Steve Clark

There will be no monorail in Ballard, at least for the foreseeable future. In an effort to save the beleaguered Green Line, the Seatttle Monorail Project board of directors have submitted a ballot measure for inclusion in the November 8 election that redefines the monorail route as running from West Seattle to Dravus Street, in Interbay, instead of the initial proposed route that would have started at NW 85th Street and 15th Avenue NW in Crown Hill.

"It's sad, really," said Connie Stone, owner of the Wild Mountain Caf/ in Crown Hill. "We have a city that's years and years behind on its mass transit needs. It's just ridiculous," she said.

The ballot measure would essentially ask voters to approve a monorail three miles shorter than the originally approved green line, or kill the project. Monorail project leaders made the decision in order to shave more than $200 million off of the $1.6 billion contract offer made by Cascadia to build the monorail. The move follows a string of bad news from city hall.

Unsatisfied with the latest financing plan as well as the failure of the monorail board to present a revised Green Line plan by mid-September, Mayor Greg Nickels publicly withdrew his support for the monorail project and said he was terminating the transitway agreement that allows the Green Line to be built along city streets.

The mayor also demanded the monorail go before voters on Nov. 8, but the monorail board said it preferred to work out details of a shortened line to present to voters in a special election in February.

Last Friday, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to back Nickels and deny permits to the monorail. That forced the monorail board to reconsider Friday afternoon and put a 10.6-mile "first phase" of the Green Line on the November 8 ballot.

"I don't think they're going to build it," said Gary Halbakken, owner of Way's Magazines Unlimited on 15th Avenue NW. "I think it would've been good for Ballard, but it sounds like [voters] are going to turn it down next time. I don't think we should but I don't think I'm part of the majority," Halbakken said, referring to the coming ballot measure.

Primary elections have also heralded troubles for the monorail, with two candidates who have advocated killing the project - Beth Goldberg and Jim Nobles - leading their respective races for monorail board seats.