Ballard rethinks the monorail

Lydia Mencias liked the idea of the monorail — until it stopped short of Ballard, where she works at Matt's Famous Chili Dogs.

Lydia Mencias had only a moment before her bus arrived, still enough time to rant about how the latest monorail plan stops short of her Ballard neighborhood.

She said she's always voted for the monorail but plans to vote against it Nov. 8.

"If I have to take a bus to Interbay and get on it, why shouldn't I just stay on the bus and go?" she said. "Why should I support it if it's not useful to me?"

Ballard residents' loyalty to the monorail is being tested, now that a new ballot measure cuts their neighborhood from the original 14-mile, Crown Hill-to-Morgan Junction route.

The Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) board, forced by tax shortages and city politics to reduce costs, agreed last month to place a 10-mile initial phase before voters in the general election. The plan drops not just Ballard, but one mile from the West Seattle end. Most board members say they changed the plan reluctantly and will soon offer a finance plan for the whole line.

Three years ago, when city voters approved the monorail's car-tab tax, all Ballard precincts lining the route voted yes, and several delivered more than 60 percent approval — contributing to the 877-vote win.

The neighborhood was counting on three stations, where studies predict 6,000 people a day would board trains by 2030.

Many residents still will vote yes on Proposition 1. They figure that unless a first phase to West Dravus Street in Interbay is built, the odds of ever reaching Ballard are zero.

"I hope and pray it goes to Dravus. From there, I think it will go everywhere," said Anne Marie Kreidler, owner of Zesto's Burger & Fish House, a Ballard hangout since 1952.

Monorail boosters will offer that dream in the five-week campaign.

"It's now or never," warned SMP board member Cindi Laws. "Vote yes, or don't have transit at all in your lifetime."

The 36th District Democrats, representing Belltown, Queen Anne, Magnolia and Ballard, overwhelmingly endorsed the project again last week, said Janis Traven, district vice chairwoman. She accused Mayor Greg Nickels, who turned against the monorail last month, of offering no "counterplan" to offset gridlock while the Alaskan Way Viaduct is replaced. Party doorbellers may include pro-monorail campaign messages in 30,000 leaflets, she said.

But Rob Mattson, the city's Ballard neighborhood coordinator, said support has gradually slipped over the past year, even before the line-shortening proposal. A lack of details about the design, as well as news of financial troubles, has created apathy, he said.

Proximity to the monorail was once a selling point for high-rises next to a proposed station at 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest Market Street. Mark Subotnick bought a condo there last November, thinking the monorail would boost his property value. He leans toward a yes vote, though his main worry is his east-west commute to Redmond.

Michele A. Jones, manager of the Top Banana fruit stand across 15th Avenue Northwest from Ballard High School, says she's a supporter of the shorter route because it is less likely to result in development that might displace her business.

The pro-monorail Ballard District Council hasn't discussed a shorter line yet. Speaking for himself, council President Warren Aakervik said he'll vote yes, but monorail construction ought to begin with a north-end line to downtown from Crown Hill, or even farther out.

SMP kept West Seattle onboard because of fears it would be severed from downtown if the Alaskan Way Viaduct is closed by an earthquake or a replacement project.

Aakervik replies that the congested Ballard Bridge is the area's only commuter lifeline between the Aurora Bridge and Puget Sound — so adding elevated rail is crucial there.

Chris Raney, an iron fabricator drinking a beer at historic Mike's Chili Parlor & Tavern, said he voted yes in hopes a monorail would reduce traffic, and whisk him from Crown Hill to Mariners baseball games. He's undecided now.

Several said neighbors have turned cynical — because political bickering thwarted their previous votes, or because SMP has spent tens of millions of dollars without breaking ground.

Shawna Zuege said she's "burnt out" after voting pro-monorail four times and paying $270 in car-tab taxes this year. "I'd rather go back to the drawing board than have this as a solution," she said. "What's the point? The area they cut was one of the areas that needs it the most."

"Nobody who was against it before, is for it now. Those who were for it before had an unreasonable optimism — 'We had to do something,' " said Christy McDanold, owner of Secret Garden Bookshop on Northwest Market Street. At this point, she said, "I don't think people are too optimistic."

Mencias, a hot-dog-shop manager who rode two buses home from downtown, said that if Ballard gets trimmed from the route, the taxing area should be, too. "I think it should be done by ZIP code. If you live there, you should pay for it. If you don't live there, you should not pay."

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com

Michele A. Jones, manager of the Top Banana fruit stand across the street from Ballard High School, supports a shorter monorail route, which she says is less likely to cause development that might displace her business. (DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES)