King County committee narrows condemnation authority for Metro RapidRide I Line, approves remaining property acquisitions

The Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee voted to authorize King County Metro to complete remaining property acquisitions for the RapidRide I Line, approving an amended ordinance that removed 15 of 25 properties originally included and left 10 parcels subject to acquisition up to and including condemnation. The committee approved the ordinance as amended by a 5-0 roll call vote. The project has a total capital budget of $174,000,000 and Metro says roughly $126,000,000 of that is state and federal grant funding, including a Federal Transit Administration Small Starts grant that requires timely completion.

The RapidRide I Line is a planned 17-mile north–south bus rapid transit route connecting Renton, Kent and Auburn with 82 stations and greater speed-and-reliability improvements than earlier RapidRide routes. Council staff told the committee that Metro identified acquisition needs on portions of about 110 properties along the route and, by July, had completed acquisitions on 85 of them; 25 remained when the county received the ordinance. The ordinance transmitted to the committee would have allowed Metro to acquire…