Notes on spaces seen through windows
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| Recluse reflections: The high cost of a dream turned nightmare Notes on spaces seen through windows |
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Friday, October 28, 2005 The high cost of a dream turned nightmare
Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat writes today that the 10-mile monorail project that we'll be voting on in a week is "too much, too late".He doesn't mean that the shortened route that would be of little help to anyone in Seattle beyond some residents of West Seattle is too long, but rather that the $4 billion dollar cost for that 10-mile line is way to much to pay for the limited benefits afforded by the project: I doubt that Westneat's notion of a light-rail connection to West Seattle would get much traction, whatever the results of the November vote since it would have to fall in line behind the other 80 projects that are already being considered as a possible part of the second-stage Sound Transit buildout. That West Seattle is likely to have to make do with bus service for years to come is just another of too many unfortunate results of this massive mess that is the Seattle Monorail Project. But Westneat is right to emphasize that the exhorbitantly expensive monorail project remains iffy even if voters once again abrove it next week. For one thing, a reapproved shorter line would still have to negotiate a new transit-way agreement with the City. The report on SMP financing that was released Tuesday by the City Council indicates how difficult such a renotiation could be even if the measure on the ballot passes. The report was required as an element of the original and now-rescinded transit-way agreement. After SMP's problems with their financing plan that was revealed in June, the City Council restricted the scope of the report, asking the analysts to look only at the elements that might remain after a new financing plan was adopted. The analysts found the design-build-operate-maintain contracts with Cascadia to be generally safe for Seattle taxpayers, if the agency can generate the necessary revenues, but the chances of generating those revenues was judged to be highly risky for taxpayers. [See the presentation to the council in this video from the Seattle Channel. The presentation begins about half-way or 33 minutes into the stream.] There was not all that much that was new in the final report. The mayor and council mentioned all of the risks and problems when they rescinded the transit-way agreement. What was a bit surprising to me was the reaction of some SMP board members. Board chair Kristina Hill seemed to suggest that the Council should have somehow hidden the results of this publicly funded study when she told the Times, "I don't see what the basis is for looking at this now, except for influencing the election in some way." The agency's finance chair seemed to echo the sentiment when he complained to a PI reporter that "The sole purpose ... was to influence the election." Secrecy and a refusal to listen to critics have been two of the major problems with the monorail board's handling of its risky project, but they don't seem to have learned from their past mistakes. Technorati tags: Seattle monorail Seattle Monorail Project Seattle Boondoggle posted by WebWrangler | 2:34 PM | Link | 0 comments
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