Yeah, I’m still bitter

Couldn’t let this go unremarked … Mayor “No Monorail Because The Voters Have Spoken” sticking to his tunnel-or-else guns in today’s Times, despite the paper’s poll showing 75% of respondents want something other than the insanely expensive tunnel:

“I’ve gone through the peaks and valleys of building a light-rail system in this city, and there were times in 2000 and 2001 where it was about as popular as Prohibition,” said Nickels, a Sound Transit board member. “We stuck it out and in 2009 we’re going to open light rail to the airport, and today if you took a poll there would be consensus that it was the right thing to do.”

And yet the monorail deserved to die after losing one of five votes? … leaving our side of the city completely and utterly without non-bus mass transit.

eric October 16, 2006 (8:07 am)

The monorail was a joke of a project run by a bunch of amateurs. Be thankful it died like it did. If you think the tunnel is going to be a boondoggle, you really didn’t study the SPM’s monorail “plan” very well. Further – yes the vote totals were 4-1. The first 3 votes were votes for nothing – no money, no real plan. The only vote that matters was the last. The citizens have spoken – Move On.

I personally don’t have a preference one way or another with regard to replacing the viaduct. I just need to see our leaders stop talking about it and start doing something about it.

I think the tunnel option would be great – I think we can all agree that the viaduct is one ugly structure. Think of the opportunities that would be opened up if it were put underground (I wonder how much money could be recovered by allowing development over certain sections). However, if we don’t have the means, money, or will to build a tunnel, we need to get to work on replacing the existing structure now.

The “no build” option is a joke. I read somewhere that people who are pushing it say that something like 25% of the people using it now just_won’t_go_downtown_anymore. That’s good urban planning??? That’s great for our downtown businesses (I imagine it would impact WS business as well).

The tunnel may be expensive, but it is likely the more ideal of the three options. However, the people of Seattle have no will to take on projects like this anymore. So the next best option is to rebuild it.

Time for our government to get to work!

Holly B October 16, 2006 (10:47 am)

Nickels has a lot of nerve trying to sound like Martin Luther King while proclaiming that Sound Transit is some glorious achievement.

Sound Transit light rail is hundreds of millions of dollars over budget, is years behind schedule, is going to be miles shorter than was promised to voters, and has yet to build a single foot of track in the city of Seattle. Unless, of course, you count the track in the downtown bus tunnel, which has been closed for the past few years so Sound Transit can replace the wrong-sized rails that were installed in the first place.

I have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, and it most definitely is not Greg Nickels.

surf logs kill October 16, 2006 (11:25 am)

The monorail was allowed to die because neither the mayor or the city council had any confidence in the ability of the staff or board to right the ship. Joel Horn was a ridiculous choice to head an agency charged with billions of dollars and the board did nothing to hold staff accountable.

I don’t support the surface option because I simply don’t believe it works unless you have major mass transit from West Seattle and Ballard. But, we can’t build an elevated structure 50% larger on our waterfront.

Ask yourself this. If you own a crappy house with a bad foundation on a beautiful piece of land–do you A) fix up the crappy house with a lot of money, B) Build a new crappy house with the same design flaws on the same site for twice as much money, or C) Build a new house that enhances the lot for another third more?

“C” is the best investment in our future.

I think we should look at a compromise. How about a four lane tunnel? It shaves a billion or so off the cost making the tunnel the same price as the elevated option. It still allows freight and pass through traffic to move through the city. The best parts of the surface option would help distribute traffic into downtown. The city is already planning a new eastbound off ramp onto Fourth which avoids the light at 1st and the RR tracks.

eric October 17, 2006 (8:15 am)

Holly B – I am no cheerleader for Sound Transit, but your statement regarding not building anything in the city of Seattle is flat false. Take a look at their website – they are well on their way. Despite the initial delays, they have made some great progress.

Could the money have been used for better things? Probably. But the fact is that they are really moving on this project and in time, I am confident now that we will look back on it and find it worthwhile.

It’s a shame that WS isn’t part of the project – but neither are other parts of the city. I am still convinced, however, that the monorail was never going to happen – even if the voters didn’t kill it. Do you *really* think they would have been able to get that thing *over* the WS Bridge? Not likely.

The shame of it all is that with some really simple road changes to allow for better bus movement, we could have even better bus service to downtown.

Sorry, comment time is over.