The Council voted 8-1 this evening to approve in principle three agreements between the City and the state of Washington related to technical issues surrounding the Alaskan Way Viaduct project. The Council will pass legislation formally approving the agreements early next year after project bids are received and the design-build contract with the winning contractor has been negotiated.
Today's vote is a huge step forward for a truly remarkable project that will transform the city's central waterfront. Let's remember our vision for this project. It removes the double-decker freeway along our waterfront and replaces it with a deep-bore tunnel under downtown. It opens up the waterfront and creates a broad pedestrian promenade, public open spaces, parks and space for outdoor cafes. It establishes a downtown traffic grid that protects our environment, protects our maritime and freight industries and allows for the effective movement of people and supplies. It creates jobs, but more importantly it protects the tens of thousands of jobs that already exist in our water-dependent businesses.
Some oppose this project believing that constructing the tunnel reflects a business-as-usual approach when we face significant climate challenges; these opponents oppose the tunnel by arguing that we shouldn't be building new roadways. This argument would carry more weight with me if we had three or four north-south thoroughfares in Seattle, but we don't. We have only two: Interstate 5 and SR 99. Eliminating one of these in an effort to "force" people out of cars and into alternative transportation modes is just too risky, too great a gamble.
The issue of cost overruns has also been resolved. The Council, the City Attorney, the Governor, the Director of WSDOT, and the state's Attorney General have all said that nothing in state law mandates that the City of Seattle or our property owners pay for potential cost overruns. We have been very clear that this is a state project—designed, managed and built by the state of Washington.
We have debated this project for about nine years. We have spent millions of dollars on planning and design. We have examined alternative options. Now, the Council is moving forward in a prudent and reasoned manner. We will continue to watch and monitor very carefully, as we have done for the past 18 months.
