In 1999, Puget Sound regional transportation authority Sound Transit was finalizing the route of a light rail line set to connect SeaTac airport with Seattle's University District. The proposed route ran through the Rainier Valley, where some residents and businesses concerned about the possible negative effects of street-level light rail formed the "Save Our Valley" group to lobby for a 4.6 mile tunnel through the neighborhood instead. They filed a civil-rights complaint with two federal agencies alleging that surface rail would have a disproportionately higher impact on the minority and low-income communities. Despite this local opposition, on November 18, 1999, the Sound Transit Board voted for the street-level light rail option through the Rainier Valley.

This poster, from the "Save Our Valley" group, advocates for the construction of the light rail tunnel.

Caption Information source: "Showdown in Rainier Valley -- Despite One Group's Signs, Some Others Favor Street-Level Rail," The Seattle Times, October 4, 1999.
Caption Information source: "The Wayback Machine: Neighborhood Planning and the Beacon Hill Station," by Roger Valdez, Seattle for Growth, November 8, 2017. Accessed at http://www.seattleforgrowth.org/way-back-machine-beacon-hill