At the recent Kirkland Council meeting Mayor McBride issued the following statement: Speaking of the TOD and its associated high density affordable housing in Kirkland, “It was a great thing.”

Yes it would be a great thing if the council developed the infrastructure to support the additional traffic; however, they have not and do not plan to. Traffic jams will get worse.

Without infrastructure, the city will be hard pressed to accommodate the added traffic generated from busses loading and unloading 40 to 60 passengers every 15 minutes during peak hour(s). Those people get into their cars and drive through Kirkland to get to and from the TOD to go to work or go home, cars that will park on residential streets when the parking lot is full. They do it now.

The 520 bridge tolls and bus fares have been manipulated to encourage mass transit but only add to the congestion problem in Kirkland.

So as you are sitting in your car going nowhere, it will be a good time to remember the mayor’s comment that she thought the TOD and the congestion that comes with it is a “great thing.”  You might ask the mayor and the council, how does this improve my quality of life?

Bob Style, Kirkland