“America walked away from public transit years ago,” said J. Craig Thorpe, nationally renowned transportation artist, trolley buff and champion of the Issaquah Trolley project. “In our country’s post World War II economic boom, we chose the suburban life – the independent life – over the urban life. We built roads and suburbs with abandon. In our arrogance, we thumbed our nose at public transit.”

Yet increasingly, over time, as a nation we came face to face with the social, economic and environmental consequences of our suburban lifestyle, he said.

“Now we realize urban sprawl is not healthy physically, emotionally, or fiscally,” said Thorpe. “As a result, more and more community leaders and citizens alike are buying into public transportation. It’s happening all over. … There are over 70 cities that belong to the Community Streetcar Coalition.”

One of the reasons why is that streetcars and trolleys “tread lightly on the landscape,” as Thorpe puts it. They improve our communities, enhance our cityscapes, and even restore civility to our daily lives, he said.

And the newly formed Sammamish Valley Transportation Association is joining the national movement. On June 19, Steve Pyeatt, founder of the association, invited members of the Woodinville City Council as well as local business and community members to join the group in its endeavor to run a trolley from Redmond to Woodinville. The route could run on existing track from Redmond Town Center through Redmond, across the slough and up the valley alongside Willows Road past Willows Run golf course, Overlake Christian Church, Sixty Acres soccer fields, Medtronic-Physio Control, past JB Instant Lawn, into the Woodinville Wine District, past Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, Columbia Winery and other wineries – not far from Redhook Brewery, Willows Lodge and the new Woodinville Village – through the city’s southern industrial district along State Route 202, past McCorry’s on the Slough and possibly alongside Bear Creek Parkway.

Courtesy of King County
A local group asks Metro Transit to borrow the vintage Seattle waterfront trolleys.

“We’re an organization of elected officials, private citizens and business leaders in the Redmond and Woodinville area,” said Pyeatt, “who are working with King County in an effort to bring the Seattle waterfront trolley program over to the Sammamish Valley and help promote some better transit solutions, better commerce solutions and, of course, tourism up and down the valley.”

Last fall, Seattle’s waterfront trolley maintenance barn was demolished to make way for the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park. The five trolleys were put in storage, “assets stuffed in a warehouse,” Pyeatt said.

The goal would be to run a year-round operation for commuters on weekdays, for tourists primarily on evenings and weekends. Pyeatt would like to see one trolley run from each direction – Redmond to Woodinville and vice versa – every half hour, initially, with increased service as needed.

“If it works here,” he said, “when Seattle wants its cars back, we could buy our own.”

“These cars would not be wasted in the interim,” said Thorpe.

According to Metro Transit, “The vintage waterfront trolleys came from Melbourne, Australia, and feature Tasmanian mahogany and white ash woodwork. Built in 1928, they are meticulously maintained and can accommodate 52 seated and 40 standing passengers.”

“The first two cars cost $5,000 each,” wrote historian Walt Crowley, executive director of History Link and HistoryLink.org, “but cost $26,000 to ship to Seattle, but a legion of volunteers ranging from transit retirees to premier Seattle retailer Bruce Nordstrom joined in to refurbish the antique streetcars. The first pair of streetcars made their debut in 1982 (and three more cars later joined the system).”

According to Crowley, the late George Benson, a Capital Hill druggist and former City of Seattle and King County council member, was a trolley enthusiast. He promoted the waterfront line, sought out the Australian streetcars and worked tirelessly to make the project a reality.

Thorpe said, “When George went through his effort in the early 80s, no one had street cars, except maybe San Francisco.”

He said property owners along the Seattle waterfront line formed a Local Improvement District and agreed to be taxed to get the necessary money to see the project through.

The Sammamish Valley trolley would start with modest trolley stops and a modest maintenance barn. The trolley stops could be little more than bus shelters raised 3-4 feet on concrete pads. With buy-in from various businesses, platforms could be built anywhere along the line. The trolley barn could be a pre-fabricated fabric structure that could be replaced over time. And one day, Pyeatt envisions a beautiful station in Woodinville, such as the Auburn Station or the one in Mount Vernon.

“(You’d have) a nice beautiful (depot) out where you’ve got rusty tracks right now,” he said.

He would also love to see the trolley make what he called “a right loop” through downtown Woodinville or even extend into Marymoor Park.

Though his vision has been crystallizing for about a year, Pyeatt has been meeting with individuals interested in the project for roughly the last six months.

Kevin Desmond, general manager of Metro Transit, said King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert hosted a meeting about the proposed Sammamish Valley trolley line and invited him to attend.

The group asked to borrow the Seattle waterfront streetcars, said Desmond, adding that Metro might be able to lend the cars with the stipulation that they be returned when Metro needs them and with an agreement for specific maintenance conditions. He said Metro did not have the ability to fund the endeavor but that staff had been assigned to look into project.

Lambert said, “The trolley is a wonderful idea. We have to see how it pencils out.”

Mike McClure, partner in MJR Development, the firm developing the Woodinville Village, said he would love to see the trolley project happen, but he recognizes that the challenge will be economic, saying the trolley will probably not be able to pay for itself based on rider fares.

The hope is that creativity applied to the economic issue will yield results. It’s been done before.

Christine Hoffmann, president and CEO of the Redmond Chamber of Commerce, participated in the effort to start up the Willamette Shore Trolley that runs from Portland, Ore., to Lake Oswego.

“It was all done with volunteers and it’s super successful,” she said.

The volunteers built a consortium that had representatives from two counties, four cities, the Metro transportation agency, and the railroad, she said.

“Hopefully we can get something going here,” she said. “We’re starting to build a coalition. We just need to build momentum. I so thoroughly believe in regional transportation solutions. (The Redmond Chamber) will lobby and help in any way we can.”

Thorpe took part in the effort to establish The Issaquah Trolley and he, too, is willing to share his experience with the Sammamish Valley Transportation Association. He belonged to a nonprofit group that operated under the umbrella of the Issaquah Historical Society.

The society received a $100,000 anonymous gift for the project, and with it –because of strong leadership and an energized coalition – the group was able to commission a feasibility study, write a business plan, construct a trolley barn, lease a trolley car from Yakima and truck the car to Issaquah, do publicity and acquire insurance. The City of Issaquah donated its one mile of track.

The group charged a $2 fee per ride, $1 for children, and ran the trolley weekends and some holidays from Spring 2001 to Spring 2002. In Spring 2002, they had to send the trolley back: The lease ran out.

Since then, the group has received a $40,000 grant from Microsoft and has bought three streetcars from Aspen, Colo., and San Francisco, all three in need of restoration. They have applied for and received a federal grant for $171,000 and have also received other local grants. With monies in hand, the group will be able to restore the cars.

After one restoration is complete and the car is running, they plan to launch a local capital campaign.

Hoffmann of the Redmond Chamber said, “I think it’s an excellent project if we can get a few things sorted out, like service levels. The transportation connection between Woodinville and Redmond is really, really important. I would like to see the trolley go clear into downtown Woodinville.”

She said many people from Redmond attend concerts in Woodinville, shop at Molbak’s, visit the wineries and restaurants here, the same way people from Woodinville frequent Redmond businesses.

Sometimes valley traffic makes it difficult to get to Woodinville or Redmond, and once there, scarce parking is often a problem. The trolley line between the two cities would solve all of that.

John Erdman, executive director of the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce, said, “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Steve asked me to serve on the Sammamish Valley Transportation Association and I will. People talk about our transportation problems, and this is a solution we can present to them. I’m really excited to be involved.”

Thorpe said, “If you consider the nature of growth on the Eastside, before long, there will be no room for roads. And as gasoline prices go up, people will turn to rail. I love the Redmond-Woodinville proposal. I heartily endorse it. It’s another expression of what we’re doing here in Issaquah and with it, we can show something to the Eastside about the future of transportation.”

He called Pyeatt’s proposal “dripping with common sense,” saying, “Anyone who opposes it simply is not looking at the big picture. It’s an opportunity that’s unbeatable.”