Recluse reflections

Recluse reflections: The Seattle monorail mess
Notes on spaces seen through windows

"But now he knows these hills, that is to say he knows them better, and if ever again he sees them from afar it will be I think with other eyes, and not only that but the within, all that inner space one never sees, the brain and heart and other caverns where thought and feeling dance their sabbath, all this too quite differently disposed."
-- Samuel Beckett

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Robin Evans
Seattle

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Saturday, July 16, 2005

The Seattle monorail mess

I was happy to see a letter from Mayor Nickels to those concerned about the monorail project.

I like the approach that he is taking on this issue even though I'm among those who feel that there is little chance that anything useful can be salvaged from the mess the SMP has made of this whole affair.

I voted against the Monorail plans each time I had the chance. I thought it was the wrong approach and the wrong technology when I first heard about it, and think so still. But they've spent a lot of money already and I must reluctantly agree that they should get one last chance to determine if something can be salvaged from the millions that have already been spent on this boondoggle.

It is unfortunate that Nickels and others in City government were not more forceful in finding out what was happening with the project. I believe that SMP got into this financing mess partly because the mayor and the council members did not hold them accountable soon enough.

I just hope they won't make the same mistake again. Our elected officials have precious little power over the out-of-control monorail fiefdom set up by we the voters acting as irresponsible legislators. Nonetheless, I hope (but don't expect) that those officials who have done too little will now do everything they can to make sure that SMP comes up with a quick and cheap plan to address both financing and construction issues. SMP must seriously consider shutting the operation down as quickly as possible if that turns out to be the only good solution. And I don't trust the SMP Board or their bureaucracy to do that unless they are pressured by elected officials and the press.

Maybe there's still something that can be salvaged from this mess. Maybe. And I think Nickels is right to give them that one last chance.

But the attitude of SMP would require a major readjustment. And even then, the enabling legislation may just tie their hands so that it would be best to lock the plans away in the vault that holds the Bogue Plan and the Commons Plan and a half-dozen other failed urban visions.

Maybe there's something like a few sections of elevated busway that could be built on right-of-way that they've already identified in congested areas other than downtown and Seattle Center. Maybe parts of the monorail itself are buildable for a reasonable cost. Maybe. But if SMP is allowed to figure out alternatives to their failed plans, they must be made to do it cheaply, quickly, and openly.

Technorati tags: Seattle monorail Seattle Boondoggle

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