Seattle Press on Line - Monorail Plan Released

Monorail Plan Released

Apr 11, 2002 -- Last Friday, the Elevated Transportation Company released its draft Seattle Popular Transit Plan, outlining a citywide plan for monorail. In this plan, the proposed route from Ballard through downtown to West Seattle is just the start.

The initial leg would be called the Green Line, and would eventually be supplemented by routes running from Northgate through Greenwood and downtown to Georgetown, from downtown through the University District to Lake City, across town from Magnuson Park to Shilshole Marina, and a connector from South Park to the Sound Transit light rail line in the Rainier Valley.

Of course, this is all in the planning stages. First, voters must approve the Phase 1 route. The Ballard-to-West Seattle route is planned as a stand-alone, complete in its own right. It will connect to the stadiums, the Seattle Center, downtown itself and other transit options centered downtown. Ridership estimates are still just that, because the final routes have yet to be nailed down, but the numbers are between 54,000 and 67,000 passengers each day.

The cost estimates for the completed 14-mile route are also still up in the air. Issues still to be decided include the number and location of stations, the size and spacing of support beams, the types of water crossings that will be made at the Ship Canal and the West Seattle Bridge and, of course, the final route itself. The dollar figures will come in somewhere between $970,000 and $1.735 million. According to the ETC draft plan, the Green Line will need significant public funding through local taxes in order to be built, but should not require ongoing tax support to operate.

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