At a cost of up to $3.5 million apiece, bringing electric streetcars back to Everett won’t come cheap.
That price tag is just for a single car and doesn’t include construction, land acquisition, operation of the system or its design.
Yet a passenger rail system shuttling tourists, workers and people who live here to key attractions brings its own benefits.
“Conceptually, it’s certainly worth looking at,” said City Councilman Paul Roberts. “But at this point, I don’t think we have enough to go down that path.”
A feasibility study expected by the end of June should reveal whether streetcars are a pie-in-the-sky dream or something tangible the city could use.
Whatever the case, it is important to have a transportation plan in place before major developments at the city’s marina, downtown and riverfront are constructed, city officials say.
In the next two decades, more than 4,000 apartment and condominium units and at least one new high rise could be built near the proposed streetcar line.
Linking those sites with rail is a central goal set by Everett’s Vision 2025 team, a 32-member committee appointed by Mayor Ray Stephanson in 2004 to map out the city’s future.
The $113,000 feasibility study will look at project costs, route alignments and a comparison of different types of streetcars.
Getting buy-in from developers and business owners to help pay for the streetcars is key.
“A major driver is the financing package,” said Tom Brennan with San Francisco-based Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, which is conducting the study.
Since federal transportation dollars are scarce and can add years to a project, Brennan said cities looking at financing streetcar projects often get creative.
Creating special-assessment districts along the route is one common tactic.
In Portland, Ore., for example, property owners close to streetcar lines are charged a fee based on lineal feet along the rail.
In Everett, where neighborhoods vary widely along the proposed route, several different funding packages could be established.
Business sponsorships, a sales tax surcharge and development fees are other options the consultant will look at.
While the cost could be great, similar public investments have paid dividends.
Besides potentially reducing traffic and making downtown living more attractive, some cities with new streetcar services have seen increased property values and redevelopment of blighted properties along new lines.
Portland opened its streetcar system in 2001. The city saw more than $3 billion in economic development and rapid, high-density residential development within three blocks of the streetcar lines, according to Everett’s consultant.
The Portland line cuts through the city’s once worn Pearl District, an area that has seen warehouses replaced with lofts and art galleries.
Downtown Portland property values close to the line also have increased compared with properties further from the line, according to the Nelson\Nygaard study.
In the coming months, the city’s consultant will talk with a select group of local developers, property owners, public officials, and business organizations to gauge the community’s willingness to finance the project.
Getting people to ride streetcars isn’t expected to be as big a challenge.
Privately operated streetcar lines once ran along the entire stretch of Hewitt Avenue, linking Bond Avenue at the port with the Snohomish River in the early 1900s.
Lines also ran along Broadway and Rucker, Pacific and Everett avenues.
Civic leaders decided to get rid of the last streetcars in 1923.
Tom Hingson, director of Everett Transit, said streetcars have a certain psychological appeal that can attract riders who wouldn’t ordinarily ride buses.
“Communities embrace the presence of a fixed rail system,” he said.
When Tacoma replaced an existing bus line with streetcars, it saw a 500 percent increase in ridership, Everett’s consultant said.
Tacoma’s introduction of streetcars also spurred an increase in passengers who were willing to take suburban bus lines to connect to the streetcar to complete their trip.
While those people previously could have taken the same trip on two buses, they did not.
City officials would like to see a rail line that would cross the peninsula that forms Everett’s north end and link its riverfront with its waterfront. But physical barriers could complicate the construction of a freshwater-to-saltwater system.
Railroad tracks, steep grades, I-5, and West Marine View Drive, which is a state highway, are significant hurdles.
The study breaks down the line into four segments, including one alternative route to Everett Community College along Colby Ave.
The riverfront-to-downtown leg would extend 1.5 miles, starting at the planned 200-acre redevelopment project along the Snohomish River, traveling over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks at 36th Street and then proceeding north on Smith Street to Hewitt Ave.
Because of the railroad and I-5 crossings, the segment has a moderate level of feasibility, according to the consultant’s study.
One option would be to have the line start and end at Everett Station, just north of the project, and continue downtown.
The next stretch, along Hewitt Avenue, is deemed more likely to develop. The study says it could encourage downtown redevelopment and improve the attractiveness of downtown housing. Hewitt Avenue is also the only east-west route with grades that are gradual enough for a streetcar line.
The final segment from downtown to the marina presents a few more constraints, including right-of-way problems along West Marine View Drive.
Another drawback to the segment is the limited potential for new developments along the route, which would pass Kimberly Clark and Everett Naval Station.
In lieu of a leg near the water, an alternate downtown route would follow Colby Avenue north past Providence Everett Medical Center’s Colby Campus to Everett Community College.
Because of the steep coastal bluff along Grand Avenue, the route wouldn’t connect riders to the harbor. Instead, developers would rely on a possible pedestrian bridge on Grand Avenue that could connect people to the waterfront.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@ heraldnet.com.
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