There was an article recently in the Dec. 17 Ballard News-Tribune (http://ballardnewstribune.com/articles/2008/12/19/news/local_news/news04.txt, "Streetcar could expand to Ballard, eventually" By Michael Harthorne) about how there are plans to have a streetcar come to Ballard via Fremont and Leary Way. While the plans seem to indicate that the line will probably go to downtown Ballard, I was wondering why hasn't anyone suggested having it run up 8th Avenue Northwest?

If you go over to 8th and take a look around, you might notice that it is pretty wide in the middle. In the legendary days of streetcar lines criss-crossing Seattle, Route 19 went up 8th to 65th. If we are thinking of bringing the streetcar back to Ballard, why not start up this line once more?

While it makes sense to have one go from South Lake Union through Fremont into Ballard, it would be a missed opportunity to not include 8th Ave in the equation as the 28 bus line that runs along this route is well traveled.

I wanted to bring this plan up because I have noticed that in many discussions about Ballard, East Ballard (the part of Ballard that is on the eastern side of 15th Avenue Northwest) seems to get left out. Having a streetcar line that ends in downtown Ballard would be great for tourists and people coming from other parts of the city, but it would completely bypass the population centers of our neighborhood.

I would go so far to suggest that it would not even be worth it to put a trolley on Market Street of Ballard Avenue at this point. If streetcars are the wave of the future once more, why not have a line that goes from South Lake Union up Dexter Avenue through Fremont, down Leary Way, up 8th to 85th, then back down 15th heading south towards downtown, where it could either loop back down to Leary or go all the way down to Denny?

If we are going to resurrect the streetcar as a viable public transportation option, we need to take into account where people live as much as where people want to go. As someone who lives in Ballard, I would want to take this theoretical streetcar to downtown Seattle, and I think that answer holds true for most people who would use it. Putting a line on Market Street or Ballard Avenue would just create more congestion and parking woes in the Market St./ Ballard Ave. area as well as making it too far away from where people live to make it worth using.

I am not against bringing a streetcar back to Ballard, but if it happens I think that the transportation planners have to listen to the people who live in the community. I believe that this line could become a major conduit to downtown for the people who live to the east of the proposed Northgate light rail station, a companion line that takes some pressure off that much larger one. A streetcar line that ends merely in downtown Ballard will not be enough. It might look nice on a postcard, but it will be a streetcar line to nowhere.