Seattle Press on Line - City Council candidates on transportation

City Council candidates on transportation

Sep 13, 2001 -- Seattle Press: How would you address the transportation issues facing Seattle?

Position 2

(incumbent, Richard Conlin)

Dakotta JK Alex: Build Conjunctions between 99-I5 (see my website, www.dakotta.org for traffic plans) , rebuild Alaskan Way viaduct, and extend monorail.

James Egan: Multidimensional solutions, involving a figure-eight monorail (or light rail, whichever is more reasonable according to costs and local popularity) around Ballard, Northgate, Dowtown, Rainier Valley and Seatac, going both directions. Also, I think it should be very easy to get a bike onto this monorail to encourage local bike commuters to use the system.
I also would propose more creative solutions, such as the passenger ferry from West Seattle. Perhaps there should additionally be one from Magnolia, Shilshole Bay or even Shoreline, if that is feasible. We are on the edge of a revolutionary transportation system and should be prepared to build our city around an energy efficient mode of travel.
With regards to the Metro bus, one of the longest features of Metro commuting is simply the waiting for the bus. One particular proposal I would like feedback on is the idea of having a Metro website in which persons can log in (or call) and arrange for their bus to ‘call them’ via a central server monitoring buses’ travel as Metro already does. The phone call would be a voicemail robot, perhaps employing the pre-recorded voices of local radio or television personalities chosen by the user. This service could be fun, practical and programmable around one’s schedule, and would allow more flexibility in travel.

Michael Preston: I would not build Link Light Rail because it is too expensive and will not provide any relief for our dilemma. I would improve bus service and examine Ride Free Express and dedicated bus lanes to attempt to get people out of their cars. I would build monorail from West Seattle to Ballard and replace the proposed Link Light Rail from the airport to Northgate with monorail. Monorail is cheaper, faster, safer and quieter than rail and can be built with less disruption to traffic and neighborhoods. I would examine Freeway Monorail.

Position 4

(incumbent, Jan Drago)

Jan Drago: We need a regional seamless multimodal transportation system, which would include monorail from West Seattle to Ballard or Northgate. No one mode of transit will fix the transportation gridlock mess. We can begin to relieve traffic congestion by designating key arterials for transit, freight and vehicle mobility, signalizing the entire arterial so traffic flows, removing parking during peak hours and providing alternatives, only allowing construction between 8pm and 5am, and placing traffic enforcement officers at key intersections.

Curt Firestone: I have worked to ensure that Seattle has a monorail. After Jan Drago voted the monorail out of existence, I stored the monorail files in my home. I was a spokesperson for I-53 which the voters passed re-electing the monorail. Monorail will bring rapid transit to Seattle. Sound Transit was created to be a regional system and it needs to start building using light rail, rapid bus or monorail. If Sound Transit is not able to build now, then we need to replace it with a regional transit company that can act. Seattle can help ease traffic congestion with bike trail systems, road and bridge maintenance and traffic flow improvements.

Susan Harmon: To be meaningful, transportation must be looked at from a regional perspective, not by Seattle alone. Of course there is the monorail that would ideally begin in Ballard and West Seattle. We must consider the Belltown residents when we look at how it connects. The same considerations of residents must guide light rail also. Other cities actually have good light rail that is accessible to the neighborhoods it passes through. East/west Metro [bus] routes. Share rides. Flex cars. Besides these ideas that are already being discussed by everyone, I have one other idea no one has mentioned. When a middle school or high school student registers, the school ID card becomes a bus pass. not only does it change a mindset about using public transportation, it also closes the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Position 8

(incumbent, Richard McIver)

Grant Cogswell: Require that Sound Transit build monorail instead of light rail so their promised alignment from Northgate to Seatac can be completed, and so that we have some hope of a region-wide transit system within our lifetimes. Continue with the ETC's plan to build monorail between Northgate and West Seattle. Invest in reorienting buses to serve local spur lines into neighborhoods from the fast monorail spine(s). Make the city safe and pleasant for bicycle commuters.

Stan Lippmann: We should build a $20 billion Maglev monorail system from Everett to Olympia, across the lake, along I-405, and with local loops in Seattle and a new translake rail bridge. See www.stanforcity.org.

Richard McIver: Since being appointed to the City Council in 1997, I have served as the chair of its Transportation Committee, a responsibility that has consumed the majority of my time. During my tenure we have been successful in tripling the general fund revenues committed to the maintenance of our streets and bridges, but the need continues to far outstrip the available revenues.
It is imperative that the State Legislature acknowledge the seriousness of our transportation crisis and provide the stable and recurring funding necessary to address problems in Seattle and regionally. For example, the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct must be replaced. While it is a state-owned facility, it carries some 110,000 cars through the spine of our city every day. The SR-520 bridge must also be replaced in the not too distant future, while the I-90 bridge cries out for improvements to facilitate the better movement of transit, cars, and freight.
I continue to support construction of the Sound Transit light rail, believing that further delay will only drive up the cost. The monorail also offers an appealing mass transit opportunity, one that will be presented to Seattle voters in 2002.

Heath Merriwether: Seattle voters passed twice an initiative to research the monorail for linking our neighborhoods. I think we must look at this viable transportation alternative. We must also link our transportation systems so people can transfer easily and with a regional transit pass. I am not opposed to light rail but am opposed to the irresponsible management of Sound Transit. I would push to put the light rail plan back on the ballot for voter approval to move forward.

Jerome Wilson: We need to build monorail and re-vote Sound Transit. A King County Council resolution sponsored by Maggi Fimia is something the Seattle City Council should adopt. Before taking control of the downtown bus tunnel Sound Transit must identify “a light-rail technology, alignment, approximate cost, schedule and funding source for extending the light-rail line north at least as far as Northgate.” To this language, I would add the consideration of monorail. While King County Metro controls the bus tunnel facility, the city controls all rights of way; hence, it is within the city council's power to pass such a resolution. Once Sound Transit concludes its study and the results are revealed, Sound Transit must go back to the voters for approval.

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