Tilting off-track

Defending the monorail is a lost cause

Editor, The Times:

I voted several times for the monorail, but only reluctantly last November because of cost and expandability issues. If the original bonds were to take only 30 years to pay off while taxing Seattle residents hundreds of dollars a year, where would the financial support come from to make the system more versatile?

In light of the desperate push for 40- or 50-year bonds, a single supplier bidding 13 percent over the original budget, a history of questionable motives and secrecy, and my belief that the system will be sadly underutilized because of the cost burden for connecting RTA/Metro riders, I think it is time for us to pull the plug and cut our losses ("Monorail bid tops projection by $200M," Times page one, Feb. 16).

I hope the state Legislature does not do anything stupid to help the Monorail Authority to keep this charade going. The Monorail Authority board members need to stand up and say that the system they envisioned no longer makes financial sense because the dollars wasted on the monorail take away from other projects that can better serve Seattle residents.

— Ben Henwood, Seattle

Impossible dream

Every destination of this train trip is now out of reach

The Seattle Monorail Project adopted six goals for this project. They are listed on their Web site as follows: "On time, under budget, break even on operations, excellent design, true to grassroots history, transparency and accountability to public."

Amazingly, this project cannot meet even one of these stated goals!

Nothing can be done now to conceal the hard reality facing the SMP Board: that construction costs are $200 million over the budget, that there is not enough revenue (a 30 percent shortfall) to build this project, and that the monorail will never break even on operations. Even Superman, or a board of Supermen and Superwomen, cannot figure out a way around these harsh realities.

It is galling to us that for six months, and before the vote on Initiative 83 in November, the leaders of the SMP hid the facts of this bid from its own board, the public, from the City Council and from our legislators in Olympia. See "Monorail bid low enough; talks given green light" (Times, Local News, Sept. 9, 2004) for statements made to The Times by SMP officials that the price of the bid was low enough for the line to be built with available taxes.

If the voters had known in November that the project was $200 million over budget, we are certain I-83 would have passed. Remember "transparency and accountability to public"?

— Jim Day and Liv Finne, co-chairs, Yes on I-83, Seattle

Closer to blithering

Monorail promoters like Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-West Seattle, habitually respond to scrutiny of their pet project with "stop the dithering and get the monorail built." It's one thing to call for swift and decisive action on a project that is well-thought-out, competently managed, on budget, and on schedule.

But the Seattle Monorail Project is none of those things. Parties involved are now "dithering" over serious revenue shortfall, a cost gap of $200 million, and an extension of bond terms that could cost taxpayers another $700 million. It looks like the final product — stripped down to bare bones — will fall short of standards of utility and design that were pitifully low to begin with.

Now would be a good time for SMP to stop the endless negotiating, lobbying, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, because it is costing us a lot of money. The monorail camp should finally face reality and accept that the project cannot be built as planned. Stop dithering — just pull the plug.

— Philip Beck, Seattle

Missed connection

Same day, two stories in The Times. One, monorail bid is $200 million over budget for an already pared-down system, monorail board knew this in September but kept it from the voters. The other, Sound Transit construction on track, contract bid under budget ("Sound Transit budget on track," Local News, Feb. 16).

Why are we building the monorail again? Why not light rail instead, compatible with Sound Transit?

I just don't get it.

— Steven Wangsness, Arlington, Va. (until 2006, when we come back to Seattle)

Reality has its advantages

Instead of offering the Seattle Monorail Project the same "mulligan" that Sound Transit was offered, allowing it to now be "on time and under budget," despite being three years behind schedule and a billion dollars over budget — demand that this absurd project be stopped in its tracks right now.

The momentum created from this lucid moment could carry over and cause citizens to realize the boondoggle that Sound Transit is proposing. The pictured unfinished transit station could become an icon similar to the offramp to nowhere which existed for years south of downtown. Who knows, enough money might be freed up to fix the viaduct, the 520 bridge and the roads that 90 percent of us use to get around.

— Gary Sheridan, Seattle

A poor sort of memory that works backward

It sounds ridiculous to say that Sound Transit is coming in under budget. Or is Sound Transit hoping most Seattleites have amnesia and won't recall that "the agency had been forced to abandon its original, voter-approved plan for a 21-mile line from Seattle's University District to SeaTac after acknowledging the project was $1 billion over budget and three years behind schedule"?

Simply hacking off several miles and calling yourself at budget does not convince me the project is going along as well as ST's project control manager Martin Schachenmayr says. He gloats that "it's a little bit early to talk about savings."

I'd suggest it's too late and several miles short.

— Heidi Schor, Kirkland

Highway to help

Hire vision

In "A soaring vision for Highway 520" (guest commentary, Feb. 13), Jonathan Dubman and Rob Wilkinson show more vision and creativity in their proposal for upgrading the 520 bridge through Montlake than I have ever seen from the Washington Department of Transportation.

If our current highway planners can't envision plans as creative as these two gentlemen's, perhaps we should fire the current planners and hire Dubman and Wilkinson.

— Frank Lippman, Seattle

Jumping off point

This new 520 proposal is the sort of out-of-the-box thinking that is truly lacking in today's governmental leaders. The proposal to break the 520 bridge into two suspension bridges around Montlake is spectacular. It solves so many problems around the west end of the lake and provides benefits beyond thought.

It will never happen.

The state Legislature and DOT "leaders" of this region have shown no ability to think beyond the standard "Replace crumbling road A with wider new road B" in their attempts to address any road infrastructure situation. You know the suspension-bridge plan for 520 will be quickly discredited as "costing too much money." Maybe they'll think up some other excuse.

Unfortunately, the local politicians lack vision unless the vision is endorsed by some corporate group looking for taxpayer welfare (see stadiums located in Sodo).

As much as I dislike government by referendum, this may be the case where pushing the people's solution past the government blockades is required.

— John Metzger, Seattle

A bridge too foreign

So, now we have a group proposing to have world-class bridge designers come up with an elegant solution to the Montlake problem.

Where the heck are the world-class bridge designers and their proposals for the viaduct problem? Should we contact the designers of the classy and inexpensive bridge just completed in France? Well, why don't we?

The locals have thrown caution to the wind and keep insisting on an overpriced, complex and risky tunnel, probably to clear the way for their developer buddies; and, let's face it, a solution such as this which requires this arterial to be closed during construction would be disastrous and should be a real no-flier.

Along with the dreamers who insist that no through-arterial is needed (I do think at least half the users of the viaduct are simply trying to bypass Seattle and jugged-up I-5, not go to or from the city), these locals have shown no ability or willingness to seek world-class professional help. Local and state designers, I suspect, are just not in the same league.

— Delmont Gould, Seattle

Reversing the election

The right are all kids

I've been following your governor's race via The Times Web site. I have come to the conclusion that your Washington GOP are sore losers. They also seem to not care whether or not they are disrupting the work of your Legislature. Are they as mean-spirited as they appear to be?

They lost the governor's race and now other Republicans in the same race are trying to get their elections overturned because they lost ("Election dispute attracts 5 who lost race," Local News, Feb. 14).

I don't think they realize they are looking like spoiled children to everyone outside of the political arena. Spoiled children expect everything should be given only to them.

The folks who lost should have the integrity to say they did lose and try harder next time. Now that they are showing their true personalities, I'm glad they didn't win. I don't think they would have represented anyone in Washington state with the integrity that voters would expect from a representative. I think character does matter.

— Frank Ponikvar, Honolulu, Hawaii

Everything isn't winning

It is amazing to see the state of Washington being dragged through the mud over the gubernatorial race. We've seen the race between Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire go back and forth and enough is enough.

Yes, there were obviously irregularities in the election and, more than likely, there have been irregularities in many past elections, because there is a lack of standards covering all 39 counties in Washington state. However, despite these irregularities, the election is over and the Republican Party needs to realize that it is not entitled to the governor's mansion just because of George Bush's alleged "mandate."

It's time to get behind Gov. Gregoire and get on to the business of running the state.

— Craig Marker, San Diego, Calif.

An end without a story

Mark Twain said: "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt."

As I read the endless articles and editorials on how — after winning the governor's race, twice — Republicans are just being "sore losers," I can't help but think of the mathematically, ethically and constitutionally challenged people who could come to such a conclusion, and I realize what an iron grasp Twain had on reality and human nature.

I would like to see at least three more elections. Perhaps then we could know just how many secret stashes of emergency ballots King County Democrats had up their sleeves.

— William Cook, Lake Stevens

Flag democracy's plants

While counting the ballots in Baghdad this week, they found another 412 votes for Christine Gregoire!

— Rick Helwick (U.S. Navy, stationed overseas), Oak Harbor