Today’s City Council transportation committee briefing on the Capitol Hill streetcar was illuminating. The discussion was focused on status of the ‘termsheet’ agreement between Sound Transit and the City of Seattle to pay for, plan and manage the line designed to connect Union Station to the Capitol Hill light rail station when it is completed in 2016. Sound Transit is funding the city project in lieu of a First Hill-area station that will not be built as part of the light rail line. Fully City Council will have to approve the final terms — from the briefing, sounds like that needs to happen in May/June timeframe so the Sound Transit board can approval the expenditure in June.
Here are some takeaways from today’s briefing:
- The city is positioning the opportunity to speed decisions and build the $140 million streetcar soon as an opportunity for ‘cost savings.’
- The line’s specific route was not discussed though Ethan Melone from SDOT referred repeatedly to Broadway, the most direct route to the Capitol Hill light rail station. Groups seeking to have alternative routes considered like 12th Ave or a 12th Ave-Broadway loop will have some work to do countering the urgency injected by the ‘cost savings’ argument.
- If enough savings are achieved, the termsheet would allow for extra money to be applied to extending the route past the light rail station at John at Broadway. Sound Transit estimates that an extension from John to Aloha would cost about $26 million. You can see general routes for three possible alternatives on this post.
- There is a provision in the termsheet that construction of the streetcar cannot impede construction of the light rail system. This would likely mean the initial streetcar line would run only from Union Station to the Pike/Pine area until the majority of the light rail construction is completed.
- If the streetcar route from Union Station to Capitol Hill does end up with the accelerated schedule, it will be an island route until it can be connected to the route planned for downtown to connect with the service in South Lake Union.
- Standing on its own will also mean the route needs its own $14 million maintenance facility which will eat into those cost savings.
- Oh, and going early will also mean some additional financing costs given Sound Transit had been planning on paying for this closer to 2016.
- Council Member Tom Rasmussen took a step backward and couldn’t resist asking if the money for the entire project would be better spent on increasing Metro bus service. He was roundly booed. It’s an unlikely scenario given that the Council would have to find mechanism to reverse a ballot decision.
- Misc. service details: Trains will run every 10 minutes at peak, 20 minutes off-peak, 20 hours a day except on Sundays when they’ll run a reduced 12-hour schedule
Any chance we’ll ever get something like a bus that runs down Aloha to Roy, over I5 and to SLU? Basically if you want to get from capitol hill to SLU the best you can do is walk over to the 8, and then walk from denny to SLU, which sucks in a number of ways.
If there were something along the lines of a bus that went from maybe lower queen anne through SLU through North Capitol Hill (via Aloha) and then back it would be a great bus addition.
I’m guessing that Roy is the big obstacle there, and that buses are just too big for the bumps and twists it takes.
What would be cool would be a tram/gondola like Portland has from the Willamette up to OHSU. http://www.portlandtram.org/
I wonder (hope perhaps?) if Metro & ST will realign their bus routes to maximize light rail and streetcar service, al la NYC. Typically subways are used for uptown and downtown trips while busses are used for crosstown.
It would be great to have the bus routes serve the rail lines, therefore maximizing use of the rail.
They will change and cut routes — the southeast is already being shifted though it seems like reaction to that is mostly about reduction in service, not better routes. It’s a long way off but I’ll ask what Metro is thinking about 2016.
How can we afford a street car when we can’t even afford to keep schools open?
Considering the cuts currently being proposed for Metro next year, it’s really not such a crazy idea to ask if there’s some way to divert money to buses instead…. Broadway is also a rather STUPID route to run a streetcar on since it’s currently only two lanes for traffic, and pretty congested most of the time. So, you’re either going to run the streetcar in that traffic, or you’re going to have to remove already scarce parking from the shopping district.
I really think that 12th Ave to Pine or John and then Broadway would just be so much better in terms of use, development, and reach. It might be a little more expensive but it would be worth it. If you also feel this way, please voice your opinion to the Streetcar Program Manager, Ethan Melone, ASAP: Ethan.Melone@seattle.gov
Have you ever been to Amsterdam? They have a streetcar that runs through one of the busiest shopping areas without a problem. It’s a two lane road and the street car line shares the path with the cars and meandering pedestrians. It could work out.
12th is a corridor that is dominated by cars and would be perfect for a streetcar line (We desperately need a direct route to the ID). I think having it turn on John (or Denny?) and having it go down and run on Broadway for a few blocks and then back up to 12th somewhere in Pike/Pine. So, basically it would be a big line with a loop at the end. I guess this way the streetcar driver would not have to walk back and forth throughout the car ever time the line ends, as well.
During which four hours (and twelve on Sunday) will the proposed streetcar not run?
ummm… cuz it was voted on? And passed
It’s probably going to share Link’s operating hours, meaning closure between 1 – 5am.
I agree too :) You can see pictures of the loop concept here:
http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2009/04/15/group-releases
Having this route considered a stand-alone or island line doesn’t seem that bad, even if it means a maintenance shed needs to be built thereby reducing the savings of expedited construction. In fact, given the proposed alignments in the ID, couldn’t the maintenance shed be planned and shared with the waterfront streetcar line, allowing it to come back on line? In essence, two streetcar lines for the price of one? Is this just too hopeful and naive?