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Friends of the Monorail | 9/7/10 |
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Friends of the Monorail | 9/7/10 |
Monorail agency officially dissolves; cost taxpayers $125 million
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 1/18/2008: The authority's last meeting was a final financial accounting. All 33 properties the authority bought had been sold, all lawsuits settled. The authority closed up shop with $425,963.07 in the bank, which the board voted Thursday to give to Metro for bus service in the communities that would have been served by the line.
The Stranger, blog entry by Josh Feit -- 12/17/2007: For those of you that live in Ballard or West Seattle and work downtown, how long did it take you to get to work today?
Mourning the monorail; looking ahead
West Seattle Blog -- 12/15/2007: So on this Opening Day That Wasn't, you might wonder, what's next for mass transit in West Seattle, considering that Sound Transit light rail isn't pointing our way? Some interesting ideas can be read on the Sustainable West Seattle Transportation Action Group blog; regarding more concrete plans, two public meetings are set in West Seattle next month for the "RapidRide" bus plan (both dates are on the WSB Events page).
Andy MacDonald, Blogger at Sound Politics -- 12/15/2007: For five years I've kept that magnet on my fridge, waiting for our glorious transportation future. Now that the day has finally arrived, where is my monorail ride?
The Big Blog, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 12/7/2007: Not many pieces of history are stuck to refrigerators.
New request for monorail documents is likely
Puget Sound Business Journal -- 11/30/2007: The Washington Coalition for Open Government is considering submitting a new request for records the agency had refused to release, citing attorney-client privilege.
Seattle Weekly -- 11/14/2007: Dead but awaiting final rites, the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority apparently will be allowed to take some of its most treasured internal documents to its grave, as a King County Superior Court judge recently tossed a lawsuit seeking disclosure of the agency's records.
Suit delays shutdown of monorail agency
Authority accused of violating public records laws
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 8/17/2007: In the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court, the coalition argues the monorail authority violated state public records laws when it refused to release "the vast majority" of 1,007 documents requested by the coalition citing attorney-client privilege.
West Seattle Herald -- 5/29/2007: For private businesses, the law provides a roadmap for shutting down the monorail and creates finality and certainty to Seattle taxpayers that the Seattle Monorail Project no longer exists. It also protects taxpayers from any liabilities and obligations that may arise once the agency is dissolved, and for this reason, the current board of directors remains in place, eliminating the need for and cost of elections for board seats.
Shit’s in the P-I: Who Is Queen of the Viaduct Haters?
The Stranger, blog entry by Dan Savage -- 2/13/2007: And getting back to the monorail: All reasonable people everywhere agree that the failure/assassination of the monorail was for the best. Because now that we’re faced with tearing down the viaduct and living without it out for years—at least five, maybe seven, could be longer, regardless of what we build in its place—the last thing Seattle needs is an efficient mass-transit system carrying people from West Seattle to Downtown and back. I mean, really! What were we monorail supporters smoking?
Failed Monorail project's legacy may be a denser Seattle
The Puget Sound Business Journal -- 2/9/2007: Spurring interest, the sales coincided with a time of unprecedented institutional investment in commercial real estate. Then, too, the public agency's exercise of its power of eminent domain enabled Seattle Monorail Project to assemble certain parcels into larger sites, which has made redevelopment more feasible in some instances, under new owners.
Local News Highlights: The Last Weeks of the Seattle Monorail Project
KUOW -- Local News Highlights -- 1/17/2007: After almost five years, the Seattle Monorail Project is nearing its end. State lawmakers are expected to pass legislation that will allow the agency to legally close it’s doors. Then the S.M.P. board will meet one final time to end operations. KUOW’s Derek Wang has this look at the transit project’s final weeks.
WHERE ARE THE MONORAILS?[video]
AutoChannel.com -- 12/16/2006: In 1997, Dick Falkenbury authored an initiative to 'build, operate and maintain' a forty mile monorail system hat ould span the city of Seattle in a huge "X". With a handful of volunteers and no support, the initiative gathered 18,500 signatures while spending only $2,000--and it won the first election. He served as a volunteer as a member of the Board of Directors without missing a single meeting for six years. In these six years, there were two more successful elections for the monorail in Seattle, and a fourth election approved a tax on vehicles to pay for the project. Inexplicably, the staff padded the contract to the point where 14 miles of monorail, with interest, would cost $11 billion and the Seattle voters rejected the project. Had it come to fruition, it would have been the only transportation system drafted, planned and implemented by the citizens of a city.
Seattle Center's future begins in nod to past
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 12/1/2006: Jan Levy, executive director of Leadership Tomorrow, and co-chairwoman of the committee, said the new group will continue the work of its predecessor, the Mayor's Task Force for Seattle Center Sustainability.
Retro-named panel to make plans for World's Fair site
A running Monorail puts holiday shopping on track
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 11/25/2006: "When the Monorail doesn't empty people into our escalators, we have fewer pedestrians," said Roger Fredericksen, the owner of Millstream.
In Seattle, a Dream From the Past Has a Hazy Future
The New York Times -- 9/25/2006: And during the four decades after the fair, the Seattle Center Monorail, elevated and alluring along its one-mile course to the fairgrounds from downtown, became something more than just a mighty cool mode of getting humans about: it was an aerodynamic dream from the past that symbolized this city's romance with the future.
Seattle Monorail: Transit bargain?
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board -- 9/5/2006: A contributor to the Seattle P-I's online "Soundoffs" weighed in with this: "There is zero possibility that we could replace this transit corridor with any different transit system (or road construction) that would move as many people for $4.5 million. ... Let's also compare the Monorail with the South Lake Union Streetcar that the mayor so proudly supports: SLU Streetcar -- $50 million, 1.3 miles, expected to carry 350,000 passengers in the first year; Seattle Center Monorail -- $4.5 million, one mile, regularly carries 2.5 million passengers annually (when running)."
A Case of Voter Overkill
The death of Seattle's monorail plan is a telling tale
Governing -- April 2006: I suspect the Seattle monorail would have been a great asset to its city and region if city leaders had allowed it to live. But that's not the only reason I believe Mayor Greg Nickels and his allies in the business community made a mistake when they helped kill the populist transportation project last November. In working to shut down this grassroots movement, Nickels and allied business leaders were also shutting down democracy and civic engagement. And in the long run, that's more important to a healthy city than any specific transportation project.
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RE: Another Example of An Expressway Teardown - Seoul Korea's
Lost Highway
by chadman_98126 on 11/21/06 |
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Seoul is the 5th largest city in the world. Seattle is 23rd-24th largest city in America. Yes transit is lacking, but only one transit corridor (West Seattle-Ballard) is really all that's needed to bring it up to par - oh that and a PRT circulator at each end ;-) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/friendsofthemonorail/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/friendsofthemonorail/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:friendsofthemonorail-digest@yahoogroups.com mailto:friendsofthemonorail-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com friendsofthemonorail-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com |
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Another example of ???
by cleve206 on 11/21/06 |
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if Seoul is NOT comparable to Seattle, then Seoul is not a relevant example for us on the viaduct takedown/absorbtion of traffic issue. the issue can be better refined as the ratio of A to B where A = the loss in carrying capacity due to loss of infrastructure (taking down the elevated highway) and B = the total carrying capacity of the remaining infrastructure. Seoul would not be a particularly good comparison to Seattle because B is so very much larger in Seoul than in Seattle, while A is not so different (160K v. 110K). As to how many lines of rapid transit we need: 1. Today there is no plan at all for rapid transit in the Green Line corridor. So we are not close to par. 2. Currently today you can sit in a car for an extra 30-60 minutes due to the variable "congestion penalty" on any given trip -- that means up to an extra hour or two hours a day for commuters who go both ways-- on these corridors: Tacoma to Seattle Everett to Seattle Everett to Bellevue Bellevue to Renton Seattle to REdmond and vice versa. so conclusion we don't need rapid transit there, is not well supported. 3. did you know? WAshington D.C. had a lower metro area population than we have today, at the time it had a consolidated planningbody that adopted the decision to build the entire rapid transit system it has today. YEs, it took a long time to build it. But people all over the region knew they would get it one day. VEry hard to get anyone else to pay for taxes to support one more line unless they also get a line to seve them, too. Also, you need a full regional system so one can go everywhere. There are not many regional systems that are just one or two lines that are hailed as great systems. You can see Sea-REX.org if you want to see other metro areas' rail systems superimposed on the Puget Sound area. ### |
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Re: Another example of ???
by mmgitman on 11/21/06 |
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I realize I'm naïve, but I can't help but notice that there's one thing that tunnel supporters and PWC supporters and supporters of Cleve's Sea-REX proposal and even, dare I say, retrofit holdouts have in common: none of them wants to see a new, 50% wider viaduct get built. I know that ultimately all these choices are mutually exclusive: you have to do either the tunnel or the tear-down; you can't do both; and you can't even meet halfway. But they all, except for the retrofit, try to accomplish the same thing -- reclaiming Seattle's downtown waterfront. And even the retrofit just puts off the issue for another day. Cleve and I are both members of the 46th District Democrats -- the 46th legislative district covers much of northern/northeastern Seattle. And at a recent meeting of the 46th District Dems, our state senator Ken Jacobsen offered the following resolution: NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The 46th District Democrats believe that it makes no sense to replace the Viaduct with an elevated highway fifty percent larger than the existing structure. That we are concerned that the traffic noise, exhaust smell, and tons of concrete will foul an area designed for people not cars. That it would be a tragedy to apply 1950's logic and a poor solution to solve the problems of the 21st Century. Given the foregoing we are strongly opposed to any alternative that would replace the Viaduct with another elevated structure. Note that Sen. Jacobsen's resolution doesn't express support for any particular solution. It just expresses opposition to the rebuild. Right now, the rebuild is the common and most imminent threat, and so it bothers me to see factions who should be natural allies arguing amongst themselves. By the way, I didn't attend that meeting, but I can tell you that Jacobsen's resolution passed 30-10. On 11/21/06, cleve206@aol.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/friendsofthemonorail/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/friendsofthemonorail/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:friendsofthemonorail-digest@yahoogroups.com mailto:friendsofthemonorail-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com friendsofthemonorail-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com |
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