City council is pushing South Jackson streetcars

By Bob Young and Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times staff reporters

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Seven council members sent a letter to Sound Transit, asking the public-transit agency to consider financing an extension of Seattle's only current streetcar line, which runs along the waterfront and up to South Jackson Street and Fifth Avenue. Council members want that line to go into the Chinatown International District and up South Jackson Street to 12th Avenue South at the least, and possibly to 23rd Avenue South.

The council aims to get the South Jackson streetcar on Sound Transit's next menu of projects submitted to voters in 2005 or 2006. Richard Conlin, council transportation-committee chairman, said he saw Tacoma's new streetcar, entirely financed by Sound Transit, as the model for a South Jackson streetcar.

"I wouldn't say it's a slam dunk. But it's something the council is committed to. It's time for us to take it seriously," Conlin said.

A $214,000 city study of possible streetcar routes concluded that a South Jackson line was the second-most-promising option in Seattle, behind only the South Lake Union proposal. The South Jackson line would "connect tourist and entertainment destinations along the waterfront, through Pioneer Square, into the busy Chinatown International District and beyond," the study said. It would also serve workers and residents and might spur redevelopment, the council added in its letter to Sound Transit.

Councilman David Della said a South Jackson extension is an "opportunity to shift the spotlight to another part of the city where a streetcar could have a clear public benefit." Della said the city has "already put a lot of resources and attention into South Lake Union" and "we need to pay as much attention to other areas."

Councilman Richard McIver noted that people in the Chinatown International District had been asking for a streetcar extension "long before South Lake Union came along." McIver predicted a South Jackson streetcar would work well.

"The question," he added, "is how to pay for it."

The South Lake Union line, proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels, would cost $45 million to build, with $25 million coming from property owners near the line. On Tuesday, a majority of council members unveiled legislation that would all but prohibit city spending on the South Lake Union line. The same legislation calls for spending federal and state grant money on further analysis of a South Jackson line.

The city's study showed that the South Jackson streetcar would cost $47 million to build and would have fewer riders than the South Lake Union line.

The preliminary study says that 250,000 people a year would hop a train between Union Station and 12th Avenue South and that if it were extended to 23rd Avenue, two trains would be needed to assure service every 10 minutes, while adding an unknown number of riders.
 
The South Lake Union line is supposed to start at 330,000 riders a year and eventually reach 1.1 million a year if the area grows as fast as predicted.

Council members also expressed doubts a South Jackson line would attract as much private financing as South Lake Union's.

Afternoon car and bus traffic is heavy in the Chinatown International District, causing "potential conflicts" with a streetcar, the city report said. Currently, some buses to Rainier Valley hit a choke point on and around Jackson.

If Sound Transit takes charge of the South Jackson streetcar route, its fate would rest with voters throughout urban Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.

John Ladenburg, Sound Transit's board chairman, said the line is worth preliminary study. He would want to know how many people are served and what employment centers are linked, since Sound Transit's mission is to provide regional transportation.

A streetcar would represent an additional technology beyond what Sound Transit is building in its express bus, light-rail and heavy commuter rail lines.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com.