Seattle Monorail Project

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The Seattle Monorail Project was a proposed five-line monorail system to be constructed in Seattle, Washington by the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority. The Green Line was a fourteen-mile line intended to run from Ballard to West Seattle via Seattle Center, Belltown, Downtown, Pioneer Square, the International District, and Qwest Field.

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[edit] Construction

Construction was expected to begin in autumn 2005 and be completed in 2009. The agency was conducting confidential negotiations with Cascadia Monorail Company to develop the contract to design, build, operate and maintain the line, which under their proposal would use Hitachi trains. Another consortium called Team Monorail had to drop out of the bidding for financial reasons, but lobbied to be re-considered; they said that their proposal, using Bombardier trains, would be less expensive than Cascadia's and provide better services.

[edit] Financing

In November 2002 Seattle voters approved the construction of the Green Line and a 1.4% motor vehicle excise tax on vehicles registered in Seattle to help fund it. The tax is based on the MSRP of the vehicle and a fixed depreciation table. In 2005, the average monorail tax per vehicle was $130.

The project fell under intense public scrutiny, as actual revenue from the motor vehicle excise tax that was to pay for the line fell as much as 30% under projected income, while projected costs rose by as much as 10%. To accommodate this, the SMP proposed a finance plan that included over $9 billion in interest to pay for the $2 billion construction. This would have required extending the tax out nearly 50 years, causing a small uproar in Seattle-area politics. Even local monorail boosters such as local alternative weekly The Stranger opposed the financing plan.

In response to public criticism regarding the above finance plan, the Seattle Monorail Project's board of directors killed the plan. The Seattle mayor Greg Nickels gave the board an ultimatum, to create a new plan or he would withdraw city support for the project. A new plan was not developed, and on September 16, 2005, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels withdrew city support for the project. On September 23, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to withdraw support for the project, echoing Nickels' position on the issue.

[edit] End of the line

While the city of Seattle could not officially stop the project, it could withhold permission to build on municipal land, as Nickels did. Nickels also called on the Seattle Monorail Project to put a measure on the November 2005 ballot to determine whether or not to continue with the project, which marked the fifth time Seattleites voted on this issue.

Following the Council's vote, the Monorail Board met and approved a ballot measure for the elections. The measure shortened the initial phase of the Green Line to 10.6 miles with the remaining 3.4 miles to be added later. The SMP said it would dissolve if the measure failed. "Proposition 1" was defeated by a margin of 65%-35%.

With the defeat of the measure, SMP reduced staff and started work to liquidate the properties purchased for the line. At the end of 2005, SMP only had 4 employees remaining. The motor vehicle excise tax on Seattle vehicles was terminated effective July 1, 2006.

[edit] See also

  • Jim Nobles

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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