Shortened monorail route may not save enough

Preliminary figures released last night indicate that simply shortening the monorail line may not solve the Seattle Monorail Project's money shortage. The agency needs to find additional savings.

Facing a Sept. 15 deadline imposed by Mayor Greg Nickels to offer a public revote on a changed plan, monorail board members are feeling pressure to find answers. But their three-hour meeting last night was marked by personality conflicts and disagreements over how to proceed.

The board delayed proposals by member Cleve Stockmeyer to make most board seats publicly elected; to endorse thin steel columns downtown instead of thicker concrete; and to change from single track to faster dual tracking on the West Seattle Bridge.

"We're cutting miles, so we need to add back enhancements in the shorter line we're getting," Stockmeyer said. Others replied that first, they need to determine how much money will come in from the monorail's car-tab tax.

The Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) did take one major step forward last night: hiring an interim executive director, John Haley, who helped the new Las Vegas monorail achieve reliable service after a series of falling parts and shutdowns.

Haley, a principal in the consulting firm of Booz Allen Hamilton, replaces Joel Horn, who resigned July 4 after the board halted a 50- to 75-year finance plan for a $2.1 billion route.

Haley, who will be paid $38,400 a month, also is a former general manager of Boston's transit system.

"I think he does a very effective job at pulling the parties together and looking at all sides, all issues and problems and different strategies," said Cam Walker, an executive of the Las Vegas Monorail Co.

Last night, the agency released estimates of possible savings if parts of the original 14-mile line from Ballard to West Seattle are left out. Officials also are considering "phased" construction, in which some portions of the line would open several years late.

City Council President Jan Drago and Town Hall Seattle founder David Brewster have each suggested stopping the line at each end of downtown, to save money.

But Cascadia Monorail Co., SMP's proposed contractor, said doing so saves just $80 million to $100 million.

The agency must cut at least $200 million to $300 million, said adviser Kevin Phelps, a former Sound Transit finance-committee chairman, who will suggest cost savings to the board Sept. 7, not necessarily to shorten the line.

"There are some difficult decisions that are in front of you, but if you take a 20-year look, and build the Green Line, your individual legacy will be looked favorably upon," he said.

The agency should already have worked out details like double-tracking with Cascadia, opponent Henry Aronson remarked. "Didn't they spend nine months negotiating the contract?"