City council approves funds for Ballard streetcar study

A Ballard streetcar is closer to becoming a reality as the Seattle City Council transportation committee has approved $800,000 to study the possibilities of a new transit line from Ballard to Downtown. That money will be added to the $2 million already allocated to studying the additional streetcar line.

The funds were freed due to the lifting of a proviso that had been imposed until the Council was satisfied that current streetcar construction could be completed without additional city funding and that the planning for the Broadway extension had advanced to a certain point.

Construction for the streetcar that will connect Pioneer Square, the International District, Capitol Hill has been underway since April.  While the transportation committee has approved the lifting of the proviso, the full council must sign off to free up the funds. According to the Capitol Seattle Hill Blog, Councilmember Tom Rasmussen says, “This means we’ll look at the options for high capacity transit between downtown and Ballard. It doesn’t mean we’ve okayed light rail or a tunnel — it means we will fund a study of what the best option for transit could be.”

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