Businesses seek answers from Mayor Jenny Durkan on stalled streetcar project
Vulcan Inc., the Downtown Seattle Association and business leaders say they want to meet with Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan over her drawn-out decision on the Center City Connector streetcar project.
Durkan halted construction of the 1.2-mile, $177 million project this spring. If completed, it would connect the South Lake Union and First Hill streetcar lines, creating a 5-mile, 21-stop line connecting Capitol Hill and South Lake Union by way of First Hill, the International District and Pioneer Square.
Concerns over projected operational and capital cost overruns prompted Durkan to order an independent review that was expected to be completed by now. The review will be done "in the coming weeks," the city said Friday.
The lack of updates has business leaders nervous. They want to meet with Durkan to convey their support for the project, find out what the mayor is thinking and see how businesses and the city might work together to get the project back on track.
"It really wasn't that we thought she was leaning toward (killing it)," Alliance for Pioneer Square Executive Director Lisa Howard said Monday. "It's that we have no idea at all."
Organized as the Seattle Streetcar Coalition, project backers met with Durkan aides late last week, but weren't satisfied.
"It's such a high-profile project. She is deeply involved and we wanted to have that discussion directly with her," Howard said.
Senior Deputy Mayor Michael Fong apologized for rescheduling a meeting with Durkan, and said in a letter to the coalition that she looks forward to meeting with them soon.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2018/07/03/jenny-durkan-center-city-connector-streetcar.html?ana=e_du_prem&s=article_du&ed=2018-07-03&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1530661571&j=82512391
