Rantz: This is literally the worst idea for KeyArena, Sonics traffic

One of the men behind the company seeking to redevelop KeyArena for a possible Sonics return has come up with what can easily be described as the absolute worst idea to address traffic in the area: the monorail.

Related: Arena proponents will bury traffic impact

“The monorail is a great, unused opportunity,’’ Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke told The Seattle Times. “Because the fact is, we do have light rail that connects to this particular arena. But the light rail requires people understanding monorail.’’

A solution to the inevitable crippling Sonics traffic would be the monorail? I’ve just done an exhaustive review of the literature. Literally, in the history of the world, the monorail has never been referred to as the solution to anything. This idea screams of someone whom I’m now uncertain has even visited Seattle. I’m not even sure he knows it’s in Washington. I’m not even sure he’s ridden the monorail.

Here’s how this might work in Leiweke’s world. Let’s say you live in Tacoma and hope to enjoy a fun evening with your spouse at the Sonics game. Under Leiweke’s plan, you could hop on the 574 to the Angle Lake light rail station. That’ll take you a brisk one hour and two minutes. Then, you hop on the Link light rail until you hit the Westlake Station about an hour later. Then, you hop on the Monorail alongside thousands of others trying to cram on board to whiz over to KeyArena? Let’s not forget the nightmare of leaving KeyArena trying to get onto the tiny monorail. Let’s ignore the thousands of people who would come to KeyArena from up north or on the Eastside.

This ridiculous idea is so bad it should be disqualify OVG from even bidding on the renovation. Let Chris Hansen build the arena already and stop with this nonsense. ​

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