Lawsuit seeks halt to light rail

Amid growing cost and accountability concerns that are casting a shadow over Sound Transit's $1.9 billion light-rail project, a small but influential group of critics yesterday filed a federal lawsuit in a last-hour attempt to halt the project.

The group's action comes in the wake of calls for an independent audit of the 23-mile light-rail project linking SeaTac with the University District in Seattle, and amid reports of possible cost overruns associated with a 4.5-mile rail tunnel under Capitol Hill and Portage Bay.

Citizens for Mobility, led by former King TV executive Emory Bundy and Seattle investor Don Padelford, is suing Sound Transit and the U.S. Department of Transportation on the grounds that analyses of the project's impacts are inadequate -- a charge that Sound Transit denies.

Bundy said the group put off filing the suit for months but acted because "our hour is late and the train is leaving the station."

The agency is poised to sign a $500 million agreement with the federal government that would help pay for seven miles of the rail between Lander Street and Northeast 45th Street and that would obligate the region's taxpayers to complete the project.

Citing federal environmental laws, the suit contends that Sound Transit has not adequately addressed:

Safety risks associated with an at-grade rail route through Rainier Valley.

The project's impact on congestion and air quality in downtown Seattle and the University District.

Alternatives to light rail.

The costs and the area's ability to pay.

The agency's competency to complete the project.

Bob White, Sound Transit's executive director, categorically denied the allegations. He said the suit represents a broad net cast by a group that has always been at odds with the light-rail project.

The agency has been forthcoming with all information required by environmental laws, White said.

But Citizens for Mobility doesn't agree with the environmental impact conclusions that the Sound Transit Board and the voters came up with, he said.

"It's easy to file a lawsuit, but that doesn't mean they have a case," White said.

Bundy said the group decided to sue because Sound Transit largely ignored its concerns and requests for information.

Attorney John Alkire took the case. Although he works for the Perkins Coie law firm, which is one of 52 law firms that Sound Transit has a contract with, Alkire agreed

to represent Citizens for Mobility as an independent attorney to avoid a conflict of interest.

White said Sound Transit has analyzed safety in Rainier Valley and found that Martin Luther King Way South -- the proposed light-rail route -- would actually be safer with light rail than it is now. In the end, the project will mean more traffic signals and more signaled pedestrian crossings, White said.

Sound Transit's review of possible light-rail impacts was deemed acceptable by the Federal Transit Administration. Bundy's group named the FTA in its suit.

Sound Transit initially flatly refused the request for an audit. But two weeks ago, it decided to appoint an outside review panel in an attempt to restore public trust.

P-I reporter Chris McGann can be reached at 206-448-8169 or chrismcgann@seattle-pi.com