For three years, leaders of the Seattle Monorail Project promised to build an entire 14-mile line or none at all.

But now that they've acknowledged a serious cash-flow shortage, the SMP and its contractors are thinking about opening the line in phases.

That means the downtown, Ballard and West Seattle segments, or some combination, would be built separately. Some portion would open several years late, assuming enough money and political support.

Acting Chairwoman Kristina Hill discussed the concept yesterday as one way to rework the agency's proposed $1.6 billion contract with Fluor Enterprises and its Cascadia Monorail team.

"We're looking at phasing or segments of the monorail, to see if we could cut costs while preserving functionality, while at the same time keeping our commitment to link neighborhoods to downtown," she said at a news conference.

Hill also emphasized: "All options are on the table."

Agency officials did not give a clear answer yesterday about whether they believe they can break the line into segments without a public vote.

Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) always has said 14 miles were mandatory, but the voter-approved monorail plan of 2002 includes some ambiguous language. Hill's sense is the agency must commit to ultimately build all 14 miles.

SMP chief counsel Ross Macfarlane said he'll take a fresh look at all options, including whether the plan allows building in stages. The legal distinction between phased construction and shortening the line is not necessarily clear, he said.

City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck said he's heard talk of completion in 2017. "That's not keeping the promise to the voters," he said.

Until recently, the agency had aimed for a December 2010 opening of the full line.

Tonight's monorail board meeting includes a closed-door discussion of "potential or actual litigation," a phrase SMP has used to describe its contract updates.

Cascadia President Pat Flaherty said a West Seattle-to-downtown portion could be built first, in time to be used during a future reconstruction of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Even in that case, passenger capacity might be limited by a single-track stretch on the West Seattle Bridge, as well as the loss of the Avalon Way station and several of the wide Hitachi trains, unless the overall deal is improved.

Cascadia suggested an initial downtown-only loop in contract talks with SMP last year, but at that time monorail officials wanted to try for the entire line at once, Flaherty said.

Behind the scenes, King County Labor Council officials are backing Cascadia because SMP already has an offer from the company that includes local union subcontractors.

Another option is allowing new bids on the project. Tom Stone, director of a potential "Team Monorail" offering lightweight Bombardier trains, assembled by union workers in Seattle, said dividing the job into segments would increase the cost of wages and materials.

"The cost per year you have to pay the contractor is less, but you're doing it over a lot more years," said Stone.

Project opponent Henry Aronson said building in phases wouldn't address a core problem: The monorail's car-tab tax is bringing in less than half the money needed to pay off standard municipal bonds for the entire $2.1 billion project.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631