Some recent events have got me thinking about how great it would be to build the Monorail Green Line.
Four reasons to start:
1) Folks in Ballard and West Seattle still need an alternative to surface roads to get to work Downtown. The Green Line would allow people a way to get to their favorite places – Pike Place Market, Downtown Core, Seattle Center, and both Stadiums – without the expense and hassle of a car.
2) The Green Line would take significant load off of the viaduct, reducing the size and cost of that project.
3) Construction and materials costs are down and some of the proposed station sites are now empty lots surrounded by chain link fences.
4) There is still strong public support.
Many people have contacted me to talk about the tunnel in the lead up to the November election. It was clearly a big factor in many people’s decision about who to vote for for Mayor. But what prompted me to sit down and write this post was really that we ran out of coffee this morning. I went up to our local Starbucks at 6AM and was waiting in line when a very nice man in his late fifties came up to me and thanked me for all the hard work everyone had put into trying to build the Green Line. Why can’t we still build it since it would be so valuable, he asked. He said, “My wife and I go to the Pike Place Market every weekend and it would be so great to have the Green Line.”
That got me to thinking about how long Seattle has been trying to expand the Monorail and came across an article (click here) from 1994 talking about an effort to do just that, years before the Green Line. So maybe it’s time to muster another effort – a successful one this time.
Have a good day.
Joel Horn
Your must be crazy. No way Seattle will go for it again no matter how good an idea. We moved from West Seattle after the Green Line was cancelled. I know three families that did the same thing. When the viaduct comes down house values will plummet in WS. There are too many downtowners against it to ever let the Green Line be built.
Just read the article, you have been at this a long time, didn’t know about the Commons Monorail.
Joel, you are my hero. I find it troubling that those who opposed the Green Line because they believed it would be too costly have embraced a tunnel when they have absolutely no idea as to what it will cost.
Hi Eileen, good point, and just think, with the Green Line we would actually be able to get on and off in several places Downtown. The tunnel, on the other hand, is currently planned with no downtown exits. Go figure.
How about, instead of a tunnel for cars, it’s a tunnel for monorail through downtown with below ground stations…..then you pop above ground to connect along Elliott at the north and somewhere near Royal Brougham? Sound familiar?
DId you see this in the Seattle Weekly?
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/12/joel_horn_still_wants_to_ride.php
So maybe I was wrong in my comment above, maybe they will try again, we sure need it now more than ever. What do you think about having Sound Transit or Metro build it and operate it?
We should have one operational group for all transit, buses, light rail, and monorail if it ever expands. Best way to coordinate regular service, event service and emergencies. We talked about having Metro operate the Green Line after if was up and running. But Metro and ST were quite hostile about the Monorail so the conversation never went very far.