More on SMP's land

The Seattle Weekly explains how it's a bit more complicated than just selling the land back to the previous owners and calling it a wash.

Land won't automatically revert to earlier owners. "People ask why we can't give them back" if the sellers give back the money, says outgoing SMP board member Cleve Stockmeyer. "Our hands are tied. Under state law, they [ex-owners] have no interest in it," and SMP is obligated to sell the property for the best price.

However, former owners and the general public can submit bids on the properties, which are being eyed by commercial developers and public agencies, as well.

Economic impact of broken monorail felt

If Seattle's little toy monorail has such a positive economic impact in Westlake mall, imagine what the real monorail could have done for businesses around the city.

Apparently monorail secrecy is nothing new

Wonder if the track would have been accepted by the city if they knew it was a disaster waiting to happen?

Developers didn't want a station taking up space [in Westlake Mall] that could be leased to retail tenants, forcing limited options, said Phil Frederick, the project manager in charge at the time. Another limitation: No one wanted a big platform station that would block the sunlight from the Fifth Avenue sidewalk below, even though it would've allow both trains to load and unload at the same time.

The station they created seemed to solve both problems, even though one major component was a narrow curve in the new track leading into it. It also put the onus on human operators to make sure they didn't hit that pinch-point simultaneously. On Saturday, that happened. City officials from the late 1980s said the potential problem with the pinch-point was never pointed out to them as an issue.