Another Monorail Vote - As It Should Be

While it is fashionable to call the Seattle Monorail dead, word is that a new initiative will be put to Seattle voters asking for their support on an 11 mile route, instead of the originally intended 14 mile route.

I have written about the Monorail's alternatives a number of times, and either called for the 1.4% MVET to be increased or supplemented, or the line to be shortened. Faced with no other alternatives, the Monorail board finally chose the latter, and will ask voters to approve the necessary change.

According to the Seattle Times

The proposed shortening of the planned 14-mile line would cut about $250 million from Cascadia's $1.64 billion contract offer. The new line leaves out Ballard, and a tall monorail bridge across the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

That's about a 15% cost reduction, which is significant, and could greatly reduce the long term cost.

Meanwhile the Seattle City Council and Mayor Nickels have withdrawn their support. Seattleites have voted four times in favor of a Monorail project, and should they vote in favor a fifth time, the City Council and Mayor would be taking an anti-monorail stance against the wishes of their constituents.

David Della said "It is time for Seattle to stop living this dream transformed into a nightmare and start a new day", but how is this a nightmare? The project was handcuffed into a revenue stream that was inadequate, but tried very hard to make it work. When it couldn't, the project responded to the concerns of the long term cost, and have now presented us with an alternative that meets the reality of the financing. Instead of asking for more money, which they realize is not what people would want them to do, they've asked if they can make a shorter, yet still highly useful line, which most supporters would be understanding about having to agree to.

So how is this scenario a nightmare? We're allowing people to vote on this. The people asked for this and they should have the right to vote for or against it continuing. It should not be shut down by the Mayor, who has failed to do much to help make the Monorail successful, or a City Council that have also made little effort to support the public's chosen endeavor.

The biggest problem the Monorail has faced is the fact that we've left all this up to Seattleites. This is a city that has voted against one public transportation option after another for a century. It has been like a disease passed down from generation to generation. Now that the people have finally voted for something, the leadership has done nothing to make it happen, and now would rather kill it than do the hard work to make it happen. The fact is, any public transportation solution in Seattle benefits more than just Seattleites, it also benefits anyone who lives and works in the area and who travels to or through the city. Yet, anyone who would like to support the effort, even financially, has not had the opportunity to contribute. This has always been short-sighted.

Hopefully, come November, this new realistic alternative will receive considerable support. If that happens, it would be criminal to deny people this transportation solution, after all the effort that has been made to date, not the least of which is the fact that the right of ways have been acquired - no small feat in a city that's always done more to kill public transportation projects than support them.