New streetcar routes have potential, but need cash

Four new crosstown streetcar routes appear promising enough to consider building, a Seattle agency said Monday.

Next steps: finding the money and deciding if they're worth it.

The possible routes, winnowed by the Seattle Department of Transportation from a longer list, are:

• A 3.5-mile line to the University District from Westlake Center, extending the South Lake Union line northeast via Eastlake Avenue East, the University Bridge, Northeast Campus Parkway and up University Way to Northeast 50th Street. Estimated cost: $179 million in 2010 dollars, or $50 million-plus per mile.

  The city estimates it could carry up to 3.1 million riders per year. Major costs include reinforcing the University Bridge and reinforcing or replacing a span on Fairview Avenue that crosses a corner of Lake Union.

  The 1.3-mile South Lake Union line, opened last year, cost $40 million per mile of track and is projected to carry about 330,000 annually. Since Dec. 12, its first day open, 200,000 have ridden the line.

• A four-mile line through downtown on First Avenue, connecting the King Street Station area and extending north to Seattle Center. Estimated cost: $180 million, roughly $45 million per mile. Ridership is estimated at up to 4.9 million annually.

• A 4.4-mile line from Westlake Center to Fremont and Ballard, extending along the west side of Lake Union, across the Fremont Bridge and up Leary Way Northwest to 22nd Avenue Northwest and Northwest Market Street. Estimated cost: $130 million, roughly $29 million per mile, with up to 2.7 million riders per year.

• A 2.8-mile line from Pioneer Square to First Hill and Capitol Hill, extending up South Jackson Street from Fifth Avenue east to Boren Avenue and Broadway, as far north as East Aloha Street. Estimated cost: $110 million, or about $39 million per mile. This line was part of a transportation ballot measure rejected by voters last fall but could be included in another Sound Transit expansion proposal if one is put to a vote.

The routes were outlined in a department briefing Monday; operating costs were not included. City Council Transportation Committee members will discuss the list at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Department officials said they rejected three other ideas: a Sodo line to West Seattle, because of complications crossing the Duwamish; a line over the Ballard Bridge because Metro already plans high-frequency bus service in the corridor as part of its Rapid Ride program; and a line from Seattle Center to Capitol Hill because the hillside is too steep for streetcars.

Building the lines will require both public and private money, similar to financing for the South Lake Union line, city officials said.

Which line is built may depend on where the city can find money first.

One source may be a local-improvement district that assesses taxes from benefiting landowners, similar to South Lake Union. Another source for the First Hill line, specifically, may be Sound Transit, if it can persuade voters to approve it. Other cash could come from Alaskan Way Viaduct construction, which has prevented the waterfront streetcar from resuming for several years. Some think a new First Avenue streetcar could replace the waterfront line.

The new list is "pretty exciting" because the lines could connect neighborhoods to downtown and the stadiums, said City Councilwoman and Transportation Committee Chairwoman Jan Drago, a streetcar backer. She wants a streetcar network-expansion plan by August, but said construction depends on finding the cash and property owners who are willing to contribute.

"We've said all along, 'Show me the money,' " she said.

No possible source of cash, including neighborhood businesses, has been tapped yet. And there are other questions.

Councilman Nick Licata, a skeptic of streetcar expansion, said First Hill hospitals might contribute to a line, but smaller businesses on South Jackson might not. He worries that streetcars on a Fremont-Ballard line would be mired in neighborhood traffic.

The lagging economy and flat city tax revenue projections make streetcar outlays questionable, said Councilman Richard McIver, a transportation committee member. He'd prefer spending on Mercer Street.

"I'm still not convinced that streetcars aren't just a fad," McIver said.

"That's an awful lot of revenue to stick into a fad."