Deal would swap airport for trails

The executives of King County and the Port of Seattle are pushing a plan to convert a 47-mile stretch of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail corridor from Snohomish to Renton into a multiuse trail.

At the center of the proposal, King County would gain title to the 47 miles of Eastside rail corridor, and the port would take over ownership and operation of King County International Airport, known as Boeing Field.

King County Executive Ron Sims and Port of Seattle Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore announced the talks Wednesday, saying they could support billions of dollars of economic benefits in the region and provide unique recreational opportunities. Local cyclists would particularly benefit from the deal, which could vastly expand the network of trails throughout the region.

Sims and Dinsmore surprised quite a few of the stakeholders when they announced the discussions.

"The King County Council is going to need a lot more detail on this proposal before we are in a position to relinquish an incredible economic asset that King County has had for years," King County Council Chairman Larry Phillips said, later adding: "We would be trading a line of business for a trail, so how does that pencil out?"

At this point, that is unknown.

Sims and Dinsmore both called the deal "a concept" rather than a firm agreement. In fact, when asked about the cost, a pause ensued.

"A lot," Sims said. "Wow, I don't think we've ever ... I don't even know how to start counting. Hundreds of millions of dollars."

Under the proposal, which the proponents say is a long way from completion, the port would acquire the right of way from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., and then transfer ownership and development funds to the county for a recreational trail. In exchange, the port would get Boeing Field.

The idea of converting the 47-mile rail corridor into a public-use area has been in discussion since early 2004, when the Puget Sound Regional Council and the Transportation Policy Board studied the issue. Sims trumpeted his plans to buy the railway to convert it into a trail in May 2005, garnering a large amount of public support from the bicycling community.

"The importance of this as a public asset is staggering: break up a right of way like this, and we'll never get it back," David Hiller, the Cascade Bicycle Club's advocacy director, said Wednesday. "So many commuters will get connected on this route," which links in with at least four other major bike trails.

Sims said that while the county would typically levy the taxpayers to pay for the acquisition of the trail, this time the port would put up the funds -- and in exchange receive the county's management headache, Boeing Field.

The general aviation airport sees around 300,000 take-offs and landings per year, but its expenses have outstripped revenue for several years -- and that trend continues into its 2007 forecast. That hasn't been a problem so far -- it has a reserve fund, built from surpluses in the past, which must be invested in the facility.

But it was the question of what happens next, said Sims, that caused him to contemplate trading it to the port, which he said would be able to operate it more efficiently.

How the port would be able to increase revenue without ticking off activist neighbors is unresolved.

Dinsmore said the port had no current plans to add other uses -- say, commercial passenger airline flights -- to Boeing Field. But, he said, once Sea-Tac Airport reaches its full capacity of 55 million passengers, there are no guarantees. In 2005, 29.3 million passengers passed through Sea-Tac, which is undergoing a more than $4 billion expansion.

Dinsmore said the port will meet with residents and users of Boeing Field to talk about long-term planning for the airport.

Acquiring Boeing Field would allow the port to prevent further mutinies like it had last summer, when Southwest threatened to leave. "We were predatory," Sims said. "We saw a nice little airline over at Sea-Tac and said, hey, we could get you a better deal."

The deal in discussion now is extremely precarious.

All of its elements must come together for it to work, Dinsmore said. "The failure of any one part could sink the whole thing," he said.

Those moving parts include a $25 million contribution from Gov. Chris Gregoire (proposed in her 2007 budget, but not yet approved by the Legislature) to expand Stampede Pass to allow freight trains stacked two containers high to pass through it. That project is estimated to cost between $70 million and $120 million, and freight advocates say eliminating that bottleneck is essential for the port to handle growth in trade.

Cooperation between the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma on a shared intermodal rail yard is also needed -- a rare moment when the ports would work together, rather than compete.

None of that is assured. The Port of Tacoma did not return calls for comment.

Finally, the county would have to give the port the Fisher Flour Mills site on Harbor Island in Seattle, which the county bought for $8.6 million to turn into a garbage dump. Council Chairman Phillips said the Cedar Hills landfill now in use would fill up by 2015, by which time the county's population is expected to double.

"This proposal from Sims is out of the blue," Phillips said. "The executive was adamant a few years ago that we had to acquire it."

Critics of the deal to reconfigure the 100-foot-wide corridor said that should some disruption occur on Seattle's other main rail line -- or should it reach capacity in the future -- it would be difficult and expensive to reconvert the trail to rail use once the tracks had been removed.

"Given the cost of steel these days, I would be stunned if BNSF didn't take out the tracks," Sims said.

There could be another reason. BNSF, which said it wanted to sell the corridor in 2003, could be trying to keep other operators from stealing its business along the line, which include clients such as Boeing and Weyerhaeuser.

Vehement debates arose over whether the 100-foot-wide corridor should be pedestrian and bike only, or whether other uses -- such as the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, whose current lease runs until July 2007 -- would also be able to operate on the line.

Spirit of Washington owner Eric Temple said he would move the dinner train north or south along other stretches of rail, should the deal go through.

But a spokesman for Burlington Northern would say little about Wednesday's announcement.

"We are working with the port, state and King County on a number of initiatives that would improve rail capacity," said spokesman Gus Melonas. "There is no agreement that has been reached at this point."

Sims said no decisions about the final use of the corridor will be made without completing the thorough public process begun about a year ago by the Puget Sound Regional Council.

"I think it is a very sad day for the future of transportation in King County and a sad day for the taxpayers of King County because we are going to lose that line -- trying to rebuild that at some future date would cost billions," Commissioner Alec Fisken said. "In 10 years, we will desperately want that rail line, and it will cost us."

The Boeing Co., one of the major users of the corridor, said that it was pleased with the progress of its talks with Burlington Northern so far. Boeing does not yet have a position on the potential land swap.

Production of Boeing's best-selling airplane, the 737, is dependent upon the efficient movement of fuselages through that corridor.

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THE DEAL

KING COUNTY: Would get 47 miles of Eastside rail corridor to transform into a multiuse trail stretching from Snohomish to Renton. Local cyclists could particularly benefit from the addition of so many miles of trail to existing networks.

PORT OF SEATTLE: Would own and operate King County International Airport (Boeing Field). Port officials say they have no immediate plans to change operations, but the facility would be a logical place to expand operations from Sea-Tac Airport.

WHAT'S THE COST?

No specific value has been attached to the transaction yet. King County Executive Ron Sims said it would be "hundreds of millions of dollars." Theoretically, the cost to taxpayers could be zero.�Under this scenario, the port would put up the funds for the trail�-- and in exchange receive Boeing Field.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Sims said no final decisions will be made without completing a public process begun about a year ago by the Puget Sound Regional Council. Any final agreement would have to be OK'd by the County Council and the Seattle Port Commission.

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