Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 3, March 2003

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Monorail plan discussed

By MATTHEW PREUSCH

Over 500 people packed the main hall of the Nordic Heritage Center on Jan. 23 to quiz staff from the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority about the effects, good and bad, the proposed "Green Line" will have on their neighborhood.

The liveliest part of the evening was a one-hour give-and-take between the crowd and the authority's executive director, Joel Horn.

"We have the best chance of success if we know what your ideas and concerns are, and (if) we have a chance to explain what we're doing," Horn told the standing-room-only crowd.

The vast majority of those present at the meeting supported the monorail in last November's election, but there were plenty of concerns directed at Horn and other monorail staff. People wanted to know why the terminus of the Green Line, expected to be fully completed by 2009, could not be extended another block-and-a-half past NW 85th Street along 15th Avenue NW, where there would be more space for a station. Other concerns included wheelchair access, bike access, and mitigation for environmental and congestion impacts around stations.

Many expressed worry that the $60 million to $80 million budgeted for mitigation would not cover all the possible eventualities likely to arise once construction actually begins in 2004.

Horn also introduced Bob Derry, the authority's representative for Ballard.