In early 2006 work was to begin on a monorail line linking West Seattle and Ballard to Downtown Seattle. The line was to open in 2010, so later this year people in those areas would have enjoyed the benefits of high-speed transit. People in West Seattle would be enjoying a quick trip Downtown even though the Viaduct gets torn down. People in Ballard could be getting downtown in a few minutes, bypassing congestion on 15th Ave. W. and Elliott Ave. W., and never getting delayed by the Ballard Bridge opening.

But the project was underfunded and in mid-2005 the financing plan put forth by the Monorail Board was very controversial and resulted in public opposition. The opponents of the monorail took advantage of this setback to launch a very negative mass confusion campaign, and a confused and skeptical public voted in favor of killing the project.

But there is still no realistic option to the monorail. We still need it, more than ever. In addition to the original reasons for building the project, we now have rising gas prices that are encouraging more and more people to seek alternatives to driving. A fast and pleasant monorail trip would be a welcome alternative.

Suggestions have included expanded bus service, streetcars, and light rail. Mayor Mike McGinn has plans for light rail. But buses will still be slower than a monorail, streetcars probably even slower, and light rail would probably cost more than monorail and be much more disruptive to the neighborhoods (see “Advantages of Monorail for Mass transit”).

I think that it is time for people to get together and encourage the construction of the Green Line monorail as soon as possible in order to meet the increasing need for this service.

I think that essentially the Green Line should be built according to the design proposed in mid-2005, with the following changes: There should be no single-tracked section, rather double-track for the entire line; instead of the route through the Seattle Center and down 5th Ave., it should go straight down 2nd Ave. from Key Arena; provision should be made for longer trains in the future; there should be parking provided at stations; and the Key Arena Station should provide for connection to the Seattle Center Monorail.

I think that Metro Transit should build, own, and operate the Green Line, with some taxes on king County residents because the monorail will be used by many King County residents outside of Seattle, with an additional tax on Seattle residents since the monorail will be located in Seattle and used more by Seattle residents than those living outside of Seattle.

I am going to make a very rough estimate that the Green Line would now cost around $2.5 billion in 2008 dollars, exlusive of financing costs. The cost for the rejected 2005 Green Line proposal was about $2 billion. Millions of dollars should be saved by not going through Seattle Center, but cost of materials and labor have gone up since then. Additionally, it will cost more to double-track the entire line and to include parking facilities. It will also be necessary to buy back land that has been sold off, and in most cases it will cost more to buy it, especially since there have been improvements to some of the property. In some cases it may be better to relocate a station to a nearby property that can be acquired at a lower price.

Click here for details on my plan and Click here for my proposal for a new Seattle Center Monorail.