Seattle City Council among reasons viaduct cost could rise
Published Tue, Nov 21 2006 3:10 PM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics, Transportation
The last time the estimated cost replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel rose the Seattle City Council decided that voters weren't smart enough to decide for themselves how they wanted the viaduct replaced. Now the estimated cost looks to be rising yet again.
Most of the city council wants a tunnel, and so does Mayor Nickels. This despite the enormous cost overruns that have been associated with tunnel projects in the past, most notably the infamous "big dig".
One significant reason why the cost might go up is the Seattle City Council themselves. The city passed an ordinance declaring an elevated viaduct inconsistent with its comprehensive plan and with height and usage regulations. Of course that ordinance fits in nicely with their plans to soak us for a tunnel anyway.
With the city council leaving threats on the table to stall the project with lawsuits and bureaucratic nonsense the cost of the 2.8 billion elevated replacement could rise even higher than the currently estimated cost of the tunnel.
The Seattle Times has more.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and most of the Seattle City Council want a tunnel. Key state legislators from Seattle support a new aerial structure.
...
With the cost estimated at $2.8 billion, the elevated structure is a cheaper choice and would cause less disruption during construction; the $4.6 billion tunnel option would open up views of Elliott Bay and reconnect downtown to the waterfront.
...
The city has said it could inflate the $2.8 billion cost of an elevated viaduct to nearly $5 billion by slowing permits, filing lawsuits and using other tactics to oppose the project.
We certainly don't need a tunnel at a cost of $4.6 billion. The Boston "big dig" tunnel overran its budget by $11 billion. What we also don't need is a petulant city council that decides to stall and otherwise block a project just because they didn't get their way.
But that's what they've threatened.
Cross posted at NWBloggers.com.
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