Other Sites of Mine

Background

In 1992 a 1-mile-long monorail was built for the Seattle World’s Fair, and the popular transportation link has provided over 40 years of dependable service. It currently goes from Westlake Center Downtown to a station just inside of the east side of Seattle Center.

My Proposal

I actually have two alternatives. The bigger one is to replace the existing Alweg monorail with a new modern one, with an extension acros Seattle Center to Key Arena. However on this page I am discussing my alternative proposal, which is to extend the existing Alweg monorail across Seattle Center to Key Arena. This station would provide excellent access to Key Arena and the west side of the Seattle Center, and rapid transit for area residents. It would also permit transfer to and from several bus lines that run on First Avenue North and Queen Anne Avenue North. If a revised Green Line is built with a stop at Key Arena, this would be a transfer point between the two lines.

In order to extend the existing line without running into the Center House, it would probably be necessary to make some changes around the current terminal at Seattle Center. Immediately west of the EMP the new line would curve to the southwest to a new Center House Station located about 100 feet or so south of the current station. The monorail guideway orientation at this point would be at about a 30- to 45-degree angle south of west, and the new station would be oriented likewise. The southwest end of the station would be north of Thomas Street so that if the line is extended west along Thomas Street, there will be sufficient space for a curve in the guideway. The old station could be retained for use as a maintenance base for the trains. It might be possible to use part of the old station for a monorail museum.

Map of Proposed Route

The orange line indicates the route of the Seattle Center Monorail including my proposed extension to Key Arena. The Bell Street Station does not exist (I used the map for a proposed new line). The green line indicates my idea for a revised route for a future Green Line monorail.