Waterfront streetcar back on track
Sims and Nickels announce new opportunity for relocating waterfront streetcar maintenance barn
The George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line could be sharing its new home with a café, shops and apartments under a new proposal announced today by King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Plans for a new maintenance facility are on track to bring housing and economic development to Pioneer Square at Occidental Avenue near Second Avenue. It also opens tremendous opportunity to transform the streetcar into an important transportation link by possibly extending the streetcar tracks as far east as 23rd and Jackson and as far north as South Lake Union.
"This is the kind of mixed use development that gives vitality to communities and the location opens the opportunity to make the waterfront streetcar much more than a tourist attraction," said Sims. "Putting the maintenance garage in Pioneer Square makes it possible to expand and integrate the streetcar system into the rest of the transit system. The potential for increased ridership is great.
"We thank the Port of Seattle for its efforts in helping to solve the need for a new streetcar maintenance facility," Sims said. "They kept hope alive and forced us all to think creatively, however this new opportunity makes more economic sense."
The innovative plan announced today calls for construction of a block-long mixed-use building that would contain the streetcar maintenance facility and retail shops at street level with housing above. There would also be underground parking and a cafe offering views into the trolley facility much like in San Francisco where a restaurant has views into the cable car maintenance shop.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to save the Waterfront Streetcar and bring much-needed new housing to the city’s oldest neighborhood," Nickels said. "The streetcar is more than a link to our past; it is an important link in our public transportation system. This development would improve both Occidental Park and the surrounding Pioneer Square neighborhood."
The streetcar maintenance facility is now located at the foot of Broad Street near the south end of Myrtle Edwards Park. It needs to be relocated to make way for the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park, which is currently under construction. County and city officials have been working together for more than a year to find a suitable site for a new maintenance barn.
Larry Phillips, Chair of the Metropolitan King County Council said, "This proposal will ensure two great assets are available to the public – our beloved waterfront streetcar and the impressive Olympic Sculpture Park. By moving the maintenance facility, the view of the Olympics and the access to Elliott Bay will be available to citizens for decades to come. Our region will keep waterfront trolley service and gain a park to treasure."
The proposed Pioneer Square location is currently a parking lot on Occidental Avenue, just east of Occidental Square Park between South Main Street and South Washington Street. The lot is immediately adjacent to the existing streetcar tracks that run down Main Street, so a minimal amount of new track should be needed.
Sims said relocating streetcar operations to the Pioneer Square location appears to be one of the lowest-cost alternatives available. This option is estimated at $9 million compared with the $20 million projection for the Port option. He said Pioneer Square also presents the most options for expanding the streetcar line in the future, both to the southeast into the International District and to the northeast to hook up with the proposed South Lake Union Streetcar.
In March, a proposal was made by the Port of Seattle to extend the streetcar tracks north on Elliott Bay and relocate the maintenance barn near Pier 86. The Port had also offered to explore sharing some of the costs for that proposal.
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