2045 Seattle and the monorail
I’ve been watching the 2045 Seattle group since they first started up. I’m very impressed with (founder) Christian Gloddy’s passion and drive for this issue, and I’m glad this group exists.
As we plodded through the summer and the Monorail story kept morphing and changing (it’s $11 billion, no it’s $5–6 billion… it’s the full 14 miles or nothing, wait no it’s 10.6 miles) I wasn’t sure quite what to think about the monorail. Now that they’ve come out with the November ballot measure, I think I’m finally ready to make a yes/no decision — as I’ll have to when I vote!
I think I’m going to vote for the monorail (ie – Yes on monorail measure 1). With a bit of hesitancy, but still pretty clearly the right choice. Here’s why (in stream of consciousness bullet-points):
- I’m hesitent because nobody quite trusts the SMP board to do it “right”.
- But the board makeup has already changed somewhat from the $11 billion fiasco with the departure of Tom Weeks and Joel Horn. And if the 2nd part of the measure passes, we’ll end up with 5 elected members rather than the current two… so presumably more accountability. Plus, Kristina Hill is resigning at the end of the year. Not that I have anything against her, but I think she’s seen as “part of the old problem”, so perhaps it will increase the perceived effectiveness of the board if she is replaced.
- I don’t live in West Seattle or Ballard — ie, it’s not a route I would often take, most likely… but that’s a lousy reason to vote down transit. You have to start somewhere if you want a city-wide system, and if the monorail can get viaduct mitigation money then it seems like a good place to start.
- Where it can be grade-separated (ie – not down on the street in traffic like a street-car), I prefer light-rail technology over monorail… mostly because it’s more time-tested and familiar in the US. That said, the studies for the West-Seattle to Ballard corridor show that monorail is better in that route. This is because it’s smaller, lighter, and requires narrower track than light-rail and also because it will attract much higher ridership than bus options. In this corridor, the size/width/weight issue is critical for things like the bridge crossing to west seattle and blocking views through the downtown on 2nd and 5th avenue.
I’m also planning to vote Yes on measure 2. If I want the monorail to stick around, I most assuredly want the board to do a better job.
Anyways, this post has rambled a bit far afield of where I had planned for it to go — 2045 Seattle commentary. I applaud the founder and the members of this group for having so much confidence in the plan, even as it morphed and changed. I believe they were focused on the vision rather than the particular plan, and that’s wonderful to see! I don’t know if I’ll ever be quite as vigorously in support of this particular plan as they are, but as we get closer to the election — and seeing it potentially all wash away to nothing — I’m definitely on the side of transit and the monorail!
