This week’s open houses for the streetcar project include the first detailed analysis of cost, ridership, and other impacts for the various routes that are under consideration. The updated set of information from the Seattle Department of Transportation also does not bode well for 12th Ave due to bicycle safety and accessibility concerns. There are two more open house sessions on Thursday — more on those below.

Here’s how the alignments are shaping up with the new analysis:

• Two-way Broadway – Scores the highest overall, with the lowest construction cost, nearly the highest ridership, and fewest impacts to traffic and cyclists
• Broadway/12th Couplet – Scores in the middle of the pack, with slightly less ridership, slightly higher construction costs, and a big penalty for interfering with an existing cycling route.
• Boylston/Seneca & Boren/Seneca – The westernmost routes score lowest overall, with much higher construction costs, higher operating costs, and longer travel times. The one area they do better in is ridership, with the top numbers compared to other routes, although only 5% higher than Broadway in fully built-out conditions.

It’s important to note that construction cost estimates on the westernmost routes on First Hill currently exceed the $132 million budget that is provided by Sound Transit. That means that the city would have to chip in its own money to build them — unlikely given the current state of city finances — or find alternative sources of funding like the federal grants being considered for the Aloha extension. The Boren/Seneca route is also the most expensive in terms of operating cost, coming in at a round value of $5 million, putting it perilously close to the $5.2 million value of the annual operating subsidy provided by Sound Transit.

Thursday’s streetcar open house meetings will happen between 11:30 AM and 1 PM and again from 4 PM to 7 PM at the Seattle First Baptist Church at 1111 Harvard Ave.

Here is the full matrix of data presented on the 5 routes at the open houses. More details on the criteria used is contained in the ‘FirstHillStreetcarAlignmentAssessmentSummary.pdf’ document linked above.

 

Meanwhile, newly released documents raise some negative points about putting a streetcar on 12th Avenue.

Bicycle Impact – A Streetcar Bicycle Facilities Analysis says that 12th is “a key north/south bicycle route” and that “there are no other comparable bicycle connections through this portion of the City.” While the report says that streetcar tracks would have a “moderate impact” on 12th, it concludes that “streetcar tracks on 12th Avenue could significantly degrade the current cycling environment on this roadway.”

Accessibility – A 1st Hill Streetcar Accessibility Report analyzed the steep slope between 12th and Broadway and suggested that the city may want to install a somewhat fantastical set of escalators and moving walkways to help people up and down the hill on Columbia and/or Marion. It’s important to point out that the report concluded that “current accessibility codes will not require SDOT to make improvements to the routes of travel” between stops on the streetcar. (emphasis added)

It’s important to point out that accessibility concerns go both ways. Placing the only streetcar options at the top of the hill on Broadway or further west would obviously rule out all access for any disabled persons at Seattle U or who live in the apartments down in that valley. Having at least one stop on 12th still gives a wider range of people access to transit and a good connection to a light rail stop.