The New Historical Trolley

It’s becoming obvious that the George Benson Streetcar will not return in its former form. Because of seawall repair and the removal of the Viaduct, waterfront streetcar rebuilding cannot begin for at least four years. In the interim potential ridership will have grown well beyond the ability of a historical streetcar to serve the need.

There is additionally the question of platform height. In practice, the waterfront line could be extended to the south end of the Ballard Bridge using all high platforms. In theory, not so much, because there will be very little (if any) high-platform development in future streetcars. For example, you would want a line that reached the south end of the Ballard Bridge to be able to extend into Ballard, where high platforms just won’t fit.

Of course, the easy way to handle all of this is to terminate the waterfront route at Pier 91, or use a flyover just north of there to move the route west of the BNSF Interbay yards, where an old street-running trolley boulevard will be found, running along the north side of Magnolia to an old Fort Lawton trolley stop.

A line from Pioneer Square to Pier 91 could handle the traffic by using ‘heritage’ cars, which are new streetcars manufactured on the lines of historical streetcars. With the improvements that can be applied to the track, the signaling, and station loading, there is no reason for heritage cars not to be as comfortable or as fast as modern styles of equipment.

Left to itself, the Seattle DOT would not include any vintage stock in plans for a waterfront streetcar, or any high-platform boarding. Considering that there is virtually no street life along the trolley ROW on the waterfront, high-platform boarding is as feasible as any other. In some areas it would be a welcome refuge for pedestrians in a sea of confused traffic. North of the Sculpture Park it is probably the best way to deal with the issues of the BNSF main stem, on which, basically, the entire transportation strategy of Seattle rides.

In short, the George Benson Streetcar will not return in its previous form, and the question becomes, in what form should it return?