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Council Endorses Longer First Hill Streetcar Route; Sound Transit Funding Unlikely
This post has been updated with comments from Sound Transit board capital committee chair Fred Butler.
The city council's transportation committee voted unanimously this morning to authorize building the First Hill streetcar along Broadway, an alignment supported by both the Seattle Department of Transportation and Mayor Mike McGinn, and to support extending the route north to Aloha using "excess funds" from streetcar construction, assuming the streetcar comes in under budget.
However, given a 15-year Sound Transit budget shortfall of more than $3 billion, Sound Transit sources say, the agency seems unlikely to agree to extend the streetcar unless the city comes up with a way to pay for it.
Two-way Broadway alignment. Image via Seattle Transit Blog.
"We have an agreement with the city of Seattle for a certain scope of work and for a certain amount," says Issaquah deputy council president Fred Butler, head of the Sound Transit board's capital committee. "This is above and beyond that. ... While it’s difficult to predict [what the board will do], given the revenue shortfall that we’re dealing with right now, I would say it’s unlikely ... that you would see us looking to add a lot of scope" to the streetcar project.
The decision to fund or not fund the extension will be made by the Sound Transit board, which has been reluctant to expand the scope of the light-rail project beyond what voters have approved.
In Bellevue, for example, when the city council wanted Sound Transit to commit to paying as much as $285 million to put light rail underground through downtown Bellevue, Sound Transit balked, noting that the voter-approved plan did not include a tunnel. Eventually, the two sides reached an agreement under which the city would come up with up to $150 million to pay for the tunnel. Seattle hasn't offered to help fund the extension itself, but it may have to if it wants the board to provide any funding, much less pay for the entire extension itself.
The Aloha extension wasn't included in the voter-approved Sound Transit 2 plan, which specifies a streetcar from First Hill to the Capitol Hill light rail station, although it was included in 2007's failed roads and transit ballot measure.
Advocates for the north streetcar extension say extending the streetcar to Aloha will connect First Hill with north Capitol Hill and unify the Broadway shopping and dining district.
The council resolution goes to the full council next Monday, where it is expected to pass.
The city council's transportation committee voted unanimously this morning to authorize building the First Hill streetcar along Broadway, an alignment supported by both the Seattle Department of Transportation and Mayor Mike McGinn, and to support extending the route north to Aloha using "excess funds" from streetcar construction, assuming the streetcar comes in under budget.
However, given a 15-year Sound Transit budget shortfall of more than $3 billion, Sound Transit sources say, the agency seems unlikely to agree to extend the streetcar unless the city comes up with a way to pay for it.
Two-way Broadway alignment. Image via Seattle Transit Blog.
"We have an agreement with the city of Seattle for a certain scope of work and for a certain amount," says Issaquah deputy council president Fred Butler, head of the Sound Transit board's capital committee. "This is above and beyond that. ... While it’s difficult to predict [what the board will do], given the revenue shortfall that we’re dealing with right now, I would say it’s unlikely ... that you would see us looking to add a lot of scope" to the streetcar project.
The decision to fund or not fund the extension will be made by the Sound Transit board, which has been reluctant to expand the scope of the light-rail project beyond what voters have approved.
In Bellevue, for example, when the city council wanted Sound Transit to commit to paying as much as $285 million to put light rail underground through downtown Bellevue, Sound Transit balked, noting that the voter-approved plan did not include a tunnel. Eventually, the two sides reached an agreement under which the city would come up with up to $150 million to pay for the tunnel. Seattle hasn't offered to help fund the extension itself, but it may have to if it wants the board to provide any funding, much less pay for the entire extension itself.
The Aloha extension wasn't included in the voter-approved Sound Transit 2 plan, which specifies a streetcar from First Hill to the Capitol Hill light rail station, although it was included in 2007's failed roads and transit ballot measure.
Advocates for the north streetcar extension say extending the streetcar to Aloha will connect First Hill with north Capitol Hill and unify the Broadway shopping and dining district.
The council resolution goes to the full council next Monday, where it is expected to pass.
