The Seattle City Council is willing to give the Center City Connector streetcar another chance to move forward.
The council approved spending $9 million for further design and planning on the controversial streetcar, which was put on hold after costs skyrocketed.
The project is now estimated to cost $286 million, nearly double the projection from four years ago. The cost ballooned after a problem with the width of the streetcar, among other issues.
Proponents, including the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA), and other business interests, say the Connector is needed to sync the two existing streetcar lines. Councilmember Lisa Herbold was the only dissenting vote on Monday, citing concerns about ridership and the ballooning cost.
The DSA wrote in a statement: "Today’s vote is another indication of growing confidence in this project and recognition of the need for more high capacity transit in the heart of city. Record levels of people are living and working in downtown with more than 88,000 residents and more than 314,000 jobs. Completing our streetcar network will leverage the major investments we have already made and help us realize the benefits of a truly connected system to move people through downtown. We thank the mayor and council for their leadership on moving the Center City Connector forward."