Monorail talks go on after deadline missed

The Seattle Monorail Project has run out of time to come up with a detailed survival plan to meet today's deadline set by Mayor Greg Nickels.

But the mayor has given project leaders one more day before he decides whether to oppose the project.

Talks between monorail and city officials are headed into overtime at 8 this morning. That's when the SMP, at least three economists and city staffers will dicker over how much cash the monorail can expect from a car-tab tax that is the only major source of money for construction.

Monorail board members last night voted unanimously to keep looking for savings and a better finance plan to replace an abandoned 3-month-old proposal to collect at least 50 years of taxes.

Project leaders say they will not propose drastic measures such as asking for new bids on the financially strapped project. The mayor's original demand was for SMP to propose a ballot measure to either reduce the line or raise taxes.

SMP is doing neither.

That leaves one big question: whether it's wise to count on the monorail's tax income growing by about 6 percent a year, a widely disputed figure but crucial to SMP's current plans. Nickels was not available for comment yesterday.

Spokesman Marty McOmber said the mayor will decide on the monorail as early as tomorrow.

The city could exert leverage by canceling right of way agreements for monorail construction or by denying permits, although Nickels has not made explicit threats.

Interim director John Haley announced one new idea yesterday: going after federal funds.

That idea drew a warning from Washington state Secretary of Transportation Doug MacDonald.

Federal funds

In an interview, he said federal funds — and the ability of the state's congressional delegation to win them — are limited. "There is going to be a lot of skepticism from other parts of the state and other transportation needs," he said.

Haley acknowledged there's nothing available in the federal "New Starts" program that gave Sound Transit $500 million for Seattle light rail, but he said he could look into other federal grants.

Haley said the project has many strengths that might impress federal funders: The alignment through Ballard, downtown and West Seattle is known; an environmental-impact statement is done; nearly all the real estate for stations is purchased; and city voters have consistently supported transit.

Potential savings

Some cost-saving possibilities include renegotiating to cut the $8 million price per train; relocating a huge switch near Experience Music Project; reducing a requirement that tracks survive a 2,500-year earthquake, to a 475-year event; selling rights to string fiber-optic lines along the trackway; and selling surplus land next to stations.

Monorail leaders hope the city will give them the rest of this year to work out the details. Contractor Cascadia Monorail Co.'s offer expires in mid-December.

By January, state lawmakers would kill the monorail if SMP is still in limbo at that point, Haley predicted.