On Sunday the Seattle Times ran an article about how Kemper Freeman, with a group of 8 others, is suing to stop the light-rail expansion to the Eastside. Freeman is trying to stop the $17.9 billion light-rail project that was passed by Puget Sound voters 18 months ago that would service the Eastside, as well as Lynwood and Federal Way.
His reasoning for suing is because, as he sees it, converting the center lanes of the bridge for rail violates the state constitution because a portion of the project was paid for with gas-tax money. Freeman has been outspoken on transportation options for the Eastside. He believes that there are less expensive alternatives that can affect more people, such as expanding the freeways, encouraging bus-rapid-transit, and making bus services free.
In the article Kemper states, “It is black-and-white illegal to do what they’re doing.”
The case will be heard by the Supreme Court this fall, and if successful, would halt both the I-90 and 520 light-rail routes from being built.
You can read the whole article over at Seattletimes.com, which goes into more detail about the issue at hand. We want to hear your thoughts, sound off in the comments section.
