Murray pushes boulevard option
As reported in today's Times, outgoing House Transportation Committee Chair Ed Murray [D-Seattle] urged WSDOT to study a surface boulevard as a third option for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Murray, who as far as I knew had been one of the few legislators supporting Mayor Nickels' tunnel, wants to see if such a plan is feasible in addition to purportedly being a cheaper alternative to the tunnel or rebuilding the Viaduct.
Considering that Nickels and the Council are adamantly opposed to a rebuild and legislative Democrats are adamantly opposed to a tunnel, the surface/transit option might emerge as a suitable compromise. I doubt the governor will go against the vast majority of her Caucus and their solidly pro-rebuild stance, and with the Seattle City Council already having approved a boulevard solution as their preferred alternative to a tunnel, should the state refuse to finance such a project, things certainly seem to be looking up for Peter Steinbrueck.
posted by TMW @ 7:54 AM
2 Comments:
I don't know I'd say *all* legislative Democrats are opposed to a tunnel...but Frank Chopp sure is :-)
The nice thing about the transit + streets approach is it gets you out of all that political infighting.
Neither side loses - the tunnel people don't get a rebuild, the rebuild people don't get a tunnel. We
can instead move forward toward a future that's going to rely less on SOVs anyway, and save our pennies for
regional projects like 520 and the eventual I-5 rebuild, as well as expanding light rail and other transit.
Yeah, that's pretty much why I began to favour the boulevard option, as well. I had never been a fan of the main two options, so I really hope this choice comes into play as a good compromise.
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