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Gondolas are good enough for London, so how about Seattle? (AP Photo/File)

Gondolas wouldn't solve transportation problem, but they'd be neat

BY Alyssa Kleven  on February 19, 2013 @ 12:00 pm (Updated: 2:22 pm - 2/19/13 )

Luke Burbank wouldn't hop on a gondola to get to work, but he said he'd ride it for the "gee whiz" factor.

Gondolas are the latest the imagination can provide to aid a traffic ailing Seattle.

The main complaint as laid out in The Seattle Times is the east to west traffic congestion in the city. The number 8 bus, it says, is often stuck in the stop-and-go traffic along Denny. Riders may have to wait as much as 30 minutes between buses.

But if a gondola were an option, as proposed by Matt Roewe, of VIA Architecture, and Matt "the Engineer" Gangemi, would commuters hop on to get to their destination just in time for their meeting?

KIRO Radio host Luke Burbank doesn't think so, but he's not opposed to it either.

"It seems fanciful and fantastical," says co-host Tom Tangney. The proposed gondola would take riders from the Capitol Hill light rail station to the Olympic Sculpture Garden, just spitting distance away from the Seattle Center area.

The hosts agree visually, the gondola would be a positive for Seattle. Much like the monorail serves no practical purpose, other than being a cool thing for tourists to ride, so would the gondolas.

While the proposal from Capitol Hill to the sculpture garden has hipsters wistfully thinking of cross-town transit, another gondola proposal might catch more traction.

Hal Griffith, the owner of Seattle's Great Wheel, which opened on the waterfront this summer, is researching a plan that would take gondola riders from the Washington State Convention Center to the waterfront.

Gondolas may seem like a pipe dream for a futuristic Seattle but Burbank and Tangney point out that some cities actively use gondolas as a part of their transportation systems.

"They do have them in Canada," says Luke, "which is probably an argument against doing it here."

Alyssa Kleven, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Alyssa Kleven is an editor and content producer at MyNorthwest.com. She enjoys doting over her adorable dachshund Winnie - named for Arcade Fire front-man Win Butler.
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Comments (30)


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  • Snout wrote...
    Insert everything we're doing into
    February 19, 2013 6:44 pm
    ..."wouldn't solve transportation problem, but they'd be neat."
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    That is all we need -
    February 19, 2013 8:08 pm
    Gondolas and Gronolas hovering over the city. Not that I ever step foot inside of the city limits but the image alone almost makes me puke.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    what if you pass gas
    February 19, 2013 8:46 pm
    in the middle of the ride. Hope your in my gondola xcop.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Tyrone DeVille wrote...
    Another Great Idea!
    February 19, 2013 11:49 pm
    From Jaba the McGinn !
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • murr wrote...
    Keep tax dollars out of it
    February 20, 2013 3:41 am
    The powers to be, cant run a koolaid like a business. Its just a way to prop up more goverment jobs, that are no more than entitlement positions, with no accountability, like most of the others.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }