Has anyone given any thought on how the trains are going to affect the town of Kirkland in a negative way? With these trains running through a prime residential area, home values are certain to plummet. This will be felt blocks away as the noise and whistles will be deafening. Let alone the smell from the diesel engines. With lower values means lower assessed values, which in turn will generate lower property taxes for Kirkland. Not to mention the homeowners that will be forced into letting their homes go back to their lenders, as they owe more than they can sell their homes for. This will result in deteriorating neighborhoods. Proponents of the trains have responded that these homeowners bought properties near a rail, so they shouldn’t complain about these new trains going by their properties. In fact, these homeowners that bought, remodeled and built their homes by a track that had a single train traveling once a day, the Dinner Train, were always told that it was going to turn into a trail only. There is nothing positive for Kirkland with this action and I am really surprised there hasn’t been more of an outcry.

Mary Jo Healy, Kirkland