Waterfront Streetcar

Heading toward Broad Street, on S. Main Street between 1st and Occidental Avenues S.

The Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, is a 1.6-mile-long streetcar line run by Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, so named because much of its route is 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 was to be demolished to make room for a sculpture park extension to the Seattle Art Museum. A new maintenance barn has been proposed to be built at Occidental Park and allow the resumption of operations at some point in the future. The new "barn", however, has not yet been approved. Construction of the new streetcar barn would then take about a year. The earliest likely date for resumption of service is 2008. The street car is replaced by Metro bus route 99 during the halt in operations.

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 by George 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.

Route

The line runs 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 runs in the center median, and its last block is on the west side of 5th Avenue between S. Main and S. Jackson Streets.

Stations

• Along Alaskan Way
  • Broad Street: Myrtle Edwards Park, Seattle Center
  • 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

External links

• Official site
• Route map

References

• Waterfront Streetcar gets a new home. King County Metro. Retrieved on 2005-12-23.
• Benson, George (1919-2004), Father of the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar