The Green Line Opens Saturday!
This Saturday, December 15th, marks the grand opening of Seattle’s new monorail [elevated]. The Green Line, stretching from Ballard to West Seattle, was first approved by voters in 2002. With light rail over a year away and the S.L.U.T. ironically serving only a few, ridership along the Green Line is expected to be heavy from the start. When the Alaskan Way Viaduct eventually shuts down for a lengthy repair or removal the Green Line will likely bulge with passengers.
So, Metroblogging readers, will you be riding? Feel free to drop pictures of the new monorail into our Flickr Group Pool.
Oh, DAMN.
Remember, remember the 8th of November…
(Thanks, Daryl, for the reminder.)
Boo.
Stupid vehicle-tax-based funding ruined it for everybody.
Bah.
Yes, remember the Monorail as a textbook example of how politicians can manipulate the electorate to oppose something they originally overwhelmingly wanted (delay and obstruct, knowing that it will cause options to shrivel and costs to skyrocket, then declare loudly, “hey! those costs have skyrocketed! whassup wit’ that??”
Congrats, politicos, now we have…um, nothing.
@Michael: That’s not true! We have a pretty new streetcar. It can take you as far as you could walk in 20-30 minutes, if it doesn’t have to stop for a downed cyclist. Aren’t you excited?
No, what killed it was the 2.5 billion to 11 billion inflation. That is what killed the project.
Personally I’m glad it was killed simply because I didn’t want the Bombardier Monorail which Lag Vegas for some points was closed for weeks due to parts falling off, mysterious failures and other odd problems.
It would have been GREAT to have it going but when it bubbles over 8 billion.. that is a problem which is why it was killed.
Next stop, Surface Alaskan Way, Light-rail, and Streetcars.
At least with the surface option, the rest of those funds can go towards Highway 520 or the South Park Bridge.