Following a brief stare-down with Mayor Ray Stephanson, the Everett City Council tonight is expected to approve up to $30,000 to study the financial implications and potential economic development benefits of a multi-million-dollar streetcar line through downtown Everett. It will do so without the mayor’s objection.
We see this as a reasonable complement to the $112,700 streetcar feasibility study released in December, which plotted possible streetcar alignments between downtown, Everett Community College, and future harborfront and riverfront developments. That study projected the cost of such a fixed route at $127 million to $132 million (in 2006 dollars), with annual operating and maintenance costs of $4.5 million. No small sums.
That study, however, didn’t look in depth at how a streetcar line would be paid for, or at the potential economic benefits. And it’s economic development, not improved transportation, that streetcars are primarily designed to deliver. If it was just about moving people, buses would seem much more cost-effective, and certainly more flexible. And negative perceptions of buses are fading as gas prices rise.
The aim is to have a mode of local transit that people will get exicited about (read “something cooler than buses”), thus driving massive commercial investment along its route. Some downtown business owners are worried that once condos, restaurants and retail outlets open on the riverfront and harborfront, economic activity will be drawn away from downtown.
After last year’s feasibility study by a San Francisco consultant, Stephanson opposed going further, saying the city had enough priorities competing for funding without adding another, especially one this expensive. Needs throughout the city — parks, better streets and sidewalks, new bike paths — were more pressing, he argued. Council members wanted to learn more before giving up on the streetcar idea.
The $30,000 limit that the council is expected to approve for Seattle’s Berk &Associates to identify the long-term financial implications of a streetcar line is reasonable, given what’s already been invested. Stephanson is right to go along, although he emphasizes that any further steps will depend on what this study finds.
If federal grants and assessments on downtown property owners who would see their property values rise will foot the bulk of the bill, great. If money has to be diverted from other city priorities, or if it requires raising sales taxes, it will be a tough sell.
Should Everett build a five-mile streetcar line? This $30,000 should get us close to a reasonable answer.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
