Seattle — South Lake Union Streetcar

Rail Transit Online, February 2003

Mayor Greg Nickels has signed on to entrepreneur Paul Allen’s plan to build a 2.5-mi. (4 km) circulator streetcar line from Westlake Center to the South Lake Union district, where Allen has proposed a massive office and residential development.  Allen’s firm, Vulcan Inc., first proposed the streetcar last June as an efficient, environmentally friendly method of moving people.  Nichols said the Seattle plan was heavily influenced by the success of the Downtown Streetcar in Portland.   “Obviously that's a very exciting model and a success story in a city not as dynamic as Seattle,” Nickels told The Seattle Times.  The mayor admits finding the money will be difficult, although Allen and other property owners may contribute about half the estimated $40-million capital cost through formation of a local assessment district on land located near the tracks.  The city would also request financing from federal, state and regional sources.  Still to be resolved are possible conflicts involving traffic and parking.  Nichols wants to begin community outreach this year and construction by mid-2004, admittedly an aggressive schedule.  But he says the streetcar would be a catalyst for job growth and would stimulate new residential expansion.  “The area is currently very underserved by transit, and this lack of service is a great development inhibitor,” Mary Jean Ryan, director of the city's Office of Policy and Management, told the Times.  “We think by linking the neighborhood via the streetcar to Westlake Center — location for the bus tunnel, monorail and Sound Transit — that we will greatly improve mobility for workers and for residents.”