By: Chris McGann
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
January 12, 2009
Link to original blog post
OLYMPIA - After years of immobilizing conflict between the City of Seattle, King County and the state, elected leaders have agreed on a replacement for the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct - a deep bore tunnel under downtown Seattle.
Sources close to the negotiations confirm that all three parties have agreed to go forward with a plan that would involve major funding from the state bolstered, with investment from the county, city and a yet-to-be created local investment district.
The tunnel would be paid for with roughly $2.8 billion that the state set aside for the project. The surface street elements, including a waterfront park would be paid for by the city. The capital and operating investments in transit would be covered by King County.
Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis confirmed that a consensus had been reached.
"It's an agreement all three parties embracing and moving forward with and we'll announce it (Tuesday) morning," he said.
Gov. Chris Gregoire's spokesman Pearse Edwards said the impasse had been broken.
"We believe we have a solution that serves all parties and is fiscally responsible."
The deep-bore tunnel idea is similar to the plan Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels had previously pushed. State leaders rejected it as too expensive at the time - and Seattle voters showed no support for it in a curiously designed ballot measure that also ask if an elevated structure should be build.
The idea seems to have come full circle in the past two years, with a different tunnel but similar concept.
The new plan gained momentum this year in part because the deep-bore technology allows much less disruptive construction than the cut-and-cover tunnel that Nickels had originally advocated.
It will likely cost more money than 2007's doomed plan.
The last time the Alaskan Way Viaduct battle came to a head, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, vigorously opposed anything but an above ground replacement. He is credited in large part for killing the tunnel plan.
Since that time, he has invested energy designing and promoting an above-the-ground replacement that would have included a throughway and a shopping center - all capped with waterfront park.
Though he has been trying to build support for his idea, most stakeholders remained skeptical. And where Chopp could previously take advantage of the divisions among local leaders, he would now face unified front if he decides to dig in his heels. In addition, the Legislature is faced with finding a way to balance a $6 billion budget shortfall. Starting a war with his fellow Democrats at the onset could prove counter productive.
