A Streetcar Named "It’s Just Like a First Hill Light Rail Station"

Picture a streetcar running through it.

The first question many people have on hearing about the First Hill streetcar is, “Huh?” But there is a good reason for the First Hill streetcar’s existence (ETA: end of 2014): The neighborhood was originally supposed to get a deep tunnel light rail station, which turned out to be too expensive. So a streetcar line to the International District light rail station has been deemed an acceptable substitute.

It’s ironic because the streetcar debate now raging is focused on the Capitol Hill end of the line, and First Hill concerns don’t come up as much, even though the regular ridership is likely to come from First Hill’s medical centers (Harborview, Swedish, and Virginia Mason) and Seattle University.

Today SDOT released some conceptual maps of where the streetcar might run. For some months, various constituencies have been pushing for a) a two-way track up and down Broadway, b) a loop of Broadway and 12th Avenue, and c) a Broadway-Boren hybrid.

Seattle Transit Blog (here’s their take on the routes) argues that a 12th Avenue loop makes use of the streetcar stations much more inconvenient, in that there would be a longer schlep involved if you wanted to go north as opposed to south, or vice versa, depending on which side of the loop you lived. They are anti-couplet! But all three of the SDOT alternatives released today use an 11th Avenue and Broadway couplet that circles Cal Anderson Park. And don’t rule out a 12th Avenue jaunt.

Apparently one reason for this is because 11th doesn’t carry the traffic that Broadway or 12th does, and so a couplet line using 11th would be less impacted by congestion on either Broadway or 12th. This nuanced weighing of alternatives makes me crazy. If only someone I hated preferred an option so I could line up opposite!

In the event that you have an axe to grind, CHS reports that “Tuesday night, the city and Sound Transit are holding the first of three meetings to discuss the streetcar project with the community. Tuesday’s meeting is at Seattle Central [Community College] from 6-8 p.m.”