Local Streetcar on California

[WorldCitizen]

I’ve spoken with a large amount of people in West Seattle about this and all of them seem to think it’s a good idea. Why not just a local line running Down California from the Morgan Junction to Admiral or beyond to the Water Taxi? The Junction could be the main stop and offer incentive for the city to consider a connection (of whatever kind) to downtown in the future.

After reading older posts on the WSB it seems most streetcar discussions center around a route to downtown, but that leading to greater traffic problems on either the high bridge or the lower drawbridge. Why not forget that idea and focus on local transportation around West Seattle?

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[ToddinWestwood]

Ahhh yes. What was old shall be new again. Or something along those lines.

Go to the train shop in the Junction and look at all the photos of the West Seattle street cars that once crisscrossed our great ‘hood.

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[ToddinWestwood]

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/imlsmohai&CISOPTR=1821&CISOBOX=1&REC=3

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[pam]

It’s too bad the Water Taxi shuttle isn’t routed that way – from the taxi, down Alki, up Admiral, south on California to Morgan Street, Fauntleroy and back to the taxi.

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[dawsonct]

Yeah, if the Water Taxi didn’t take such a convoluted route it would be ideal. Maybe they could add more shuttles or make some route adjustments.

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Frankly, unless the city was going to go all-in on streetcars for the whole city, I don’t think unconnected streetcar lines are a good investment.

And I am stating this from a position of a strong advocate for rail AND public transportation of all sorts. I also recognize the permanence of rails spurs more permanent development along the lines, and acts as a population magnet, increasing density. These are all important for our city, and initiatives I support, but I feel a piecemeal approach to our changing mass transit needs is the wrong way for us to go about it.

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[Hydrangea]

Delridge also needs good connections to the Junction and the rest of West Seattle. I was very sorry that the plans for the new bus route (I think it was going to be Route 50) linking the Junction to Delridge and I think Beacon Hill fell through last summer. Anyone know if that might get revived?

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[dawsonct]

Agree with THAT, Hydrangea. Seems like Delridge is cut off from the rest of West Seattle. And that route 50 looked GREAT. I have a lot of friends on Beacon Hill, and would also like a direct route to the VA.

I have no idea what they were thinking when they scrapped the route.

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I’ve been riding Metro since the early 70’s, and one of the problems I have ALWAYS had was getting E./W. in our city.

One of my commutes involve two transfers to travel just over three miles. It took 50 minutes to ride to work, so I got a lot of reading in. The nice thing was that if I missed my first bus, I could walk to work faster than the bus would get me there.

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[WorldCitizen]

It really seems a Delridge streetcar from Roxbury to the Junction (or the Triangle), along with a streetcar from Roxbury, Down 35th to the Junction (or Triangle), and a Streetcar as proposed down California would be the way to go. There could even be a connector running on Morgan from Delridge to California. Not really a piecemeal approach at all, but a way for the entire community to be interconnected. It would make the vast majority of West seattle a much more pedestrian friendly place in general…as well as solving the parking problem in the Junction/ Triangle areas. It would also greatly reduce local drinking and driving numbers (supposedly).

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[WorldCitizen]

Plus it would act as incentive to connect the main Junction with Downtown.

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[WorldCitizen]

ToddinWestwood:

Awesome pic…wish we had it today…

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