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Monorail Planning Hits Home Stretch
By Sara Longley
Artist's rendition of a stacked monorail on Fifth Avenue. Courtesy of ETC. |
The "Green Line" connecting Ballard, Downtown and West Seattle has been the subject of hundreds of public meetings, announcements and workshops. If passed, the monorail measure will create a new agency, the Seattle Popular Transit Authority (SPTA), which will oversee construction of the Green Line as the first step towards a future city-wide network of monorail lines.
The City of Seattle has pledged support, allowing the monorail line to piggyback on the West Seattle Bridge and promising expedited review for permits and coordination of utility work with monorail construction. At the urging of Councilmember Nick Licata, the City will even advance the new agency a $20 million loan to jump-start the project if voters approve the monorail measure.
King County Metro also agreed to match efforts with the future SPTA. Ron Sims, King County Executive, sent a letter to the ETC saying that Metro will coordinate bus service with the monorail line. Bus routes that are duplicated by the monorail line will be eliminated in favor of better service on other Seattle routes.
One transit line that may get to stay in its historic position after all is the original Alweg Monorail. The ETC's final draft calls for replacement of the old monorail with the quieter, less massive new version. But the Alweg Monorail has a place in the hearts of many, and public opinion, at least at a joint ETC/City Council public hearing on July 2, was running strongly in favor of preserving Seattle's first monorail. New compromise plans for the Fifth Avenue monorail propose a new line above the current one.
Another issue that concerns many monorail backers is whether the SPTA board of directors will be appointed or elected. Cleve Stockmeyer, an author of Initiative 53 which gave the ETC funding and a renewed mandate two years ago, wants the board to be elected. "We wrote I-53 with an eye to keeping the public involved," he said at the July 2 hearing. "We're not just creating an agency that will build one line. It will oversee billions of dollars and build many lines over many years. We're setting up a government entity that should be elected like the Port Commission, the School Board and other agencies."
Strong arguments on both sides of the question were enough to prompt the ETC to reconsider its initial decision to recommend an all-appointed board. At a series of meetings July 9, 10 and 11, ETC board members considered a range of options including all appointed, seven appointed and two elected, and five appointed and four elected. The final decision that will go to City Council in the text of the monorail measure will be decided at the ETC Committee of the Whole meeting on July 22.
The ETC has 20 days left to work out a solution to these problems that will please everyone--or at least enough people to pass the Monorail measure at the ballot box.
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| art | Apr 03, 2003 | here | doing this |
| i am totally for the monorail!!!!!!!! | |||
