Voters again will decide the fate of the monorail after the state Supreme Court last month declined to hear an emergency stay petition to keep Initiative 83, known as the “Monorail Recall” measure, off of the November ballot.

Initially, the King County Superior Court determined that I-83 exceeded the scope of the City of Seattle’s initiative power because it conflicts with state law, and therefore could not be placed on the November ballot. However, that ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeals, allowing the initiative to go forward.

With the Supreme Court’s decision, the appeals court’s ruling stands. The Seattle City Council has forwarded the initiative on to King County for inclusion on the ballot. While the initiative will be voted on in November, it is by no means the end of the legal challenges.

Since the legality of the initiative remains in question and we won’t know until after the election whether the initiative will pass, it is imperative that City planning work continues. While the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) is negotiating with the contractor, the City has the opportunity to take the lead on planning work. This includes reviewing and redesigning how the monorail streets will operate for both vehicles and pedestrians to ensure that City goals are furthered and that the monorail system can serve and be an asset to the adjacent neighborhoods.

— Station Area Planning
The news headlines have not affected the work DPD staff is doing on station and corridor area planning. Staff attended standing community meetings along the alignment in September to present preliminary summaries of the draft station area plans for the corresponding stations and corridors. They anticipate more complete public presentations in October and November.

By the October round of community group meetings, the community will have had an opportunity to review the summaries and provide in-depth feedback on the actions proposed in them. DPD’s goal for October is to give more complete presentations to a variety of community groups, with graphics illustrating specific corridor designs and other actions, in order to engage community members in discussions that will inform the final product. In November, the City monorail team will be hosting three open houses (times and places to be determined):

• Nov. 4 in West Seattle;
  
• Nov. 9 downtown at the Bertha Landes Room, City Hall; and
  
• Nov. 10 in Ballard.

Each of the open houses will have the same format and materials, providing an opportunity for residents to review and comment on our draft station and corridor area plans for the entire monorail alignment. To give the public additional opportunities for reviewing and commenting, we will post our draft plans and a comment form on our website in October. By the end of 2004 the Mayor will forward these plans to City Council as part of the “Integrating the Monorail Report.”

In response to questions from the public, we have prepared an information sheet that highlights the City’s parking policies and sets forth the strategy to address “Hide and Ride” parking impacts on neighborhoods. To find out more about our draft plans and future meeting times and locations, visit the Station Area Planning website.

— Corridor Task Force
The Seattle Monorail Green Line Project provides an opportunity to revisit fundamental assumptions about priorities for the design and operation of City streets in the monorail corridor.

Toward that end, the City’s monorail team is developing street design concepts for several of the key streets where the monorail will be built. These concepts are meant to clearly define the City’s vision and objectives for traffic operations and urban design. They also will serve as a framework for informing future work on the City’s station area plans, design guidelines, and review of preliminary and in-progress design submittals for the monorail guideway.

As the concepts are completed, they will become a part of the station and corridor area plans and available for review on the website.