What Might Have been

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

It’s a day of nostalgia, apparently.

David Brewster interviews Seattle civic legend Jim Ellis, who worked on the 1968 “Forward Thrust” bond package:

The Forward Thrust package in 1968 would have given the area a system of amazing scope. It would have been completed in 1985 and fully paid off in 2008. It would have been heavy rail, largely in subways, with two prongs north, two prongs south, and two prongs on the Eastside. Unlike Portland’s system, which is largely on the street, this system would have been separated from traffic and much faster. It probably would have done a fair amount toward shaping dense neighborhoods and concentrating urban growth. All this at one quarter the local cost of a completed (much smaller and slower) Sound Transit system.

Elsewhere, Seattle Metblogs reminds us that the Green Line — the first line of the monorail system, was set to open December 15, 2007, otherwise known as this Saturday

IIRC, the Monorail folks eventually punted on that start date, saying that htey’d have a starter line open by then, but that it would take a couple more years to get all the way to West Seattle and Ballard.

But that’s all water under the (crumbling) bridge.