I just got back from The Junction, an intersection in West Seattle so named because it used to be a junction for streetcars. It’s time for a West Seattle streetcar renaissance.
Someday, The Junction will have light rail (or a Gondola!), and a streetcar could be an effective way to tie that mass transit arterial into the entire peninsula.
This map depicts a notional back-and-forth line that starts on the far west side of Alki Beach, travels east along Beach Drive to the Water Taxi (more mass transit!), south on California Avenue with stops at all three junctions (Admiral, Alaska, and Morgan), south on Fauntleroy Way SW past Lincoln Park to the Vashon Island and Southworth ferry terminal, then east on SW Barton Street before turning around at Westwood Village.
This 9.4 mile track would eliminate the need for the Rapid Ride C Line (which runs from Westwood to the Junction before heading downtown) because it could run more frequently (and with right-of-way probably faster). It would help address parking shortages at both Lincoln Park and Alki and connect the ferries to downtown via light rail or the Water Taxi. Most importantly, it would be a catalyst for accelerating the rejuvenation of the entire California Ave corridor, which is slowly being redeveloped into high(ish)-density residential above ground-level commercial.
May what is dead never die.