The Seattle City Council narrowly defeated a proposal on Monday this week to eliminate the monorail's Northwest Route across the Seattle Center grounds.
The 5-4 vote was taken the same afternoon the Monorail Recall group filed an initiative that would block use of any city property for the 14-mile line.
Council members were heavily lobbied about the Northwest Route and many other issues connected to the monorail, and the lobbying included a letter from former mayors Paul Schell, Norm Rice, Charles Royer and Wes Uhlman, a Queen Anne resident.
The mayors are concerned about - among other potential sticking points - financing for the monorail, and they called for an independent study of the issue, Uhlman said.
The letter also urges the council to "eschew the politics of haste," he said. The monorail is a major project, Uhlman noted, adding "the council should take time to make sure it makes sense."
Monorail Now spokesman Peter Sherwin was incredulous. "I think they have taken time," he said. "This process has been ongoing for three and a half years, and there has been a huge opportunity to comment. One really has to ask what it is that (the former mayors) want to determine."
Seattle Monorail Project head Joel Horn dismissed the former mayors' concerns, charging that they have all been opponents of the transit project. "It's time to vote," he said.
In reality, according to council president Jan Drago, a final vote on the monorail - included specific approval of the Northwest Route - isn't expected to take place until June 7.
There may be a number of proposed amendments to the plan before then, she warned, and the question on the Northwest Route was one of them.
Council member Peter Steinbrueck has led the charge against the Northwest Route, and he conceded on Monday that he probably wouldn't change other council members' minds about the issue.
Still, he did his best to make a case against the controversial route. Steinbrueck said he wants to see the monorail succeed, adding he voted for the project.
But he qualified his support. "I didn't at the time take seriously... that it would go through the Seattle Center," the council member said.
"Now I am very respectful of all the people who have studied this, the so-called stakeholders," Steinbrueck insisted. "But our decision here... as elected members of the city council... should put the citywide interests first over special interests."
He likened the Northwest Route to a proposal years ago to tear down the Pike Place Market. It was an idea supported by the downtown business establishment, the mayor, a majority of the city council, both daily newspapers and all the television stations, Steinbrueck said.
"It was considered blighted." People couldn't see the purpose of saving it and felt that the only way to save the Pike Place Market was to tear it down, he said. "And we know now how wrong they were.
"I don't want our children saying how wrong we were to have trampled one of the greatest public gathering places in the United States," Steinbrueck said. "I cannot support running the monorail through the Seattle Center."
Neither could rookie council member Tom Rasmussen, who joined David Della and Richard Conlin in voting against the route. "It has taken the Seattle Center over 40 years to become what it is today. It is the heart of Seattle for major festivals and events," Rasmussen said.
It also serves as a gathering place for solemn events, such as the days following 9/11 and the death of Beatles' singer John Lennon, he said. "It really has become a shrine for all of us at those times."
Having the monorail bring people to the Seattle Center is a good idea, but having the monorail cut through the campus isn't, Rasmussen said, adding that the Mercer Street route is a better option.
"The people of Seattle have entrusted us to take good care of the city," he said, pointing to an aborted plan to run a freeway through the Arboretum as an example of bad planning. "Let's learn from history; let's save the Seattle Center," he said. Just as Lennon sang, Rasmussen added, "Let it be."
Council member Nick Licata - who joined the rest of the council in voting against the anti-Northwest Route amendment - said he has more friends who oppose the Northwest Route than support it.
"There will be negatives whichever route the monorail takes," Licata noted. But he stressed that the decision needs to be based on a rational review of the impacts. "It is not a serene, pastoral center," he said of the campus, noting that the International Fountain pumps out music every day.
The belief of his friends aside, overall public sentiment favored the cross-Center route 60 percent to 40 percent, Licata said. "It was a hard decision, but I believe the Northwest Route will benefit the public and the Seattle Center."
Drago was sympathetic to concerns about the cross-campus route. "I do believe the Seattle Center is a unique gathering place," she said. Still, there are plenty of places on the campus for quiet contemplation, Drago noted.
Drago also said she based her decision on 18 months of a public process that included community organizations on Lower Queen Anne and a huge number of stakeholders who felt the Northwest Route was the best option. "And I agree with them."
News reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
