Waterfront Streetcar

Waterfront Streetcar

The Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, was a 1.6-mile-long streetcar line run by Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, so named because much of its route was along Alaskan Way on the Elliott Bay waterfront. Service began on May 29, 1982, which was the first streetcar run in Seattle since April 13, 1941.

The streetcar halted operation November 19, 2005, when the maintenance barn and Broad Street station were demolished to make room for the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park. A new maintenance barn was proposed to be built at Occidental Park to allow the resumption of operations. However, the new maintenance barn has still yet to be approved and portions of the track have already been paved over. Because of these outstanding issues, it is unknown if the streetcar will ever return to service. Currently, the streetcars are being replaced by Metro bus Route 99 with buses that are externally painted to look like the streetcars. The streetcars are currently stored at an unknown Metro Transit warehouse in the SoDo district.

History

Service began on May 29, 1982, which was the first streetcar run in Seattle since April 13, 1941. The first two streetcars had been brought to Seattle from Melbourne byGeorge Benson (1919-2004), a former pharmacist, who was a Seattle City Councilman from 1973 to 1993. Three more Melbourne streetcars were acquired between 1990 and 1993. All were W2 class trams that had originally been built in the late 1930s.

The route was named by National Geographic Society as one of the 10 Great Streetcar routes [cite news|url = http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/289399 | first = Christopher | last = Hume | coauthors = Kalinowski, Tess | publisher = Toronto Star | date = 2007-12-29 |title = Toronto streetcar named among world's best | accessdate = 2008-07-24] along with:

* Berlin (Berlin Straßenbahn) Tram 68
* Lisbon's Companhia de Carris de Ferro de Lisboa (Carris) 28 Tram
* Toronto's 501 Queen (TTC)
* New Orleans Regional Transit Authority St. Charles Streetcar Tour
* Hong Kong Tramways
* San Francisco Municipal Railway Streetcar F

Route

The line ran mostly northwest-southeast along Alaskan Way on abandoned Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway trackage. From S. Main Street in Pioneer Square east to 5th Avenue S. it ran in the center median, with its last block on the west side of 5th Avenue between S. Main and S. Jackson Streets. The line originally ended at Broad Street, but because construction of the Olympic Sculpture Park led to the closing and demolition of the maintenance barn and the station stop located there, last station stop is located at Vine Street, which would more than likely be the end of the line should service ever resume. However, the tracks still extend as far as Broad Street allowing for the possibility of a future station stop to be built across the street from the former station on the corner of Broad Street and Alaskan Way.

Stations

*Along Alaskan Way
** Broad Street: Myrtle Edwards Park, Seattle Center NOTE: This station was demolished along with the maintenance barn when the line shut down.
** Vine Street: Port of Seattle headquarters, Victoria Clipper
** Bell Street: Belltown, Bell Street Pier
** Pike Street: Pike Place Market, Seattle Aquarium
** University Street: Downtown, Seattle Art Museum
** Madison Street: Washington State Ferries' Colman Dock
** Washington Street
* Occidental Park (S. Main Street and Occidental Avenue S.): Pioneer Square, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
* Jackson Street (S. Jackson Street and 5th Avenue S.): International District, Safeco Field, Qwest Field, King Street Station, Uwajimaya

All of the stations (with the exception of the Occidental Park and Jackson Street stations) along the Alaskan Way were originally painted brown when the line first opened. In 2004, all of these stations were repainted in Marine Blue and refurbished. The Occidental and Jackson stations were designed to reflect the surrounding architecture along the streets when the line was extended in the 1990's. The Jackson Street stop featured an Asian Pagoda style station while Occidental park had a vintage style station.

External links

* [http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/wfsc/waterfront_streetcar.html Official site]
* [http://transit.metrokc.gov/cftemplates/show_map.cfm?BUS_ROUTE=099&DAY_NAV=WSU Route Map]

References

*cite web | title=Waterfront Streetcar gets a new home | work=King County Metro | url=http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/bus/wsc_newhome.html | accessdate=2005-12-23
* [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7121 Benson, George (1919-2004), Father of the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Waterfront West LRT (TTC) — The Waterfront West LRT is a proposed light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as part of the Transit City proposal announced March 16, 2007, to be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. It is the shortest and least expensive proposed… …   Wikipedia

  • South Lake Union Streetcar — SLUT redirects here. For Slut , see Slut (disambiguation). Infobox rail line name = South Lake Union Streetcar image width = 200px caption = South Lake Union Streetcar before inauguration at the maintenance facility type = Streetcar system =… …   Wikipedia

  • Portland Streetcar — A streetcar at the Portland State University stop Overview Type Streetcar line Daily ride …   Wikipedia

  • DC Streetcar — For the historic streetcar system in Washington and Maryland, see Streetcars in Washington, D.C.. DC Streetcar An Inekon Trio streetcar to be used on the Anacostia line of the DC Streetcar system …   Wikipedia

  • Toronto streetcar system — Infobox Public transit name = Toronto streetcar system imagesize = 300px locale = Toronto, Ontario transit type = Streetcar began operation = 1861 (electric lines since 1891) system length = 305.8 km (190 miles) lines = 11 stations = 1, plus 8… …   Wikipedia

  • 1934 West Coast waterfront strike — The 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike (also known as the 1934 West Coast Longshoremen s Strike, as well as a number of variations on these names) lasted eighty three days, triggered by sailors and a four day general strike in San Francisco, and… …   Wikipedia

  • Como-Harriet Streetcar Line — (CHSL) Twin City Rapid Transit No. 1300 Overview Type Heritage streetcar System Minnesota Street …   Wikipedia

  • Minnesota Streetcar Museum — Established 2005 (Parent in 1962) Location Twin Cities, Minnesota Type Heritage Streetcar Operator …   Wikipedia

  • On the Waterfront — For other uses, see On the Waterfront (disambiguation). On the Waterfront Theatrical release poster Directed by Elia Kazan …   Wikipedia

  • Portland Streetcar — Kenndaten Kontaktdaten Portland Streetcar 1516 NW Northrup • 97209 Portland, OR (USA) http://www.portlandstreetcar.org Eigentümer 100,0 % Stadt Portland Fahrgäste ca. 4,4 Mio/Jahr Fahrzeuge 19 Straßenbahnen Haltestellen 40 Bahnhaltestellen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”