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| Architect rendering provides realistic glimpse of monorail downtown  Cascadia Monorail Company released the first rendering of its conceptual monorail design superimposed on a photograph of a major downtown thoroughfare, providing Seattle citizens a glimpse of how the long-awaited elevated, automated transit solution might look at street level. The people of Seattle deserve to see an accurate representation of what the monorail might look like in the heart of the city. Based on discussions over the last three weeks with downtown community leaders and local architects, the company has prepared a simulated representation of how the columns and guideways will blend into the city landscape on Second Avenue.The rendering shows the columns on widened sidewalks, with landscaping and urban design treatments providing a more pedestrian-, retail- and restaurant-friendly environment along Second Avenue than currently exists. Column bases are oval-shaped and visually pleasing when viewed from all sides, versus the rectangular columns of the existing 1962-vintage Seattle Center Monorail, located several blocks away. The L-shaped “iris” column tops are rounded on the street and sidewalk sides to soften their appearance. Cascadia Monorail’s emergency walkway has aesthetic support structures to improve its appearance and maximize the views between the guideway beams. Hand rails will be steel, small-diameter cables, minimizing hand rail size and maximizing views. The walkway is required for rider safety during an emergency. This is an urban mass-transit system designed to withstand significant seismic events. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Construction News :: home page |