At the Sound Transit conference on Feb. 15, community members pushed their favorite solutions at a new transportation hub in Seattle’s Chinatown International District (CID).
Semi-retired architect and longtime community volunteer Paul Wu urged the Sound Transit Board to consider the option that would have the least impact on the new transit station — the so-called “shallow” Option 1A on Fourth Avenue — which would mean a full stretch from Main Street to Jackson. The 4th closed for four years, with an estimated 9 to 11 years of construction time and the loss of 210 parking spaces.
Wu said this option would have minimal impact on the historic district and would provide transportation access to the CID and stadium communities.
Another site option would cause unnecessary disruption to local businesses and residents during construction, and replace local property ownership in subsequent redevelopments, Wu said.
Born and raised in CID, Tuck Eng sits on the board of directors of the Chinatown International District Business Improvement District and also supports Fourth Avenue’s “shallow” option 1A because of its “construction activity, noise, air pollution, blockade of streets, minority property transfer and Immigrant businesses, tenants and residents are displaced.” He added, “Help us keep our 1,000+ seniors who don’t speak English, other residents and community members safe, and revitalize Chinatown by staying on Fourth Avenue, where there are no people of color Ethnic communities can influence, and there are no large numbers of immigrant businesses that can be forced out.”
Eng said the other two options on the table (the shallow and deep 5th Avenue stations) are deeply flawed — the main ones planned for years on top of a community of color filled with immigrant businesses and residents, most of whom don’t speak English The command.
