Is Rail the Answer for Seattle’s Waterfront Tourism & High-Capacity Transit?

Transit studies are thick in the Seattle air these days. Just this week, Waterfront Seattle released a transit report (pdf) on options for travel up and down the Field Operations-redesigned waterfront, and Sound Transit and Seattle’s Department of Transportation produced eight alternatives for a Ballard-downtown high-capacity line.

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Seattle Aquarium’s Harbor Seal Exhibit is a $6.5-Million Stunner

The harbor seal exhibit’s first day open to the public is June 1, 2013, when the Aquarium will be open, as usual, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $19.95 for adults, $13.95 for kids 4 to 12. (3 and under? Free.) Anyone who’s been before will notice that the new tanks are deeper, 6 feet now, allowing the seals the chance to dive more.

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Waterfront Streetcar Suffers Still From City Leaders’ Malign Neglect

The reason for proposing to spend four times as much on a new First Avenue configuration may instead be that the deep-bore tunnel construction needs the real estate the old line uses. So the temporary requirements of a construction project may be dictating long-term transit planning.

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Queen Anne, the Waterfront is Yours (Almost)!

Up to now, walkers and cyclists had to negotiate busy boulevards and railways to reach the Sound’s edge.

But as of mid-September-ish–a temporary suspended work platform for the Thomas Street Overpass project came down last week–there will be an easy, unobstructed stroll from Third Avenue West to the Elliott Bay Trail as it passes through Myrtle Edwards Park.

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Op-Ed: Savor Our Waterfront Streetcars, Don’t Sell Them

Not so long ago, the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar was lauded–even extended in the early ’90s. But the construction of the Olympic Sculpture Park “required” the removal of their maintenance barn, and the line was shut down in 2005. Not to worry, residents were told, it’s just temporary, until a new barn can be built.

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