The monorail agency has now put forward a $1.6 billion plan ($150 million less than the initial price tag) with such features as additional trains running on the monorail tracks between King Street and Seattle Center to serve higher downtown ridership, column placement that preserves bike lanes over parking lanes on Second Avenue, curbside alignments (instead of center alignments that clog traffic and turn lanes), and station sites that don't displace as many businesses (for instance, they saved Guppy's, the gay bar on California Avenue Southwest in West Seattle). From Crown Hill in Ballard to Morgan Junction in West Seattle, here's a list of major changes to the plan made between January 2003, when the agency started holding public meetings to prepare for its environmental impact statement, and March 2004, when the final staff recommendation was tweaked by the monorail board. These 16 major changes were made to account for the safety, access, and aesthetics neighborhoods demanded, while preserving businesses, traffic lanes, and parks.
Crown Hill to Ballard Ship Canal Crossing - The route was moved from the center of 15th Ave. NW to the west side of 15th Ave. NW to accommodate traffic concerns and access to Ballard High School.
- The 15th Ave. NW and NW Market St. station was moved from the southwest corner to the northwest corner to accommodate neighborhood access, bus access, and parking at Walgreens.
Interbay/Magnolia - The West Dravus station at West Dravus St. and 16th Ave. W. moved from the QFC parking lot north of Dravus to south of Dravus between 15th and 16th and from the southwest corner to the southeast corner for better neighborhood bus access and access to the playfields.
Seattle Center - The station at Fifth Ave. N. between John St. and Broad St. was moved to the opposite side of John to bring it closer to the Center and directly across the street from the Space Needle. The move also made room for a turnback, which allows more trains to run downtown.
Belltown - The station at Fifth Ave. and Lenora St. was moved to Fifth and Bell--bringing it into the heart of the neighborhood. The Fifth and Bell station was then moved north to the corner to preserve the Seattle Glassblowing Studio.
Downtown - A station at Second Ave. and Stewart St. was moved to Fifth and Stewart to be closer to downtown shopping at Westlake Center and the downtown retail core.
- The Second Ave. alignment was moved nine feet away from the buildings along the block to appease property owners, who had asked that the line be moved to be at least eight feet away. The change preserved a bike lane over a parking lane.
- A station at the Federal Building (between Madison St. and Spring St.) was moved to Second and Madison to preserve the public space at the Federal Building where public gatherings are traditionally held.
SoDo - The alignment along Third Ave. was moved from the east side of the street to the west side to maintain access--mainly truck access--to about a dozen businesses between Atlantic and Lander Streets--businesses like Star Rentals, a crane and heavy-equipment shop.
- The turn from Third Ave. to Lander St. was switched from a diagonal, which cut across and displaced businesses, to a direct turn, which saved the businesses.
West Seattle - The Delridge station, initially on SW Andover St. and 26th Ave. SW, was moved north above the Nucor steel plant parking lot to save Longfellow Creek, address traffic concerns, and create a neighborhood transit hub.
- The alignment leading up to the Avalon station at 35th Ave. SW and SW Oregon St. coming from the south was moved off Fauntleroy Way SW to 35th to diminish traffic impacts, save a traffic lane, and preserve access to businesses.
- The alignment of 35th Ave. SW was moved from the east side of the street to the west side to protect park property.
- The Alaska Junction station was repositioned to prevent displacing about a half-dozen businesses, and to sync up with a planned eight-story building that's part of a neighborhood revitalization effort.
- The alignment leading into the Alaska Junction station (42nd Ave. SW and SW Edmunds St.) was tweaked to run through a parking lot rather than angling through and demolishing a number of businesses.
- The alignment between Alaska Junction and Morgan Junction along California Ave. SW was changed from a center alignment to a west-side alignment to protect turn lanes and protect on-street parking.
Many are applauding the monorail agency for respecting public concerns while sticking to an aggressive schedule that defied Seattle's knack for nitpicking. "For a full year I observed up close that the monorail really was transparent and cared about the community" says Cliff Goodman, a former monorail detractor and Fifth Avenue shop owner who worked with the agency to save his business. But monorail obstructionists like City Council Member Richard Conlin actually seized on this list of changes to demand more process. The Seattle-style infinite process loop that Conlin is encouraging--getting more public input to react to changes brought about by public input--is the exact type of politics that's prevented Seattle from getting its shit together on transportation for decades. "The SMP's emphasis on moving rapidly has led to problematic decisions," Conlin said in his hilariously-mistitled monthly newsletter, Making It Work.
I agree that the council should take its permitting role seriously, but I don't believe that's what Conlin's doing. Instead, he's using the permitting process as an opportunity to monkey-wrench the monorail.
Conlin, it should be noted, has no business pontificating about using the city's permitting process to hold large-scale public projects accountable. This is the same guy who, as city council transportation committee chair, rushed to grant Sound Transit its right-of-way permits before light rail even had its funding lined up. I'm not suggesting Conlin should be as delinquent about the monorail as he was about Sound Transit. But his inconsistency exposes his political agenda: He wants to stall and then kill the monorail, rather than build it. However, in a city where voters approved the monorail three times, Conlin doesn't have the council allies or the courage to be honest about what he's truly up to.
Conlin dismisses the charge that he's being disingenuous: "If people think I'm being an obstructionist that's their problem not mine. My role is to raise questions."
Well, here's another example of Conlin's hypocrisy: Conlin belittled a route change in West Seattle as "a result of lobbying by property owners." But for all his indignation over the route changes in West Seattle, Conlin is now the go-to guy for the anti-monorail group OnTrack, which is made up mostly of property owners on Second Avenue who oppose the plan.
"I don't think there's any good solutions to Second Avenue," Richard Conlin told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in February. Actually, there are good solutions, Richard. Witness the host of changes the SMP made to its 14-mile plan over the last year and a half as it prepared to actually build something.
