First Hill Streetcar Map, originally uploaded by Oran Viriyincy.
As we’ve been reporting all along, the city and Sound Transit have been pushing toward a plan to have the streetcar running between Union Station and Capitol Hill in service shortly after the 2012 apocalypse.
The two agencies made Streetcar 2013 official with this announcement released Monday:
Seattle, Sound Transit execute agreement for expedited streetcar construction
November 16 , 2009
The City of Seattle and Sound Transit are moving forward with plans to build a new streetcar line linking the city’s First Hill neighborhood with Capitol Hill and the International District.
The city and Sound Transit have executed an agreement that includes an expedited construction timeline – the line is anticipated to open in 2013 instead of the 2016 completion that was earlier planned. The City of Seattle will build and operate the new line, which voters approved as part of the 2008 Sound Transit 2 ballot measure.
“This line will be the first two of 36 new miles of rail coming to our region,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who today added his signature to the agreement following recent approvals by the Sound Transit Board and Seattle City Council.
The First Hill Streetcar will serve major Seattle work centers, including Swedish Hospital, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle University and Seattle Central Community College. The line will provide easy access to the Link light rail system that opened this summer and the Capitol Hill light rail station when University Link opens in 2016.
“First Hill is home to more than 22,000 jobs and the streetcar will be a great new option for the people who live and work here,” said First Hill Improvement Association Vice President Jim Erickson. “We look forward to working with the City and Sound Transit to meet the transportation needs of First Hill.”
Sound Transit will cover the project’s costs up to $132 million, and the city will take the lead on design, property acquisition and construction of the two-mile line connecting downtown Seattle, First Hill and the Capitol Hill light rail station. Sound Transit will cover operating costs when the line begins service.
The First Hill line will be the second modern streetcar line in Seattle following the Sound Lake Union Streetcar line which opened in December, 2008.
The City plans to begin construction in 2012. The final route will be determined as part of the environmental review process over the next two years. The Sound Transit Board included the streetcar line in the ST 2 expansion package after determining that a previously-planned light rail station at Madison Street and Summit Avenue on First Hill would be too costly.
With the passage of the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure in November 2008, light rail is targeted to reach all the way to Lynnwood, Redmond’s Overlake area and the Star Lake/Redondo area near Federal Way by 2023.
Next for the process will be the public and political discussion about what route the line will take as it passes between the International District and Capitol Hill by way of First Hill.
How’s that new maintenance barn for the waterfront trolley going? :/
Lovely idea with the dotted line on 12th Ave… that would not meet any of the needs listed in the plan. No one is going to walk from 12th to Virginia Mason, HMC, and probably not even to Swedish.
You definitely couldn’t call it the First Hill Streetcar, because the 12th ave route doesn’t even come close to First Hill.
yo has it right. Whoever is designing this has never been in Seattle, much less the neighborhood. These are hills, baby, and this line goes nowhere near First Hill. What a waste of resources, when all you have to do to improve transit is add a few more trolleys.
No wonder Mayor N. lost the election.
I’ve been undecided on where I think this streetcar should go. But after spending a couple days here in Portland and checking out their transit, I’m definitely in favor the 12th/ Broadway loop. The Portland streetcar (and MAX downtown) runs on parallel streets most of it’s route and it seems to work great.
And as I’ve said a in countless comments and will say again, the streetcar really should to be taken to it’s logical end point, Broadway and E Roy, if not all the way to Aloha.
I started out this post wondering why streetcars, rather than another bus line. It would be cheaper and easier, and provide the same service, right?
Well, I did a little research, and came across the following article which other readers might find interesting:
http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/06/03/36-reasons-that-s
Not all of the points listed are applicable to comparisons with electric buses, but many of them are.
They spent a few years studying this thing: http://soundtransit.org/Projects-and-Plans/Projects-By-Servi
They studied adding more buses, re-routing buses, and a streetcar. I’m pretty sure you bring nothing new to the table by suggesting “just adding a few more electric buses”.
For congestion reasons involving how slow traffic moves along Broadway, I tend to prefer the 12th configuration (preferred alternative), but the chosen route – although slower than the one on 12th – looks good.
Glad to see our new Mayor will expedite this and bring transit and growth back to all of Seattle, not just Downtown and for the Billionaires who don’t live in our city.
for the growth of the city, the 12th ave route would be best. improve first hill with a true boulevard, traffic bulbs and calming measures, bus priority. the times have changed and it only makes sense to have it roll up and down 12th. slapping it on broadway is kinda insane at this point. perhaps a first hill circulator would distill the 1st hillers?
I live on first hill, and with some love, shrubs and trees, some traffic calming measures and a few bike lanes it could be a pretty sweet neighborhood.
Having the split-route line on 12th is the way to go. It would help server more of the community. 12th Ave South of Madison and North of Yesler could use the shot in the arm a transit option along the street could provide.
I will believe it when I see it. Too many days working in Pioneer Square have made me cynical. And is it too much to ask to have the route restored all the way to the ferry?
Apparently the 23 story building to be built over its forthcoming barn in the Occidental Park parking lot has to come first.
“Lovely idea with the dotted line on 12th Ave… that would not meet any of the needs listed in the plan. No one is going to walk from 12th to Virginia Mason, HMC, and probably not even to Swedish. You definitely couldn’t call it the First Hill Streetcar, because the 12th ave route doesn’t even come close to First Hill.”
So don’t call it the “First Hill Streetcar” then. 12th Ave isn’t First Hill, nor is it Capitol Hill. It’s just a logical corridor to be served between light rail stations. Most First Hill residents are mere blocks away from downtown light rail stations that streetcar service seems redundant and kind of silly.
Capitol Hill, given its total population, is SO underserved by Sound Transit (one station?! seriously?). What will move the most amount of people? That’s the bottom line.