Monorail recall effort certified

Unless the Seattle Monorail Project is able to derail it, a ballot measure that could kill the proposed 14-mile elevated train project will go before Seattle voters in November.

King County Elections yesterday certified that Initiative 83, sponsored by Monorail Recall, had gathered the required 17,229 signatures to put the measure on the ballot. County officials said they verified 17,250 signatures before certifying it for the ballot.

But it's still not clear that it will survive challenges by monorail backers. The Seattle Monorail Project, with pro-monorail environmentalists and landowners, is continuing to fight the measure with lawsuits.

One suit asserts that city-issued permits to build the monorail are land-use decisions that cannot be overturned by an initiative. The agency also is trying to void the first 9,600 initiative signatures because they were collected before a judge reworded the petitions for greater clarity. That complaint is heading to the state Court of Appeals.

Earlier this week, the Monorail Recall campaign turned in an additional 7,309 signatures, giving them more than double the required number to qualify for the ballot.

If approved, I-83 would block or revoke city permits to construct the planned 14-mile, $1.75 billion Green Line linking Ballard, Seattle Center, downtown and West Seattle.

Two years ago, a monorail tax passed by 877 votes, after voters had approved two previous initiatives to write a plan.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com