City Councilwoman Julie Anderson told the City Council during Tuesday's study session.
Anderson, a Sound Transit board member, said the transit agency still is working on an initial plan for what a new regional transportation system might look like. It had hoped to finish by this week, but has postponed its target date from Thursday to April 24.
No decision has been made whether to put something to voters this year, in 2010 or later, Anderson added.
Anderson also referenced a "tug-of-war" between proponents of a north-south rail connector and local streetcar backers. She said it doesn't need to be an either-or proposition.
Sound Transit may be able to buy right-of-way and begin preliminary engineering work for a light rail connection between Sea-Tac and Tacoma, and also extend the Tacoma Link light rail, she said.
Anderson said it's not Sound Transit's job to build local streetcar systems. But it could create a springboard for the City of Tacoma and Pierce Transit.
One thing officials learned from exit polls is that voters said the roads and transit package was too big and would have taken too long to deliver service, Anderson said.
As a result, Sound Transit officials now are looking at what could be done in 12 years instead of 20, and for a 0.4 cent sales tax increase versus a 0.5 cent increase.
No matter what Sound Transit settles on as its new plan, it won't include a central Link to Sea Tac. The cost has gone up too much since the failure of last fall's roads and transit proposition. "It's going to be a while until people see cranes in the air," Anderson said.
So, are these encouraging words to the folks at Tacoma Streetcar? Or is it disheartening?
