Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

I had the pleasant experience of picking up and reading a copy of your paper today from a seat on the #2 bus on Queen Anne Avenue.

I would like to comment on the proposed monorail concept advanced by Jeffrey Boone ("Seattle Architect Proposes An Elegant Alternative to Light Rail," Seattle Press July 26 – August 8 issue). There is a tie-in to some of your readers' letters, too.

In the paraphrased words of Santayana, and Harry Truman who quoted him, those who do not know or forget history are doomed to repeat it.

I would refer you to the 1950s and Long Island, east of New York City. The Eisenhower Interstate Highway Program was in full bloom. The Long Island Expressway had recently been constructed while preserving a dividing median which accommodated the tracks of an older light railway line that carried folks east toward Montauk and back, west, to New York City. This railway was very popular for Long Islanders who, for one reason or another, could not or did not choose to drive back and forth.

However, in the dubious wisdom of one of the nation's legendary planners, Robert Moses, the light rail was ripped up, allowing two extra lanes to be added to the Expressway. Everyone was encouraged to use cars then, according to Moses. He was happy. But over time, his decision proved to be the nightmare of all the commuters. The LIX soon became know as the Long Island Parking Lot, not at all unfamiliar to I-5 and SR-520 commuters today.

Well, what has this to do with Boone's interesting plan? Monorail versus light rail versus do nothing. Obviously, just look back and learn from history.

Bernard Bossom

Racing the Monorail

To the Editor:

Yes, for the Monorail and yes, I voted for it! I propose a race between the Seattle Center and Westlake Center. Let's have Mayor Schell call a cab from the center, have Mr. McIver take the bus, Ms. Pageler walk (not run) and the rest of the city council plus Sound Transit heads can take the Monorail and let's have the race at 5 p.m. on any weekday.

Susan Martin

Monorail Could be a Regional Commuter Solution

To the Editor:

I live in Marysville and we have been paying for the Rapid Transit for many years now. It seems that the people in the north end and south end (outside of the Seattle area) are being ignored when it comes to Rapid Transit. Is this Monorail proposal going to be a hub for the surrounding counties? For the survey to be accurate (the Monorail readers poll, now running for the past month at www.seattlepress.com online), I believe the survey needs an area for some comments. Maybe enough with the surveys already because we already voted for it! Let's get on with the designing of it. If the monorail is to be built, what about an elevated system down the I-5 corridor, side of I-5?

Let's start including the people outside of the Seattle area. After all, where are the majority of the people commuting from? I would venture to guess not the downtown Seattle area. Let's stop thinking about how we can get from one shopping mall to another and let's start thinking about how we can get the cars off of the road. Less cars on the road, less frustration.

I personally vanpool from Marysville.

Dale Serjeant

An Outside Critique of LINK and the Monorail

To the Editor:

I've always said that the subway station is the principle mistake of the LINK Project. At $330 million plus per mile, for four stations, the costs and impacts are prohibitive. The line could be put on the intended 1960s route: the express lanes of I-5 to the north. Before you laugh, consider: if commuting does not decrease, it will increase, always overwhelming the highway and transit capacity. Commuting never stops growing, no matter how we attempt to accommodate its demands. Theoretically, light rail systems can be designed to first serve commuters and then decrease the need for commuting. This requires economic diversification of the suburbs, bringing revitalization to depressingly garish suburban commercial districts. Ultimately, the I-5 express lanes will not be needed for auto traffic during rush hours because the revitalization brings more workplaces closer to the suburban station areas and along transit connections to the stations. The new economic activity also builds important "off rush hour" ridership.

I suggest directing the line off the express lanes just north of the bridge and following along I-5, on the surface or elevated, with as little impact as possible. And, where impact is unavoidable, ameliorate with landscape improvements, economic development or short segments of underpass or subway.

The MLK surface route should be defended and the numerous safety improvements thoroughly discussed. With LINK, MLK will be far safer than it is today. I suggest following I-5 after MLK, possibly utilizing Interurban Avenue South to a station at Southcenter and then turning west to the airport.

Light rail is still the best choice, but the subway alignment will be a shrill, dullsville ride, serving too few people while it bankrupts the transportation pocketbook. Avoiding the subway extension will save enough to both reach Northgate and upgrade connecting transit, another necessity. Many, if not most, University District and Capitol Hill riders will depend upon transfers for completing their trips, whether they transfer from LINK at new subway stations or stations located at practical sites.

Finally, what the existing monorail system needs is modest expansion. If it were extended a mile or so, adding 1 new destination at each end, with routing that forms a continuous running circulator (loops at each end), the destination to destination index would increase from today's two possible trips to 13 possible trips. If two new destinations are added on each end, the possible trips increase to over 30--a vastly improved monorail at a modest price.

Art Lewellan

P.S.: My work in Portland is quite unusual and has resulted in the design of a unique transit connection to light rail. It's called the LOTi (Loop Oriented Transit-mall, intermodal). I believe it is possible to build a LOTi on 3rd Avenue in Seattle, eliminating up to half the buses on 3rd, yet create under-three-minute service for that corridor. Imagine "no waiting" on 3rd, with fewer buses. A LOTi would also enable high-frequency "up-hill/down-hill" transit lines, desperately needed in Seattle.

Monorail Would be a Neighborhood Nightmare

To the Editors:

My biggest fear with regard to the monorail is that someone will try to force it down one of our great neighborhood commercial streets, such as North 45th Street in Wallingford, University Way Northeast, Roosevelt Way at NE 65th Street, Eastlake Avenue East at East Lynn, Broadway, 15th Avenue East, Northwest Market Street in Ballard, Greenwood Avenue and North 85th Street, Rainier Avenue in Columbia and Hillman Cities or California Avenue in West Seattle. I don't see any of these sorts of neighborhoods supporting a monorail going through their center any more than I've seen them trying to get the Sound Transit Light Rail elevated (Roosevelt or Columbia City for example). It would be a disaster visually and perhaps for commerce as well. I think Fifth Avenue in Belltown is lagging behind the rest of Belltown in terms of development and I blame the monorail. It's not a desirable location.

Monorail supporters keep talking about cost effectiveness, speed, reliability, grade separation, fun, futuristic, view opportunities along the ride etc. But they never talk about what kind of visual impact a monorail would have on residential and commercial areas of our neighborhoods. They never talk about what it will be like on the street under the monorail. Wet, cold, dark, dirty and noisy—kind of like what 5th Avenue is now.

New technology or not, there will be substantial structural elements required to carry the system and then even more substantial elements for stations (platforms, stairs, ADA elevators, etc). There is absolutely no way all this will fit into and serve our neighborhood commercial centers without destroying them. No amount of speed and cost effectiveness will be able to mitigate the obvious negative visual impacts. And there is no possible argument that a monorail would benefit Seattle's neighborhoods economically. On the contrary, the visual impacts would probably kill them.

The monorail can't be defended in terms of neighborhood impact, so its supporters just don't talk about it. Some people may support it in abstract theory, falling for the seductive argument of cost, speed etc. now (like they did when they voted for it several years ago). But when things get more specific and elevated transit is proposed running through their "backyard" it'll definitely go down in flames. All people need to see is a few illustrations of the monster dropped into their favorite neighborhood street complete with huge concrete rails, pillars and station platforms. People will fight it and it won't happen. Sound Transit and the city's station area planners already learned this with light rail.

Like the viaduct along the waterfront, the view from the monorail may well be wonderful but the view OF the monorail can only be awful.

Mike Moedritzer

Expensive War Machines are No Cause for Celebration

To the Editor:

Earlier this year I read that two Blue Angels planes went down and pilots were killed near Atlanta. The Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) Trident Nuclear submarine pulls into town with enough explosive power to blow up the entire planet and kill everyone on it--and I'm supposed to celebrate?

What? That we can kill people better than anyone else? That we can fly planes so accurately that we can pinpoint exactly where the bombs are going to drop on villagers in places where we can't even pronounce the names. I should be waving a flag and jumping for joy that we pay our citizens to fight in a time of relative peace? I should be smiling that we spend almost $300 billion a year for a military force at a time when there's a Tent City down the street because there isn't enough money around for people to be able to afford a roof over their heads? Not to mention what being in the military does to (mostly) young men--how it strips their humanity from them and turns them into killing machines.

I am smiling, though. I know this won't go on forever. I know this is the last year that we will invite a nuclear submarine (or other warships) to this city--FOREVER! I know that we're smart enough to redirect our efforts to heal our Mother Earth that's getting sicker by the minute. That's why we were built with brains--to think and figure out creative solutions to our problems. If there were ever a time to think and act to come up with elegant solutions I believe the time is now. Simply canceling the air and hydroplane shows would do a lot for the local environment and it would go a long way in getting us thinking about disarmament—using our tax dollars for better things—spending $300 billion a year on our Mother instead of killing machines would be a good start.

So, NO! Corpus Christi (body of Christ) nuclear death-machine and Blue Angels (pinpoint accurate flying killing machines), you're not welcome here. Don't park your boat in our Sound and don't fly over our houses ever again.

Happy SeaFair.com

Albert Kaufman

Seattle Press Can’t Read Maps or Street Signs

To the Editor,

As a long-time Ballard resident and reader of the Seattle Press, I was disappointed to see evidence of three errors on page 9 of the 7/26 Ballard Bugle.

The writer describes a new six-story condominium development as being sited "Over on Northwest 57th Street, between 17th and 18th Avenues Northwest." As anyone familiar with the development can tell you, it's east of 17th Avenue, not west of it. Secondly, as any Ballardite can tell you, 18th (and 19th) Avenues don't even exist south of Northwest 65th Street! Thirdly, not only did the writer make this error, but the copy editor didn't catch it.

I pity the poor readers who took the writer at his word, and tried to reconcile these nonsensical coordinates with the map printed just above the offending sentence. (The correct location, in case you don't know, is on the South side of 57th between 15th and 17th Avenues Northwest.)

I like the new colorful look of the paper, and look forward to many more years of getting community news from it. I hope that you will strive to increase your accuracy in the future, and that having these problems brought to your attention will help in that effort.

Tim Maher

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