Andy MacDonald . Net

Monorail forum recap: Earlier I mentioned the Monorail Forum sponsored by the city council. Erica and I were there, along with Marianne Scholl and Kay Ogren. Moderator Enrique Cerna moved rapidly through the audience, and Marianne and I each had a chance to make a statement. She asked about the impact of the track and stations on the pedestrian environment, and the general consensus from those on the panel who responded was that the monorail initiative should add funds for mitigation for improvements to make using the system more attractive for pedestrians. Others in the audience made similar points. I talked a bit about my experience on the Las Vegas Monorail, and panelist Grant Cogswell replied that whatever system gets built will need to have bigger trains than Vegas, which he believes is currently the plan of the ETC. Cogswell, who helped write the monorail initiative, and Tom Weeks, chairman of the ETC board, were the only two panel members solidly in favor of the coming monorail ballot issue. None of the others was outright hostile to the plan, but each had reservations relating to cost, resident and business impact, or view corridors. Many in the audience were hostile, much more than in any previous meeting I have attended, including the Whittier Heights meeting attended by businesses on 15th Ave NW. I would say that a third of the audience had strong objection to the system and about the same number were strong supporters, if the questioners were representative of the general audience. Most of the concerns were similar to those of the panelists. Richard Conlin is not known for being a monorail supporter, so it is no surprise a forum he organized would be more balanced than one organized by the ETC. If the vote were held today the monorail would be approved, but the opponents are gathering and the final fate is clearly in doubt.