A water taxi from Shilshole to downtown Seattle, light rail to the University of Washington and a long-time plan for a Sound Transit commuter rail stop could help ease Ballard's growing congestion, but none are likely for many years.

The impending replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct is sure to cause gridlock for years to come. Gas prices are at some of the highest in the nation and city officials project at least 1.2 million additional people living and working in the Puget Sound region by 2030.

These realities represent an uncertain future for Ballard's mobility and it has people thinking about new and old transit solutions.

Ferry in our future?

A new King County Ferry District ordinance, passed recently by the Metropolitan King County Council, could potentially fund a feasibility study for a passenger-only ferry route from Shilshole to downtown Seattle. The district could also support the operation of Vashon-Seattle ferries and year-round Elliott Bay Water Taxi service.

The county will be moving forward with the development of an operations and finance plan to decide whether or not to levy a property tax in the fall and how much that might be, said Mike Beck, a transit contract administrator for Metro.

Funding to study the Shilshole Ferry idea could be included in that plan, he said.

That study would raise many questions about how the route might operate, such as dock site, customer market, operating issues and parking.

"No work has been done at all at this point in evaluating this route, and any eventual study would most likely not begin until 2008," said Beck.

Local reaction to the idea is mixed. Some say a ferry would just become a tourist attraction. Others say the need is more inter-Ballard connections, not more downtown routes.

"I believe many in King County see the passenger-only ferry service as one more transportation option to help with the region's traffic congestion, but not the solution for everyone," said Beck.

Fulvio Casali, a member of Sustainable Ballard, said the proposal at least points to a growing awareness of a need for diversification in transportation options.

"I think it would be interesting and attractive to enough residents...if there were a neighborhood shuttle or if parking near the ferry dock were available," he said.

Ballard is scheduled to receive more frequent downtown bus service in the coming years with the passage of "Transit Now" last November, and some think that might be enough for now.

Steve Cohn, chair of the Ballard District Council's transportation committee, said the idea of a ferry raises many questions, some of the biggest being parking and access to the marina. There's limited bus service to Shilshole, just seven runs on weekdays at peak times.

"People aren't going to walk there," he said. "That's a big stumbling block."

He also wondered if enough people would use it, especially given Ballard's proximity to downtown and already "excellent bus service."

Some commuters would have to transfer to a bus after landing at Coleman Dock downtown, and according to transportation officials, people don't like switching modes of transit, he said. The water taxi works well in places like West Seattle where it provides commuters a good alternative to congestion on the West Seattle Bridge, but Ballard is in a different situation, Cohn said.

A ferry probably wouldn't be a time saver for most people, agreed Beth Miller, executive director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce.

She'd rather see the money spent on more buses for inter-Ballard travel, such as Route 86 that circulated Ballard and nearby neighborhoods. That route was cancelled in 2000 after voters approved an anti-tax initiative that cut Metro's operating revenue by one third.

"What we need is good common sense transportation solutions - not things that just sound like a great little idea," said Miller. "We'll keep pushing (elected officials) to find something that gets people around a smaller area -not just the big commutes."

It's possible that's what the public input process and feasibility study will reveal, said King County Council member Larry Phillips, co-sponsor of the ferry ordinance.

Ever since voters failed to pass two proposals for underground rail in the early 1970s, the county is "digging itself out of a 35-year auto dependency hole," said Phillips. Now, officials are trying to catch up to Seattle's growing transit needs.

"We've got a big challenge in front of us," said Phillips. "We're trying to build in options," from bike lanes to buses. "We're beginning to see transportation options coming our way.

Rail and light rail

When Shilshole Marina liveaboard Al Hughes sees the Sound Transit commuter train roll by on the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks through Golden Gardens he wonders, "Why doesn't it stop here?"

It's a question Ballardites have been asking for more than a decade. Building a station here was even identified as one of the community's top priorities in the Ballard Neighborhood Plan in 1998.

The idea was to create a system of intermodel and regional connections; a commuter rail station across from a potential water taxi terminal at Shilshole Marina and nearby bus stops.

Sounder trains pass through Ballard by Golden Gardens Park several times a day on the way to downtown Seattle and Everett. Some say building a station along the existing rail would be a cheaper alternative then building additional transit infrastructure.

"I frequently take the train from downtown to Everett, passing by the "Ballard" sign near the locks and wishing I could have hopped on at that point, instead of the extra trip to downtown," said one commuter.

But it's not really as simple as that, said Cohn. It would cost a substantial amount of money to study the ridership numbers, parking and operations of the station.

"There'd be a lot of work to do in order to make it happen," said Cohn.

Buses are already doing a decent job moving people in and out of the area, though there should be more focus on enhancing routes to areas of Ballard that are underserved, he said.

"That's what the public discussion is going to be about over the next several years," he said.

Adding a Sounder stop in Ballard is on a long-range plan, but light rail extensions to the eastside, Lynwood, Shoreline and the University of Washington where population density is greater have been prioritized, said Geoff Patrick, spokesperson for Sound Transit.

A stop in Ballard would probably be more beneficial to those outside of the area, like commuters from Snohomish County, but it still remains an option for the future, he said.

This fall voters will be asked to approve the combined Sound Transit and Regional Transportation Investment District package, "Roads and Transit." It includes a study of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle, but when that study would actually take place "is a question for future policy makers," said Patrick.

Council member Phillips, a member of the Regional Transportation Investment District Planning Committee, said the idea for a Sounder stop was considered as part of "Roads and Transit," but it just didn't match up with other high ridership projects.

"The people are coming," Phillips said. "It will definitely happen. It's just a question of when."

But in the long term, light rail would provide additional capacity and faster, more reliable trips, he said.

The transit proposal would also fund major highway and safety projects, 50 miles of new light rail (mostly connections to the eastside), enhancements to existing commuter rail stations and more express bus service.

In 2009 light rail will begin operating from downtown to the airport and plans are in place to build from downtown to the University of Washington as soon as next year.

Miller would like to see a better focus on keeping people in Ballard, rather than encouraging them to commute to jobs out of the area. The notion of an urban village, where people live and work in their neighborhood, has gotten lost, she said.

She's discouraged that land all over Ballard long used for commercial business is being replaced with cookie-cutter townhouses that workers in Ballard can't even afford.

"I think we're getting very far away from the goal of keeping us here without the need to commute," Miller said.

But for Hughes, who's contemplating a move out of the area to be closer to work, a Sounder stop here would mean he could stay in Ballard and commute easily to his job.

"I see it go by everyday," he said.

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at rebekahs@robinsonnews.com