At last night’s meeting on the First Hill Streetcar, the Seattle Department of Transportation released cost estimates for five of the alignments under consideration. Here’s a chart (click to enlarge):
- Seattle Department of Transportation
(The chart and more on funding info in this .pdf. )
The results are pretty damning for the First Hill route (which I’ve been against for a while), which SDOT gives a red categorization to indicate they are “poor.” While having slightly higher ridership potential (and a slightly greater potential for added density), the First Hill alignment past hospitals would have the longest travel times, highest operating cost, worst bicycle integration, and require the most revisions to traffic.
The two-way Broadway alignments is, by far, the cheapest (and is generally looking pretty good), but the 12th Avenue Couplet isn’t too far off from the two-way Broadway with the park loop—and would cover more area.
They color-coded the eventual winner for you.
Hint: It’s the one with the best ridership, lowest cost, lowest impact and best bicycle integration.
Once again, Broadway and 12th ftw!
Deadly massive red mechanical monsters running down hapless Broadway denizens skitting across the street.
#1: No way, that’s not the way the city works. Didn’t you notice how they picked the viaduct replacement, the light rail tunnel alignment, or the alignment for our first streetcar on SLU?
According to this chart, Boren/Seneca is the best option out of these, but the NE Laurelhurst Drive alignment is the clear winner.
i really don’t get the point of the broadway/12th couplet now. it has lower ridership, higher cost, worse integration with bike infrastructure, and a longer commute than the broadway alignment. what’s being gained? at least with the boren or boylston alignments, there’s both the service of the original ST2 intent (hospitals) as well as the higher ridership.
Am I the only one that looks at the route and thinks it’s pretty dumb. Travel up and down Broadway which takes like ten to fifteen minutes to walk then over to Pill and Hill and across Yesler Terrace and on to the International Distict for some Dim Sum and the ghetto trash can get easier access to Broadway. Maybe connect over to the financial district. Just crazy. Going from South Broadway’s SCCC to North Broadway for some Deluxe Burgers? Walk!
The 12th Ave Couplet would cover more area, but cover it not as effectively. That is why the ridership band is lower than a Broadway Two-Way alignment.
@7: Yeah, actually, I personally think the two-way Broadway route is looking better & better. -Sarah
It’s the parking, @5 @6.
You have to take out the parking lanes for the other choices.
The 12th couplet is a dumb idea. Get over it! Lowest ridership, inconvenient, unintuitive. BAD IDEA
Two-way Broadway is the obvious winner.
What is up with the stranger supporting 12th ave couplet? Lower ridership and terrible biking integration… but “covers more area”…
The Stranger’s stance:
Fuck bikes.
Fuck riders.
Streetcars exist to cover ‘area’.
The Broadway-!2th Avenue Couplet strikes the right balance of public goals — cost, ridership, time of service, area of service as envisioned by funding for the service, and creating transit-oriented development. Two sets of tracks would tie up Broadway and hurt business. The couplet brings service to Squire Park and other neighborhoods long denied transit and other public investments. Mayor Mike, this is a Great City moment! Go for it!
The Two-Way Broadway alignment is easy to comprehend and seems to be working well on all counts in the analysis. We need to find a way to pay for an extension to Aloha, though we have some time to figure this out as nothing will be built north of Pine St. until the Capitol Hill Link light rail station opens in 2016.
The couplet would be southbound-only on 12th Ave. I sympathize with the 12th Ave. residents and business owners who want a streetcar — and the idea is not without its merits — and that area does deserve better transit service, and does have growth potential — but even if it’s fully built out it can’t touch the existing (let alone potential) density west of Broadway. Perhaps electric trolley bus service can be routed via 12th Ave.
If it’s considered difficult to walk from Broadway to 12th Ave., then this is a problem for all the destinations west of Broadway.
If, however, it’s considered easy to walk from Broadway to 12th Ave., then why not just put the streetcar on Broadway?
Given our topography, 12th Ave. is a uniquely great bicycle route through that area, particularly so with its connection to Beacon Hill and proximity to Seattle University. Streetcar tracks on 12th Ave. would compromise that function.
The City’s streetcar plan proposes another line running out Jackson St. to 23rd. That’s only 3000 more feet past what we will build on Jackson as part of this project. That Jackson St. line could overlap this one for a stretch and then continue to Pioneer Square and on to the waterfront or 1st Ave. someday.