I know, early days and all that, but this would be pretty rad.
Yesterday, the Sound Transit Executive Committee recommended a $2 million budget addition to study high-capacity mass transit from downtown to Ballard in 2012, instead of maybe three years from now, as was originally proposed.
This is fantastic news! Regardless of if the full Sound Transit board approves the $2 million Executive Committee recommendation on December 15, millions have already been pledged. Specifically, the City has budgeted an additional $2 million for studying and planning (including $900,000 from a federal transportation planning grant, a $300,000 SDOT match of the federal grant, and $800,000 from the approved 2012 budget).
I would be interested in how much this would work as a spur to development versus changing the way people move between Ballard and Downtown. The buses between Downtown and Ballard now seem to work pretty well (they work well for me when I take them, but I don’t commute that route so it’s not rush hour). And while there’s always room for improvement, Ballard doesn’t seem as in need of a spur for growth that much of the Link corridor will benefit from in the long term.
I hate to be a wet blanket, but I thought the city was so broke it can’t fix potholes, and ST was so broke they needed a new car tab tax to save service? Didn’t federal dollars dry up? Where did all this magic money appear from?
With gas at 4 bucks and money-printing inflation on the horizon, bringing back streetcars may be a good idea, because cars will be economically obsolete by the time they get it built. Someone should look into restarting the old buggy whip factory, too. We seem to be racing toward the 19th century.
sounds like another asinine proposal, just like the SLUT.
I must say this: the politicians in seattle sure seem adept at inventing ways to piss away money.
@3,
The SLUT is so unsuccessful that Amazon moved to South Lake Union (staying in the city as it expanded), they had to add another car and it’s regularly filled even in non-rush hour or special event times. No, the politicians who piss away Seattle money are state politicians who insist on using us as an ATM.
@3
What are they supposed to do as the number of people living and working in South Lake Union grows, knock down buildings to build more roads?
Carl, whatever they do Ballard wise I hope they don’t do it The Seattle Way so it takes three times longer than it needs to to get built. Hopefully they also wont worry too much about slowing drivers down and adding a whole 45 seconds to their commute. The street car should get priority.
@1
The car tab was for Metro, not Sound Transit. And I’m not sure what the city’s budget for pothole repair has to do with a ST funded study.
Also, the argument that mass transit an obsolete, 19th century tech and thus useless is an asinine argument. Not least because the personal automobile was also birthed in the 19th century.