Gregoire To Seattle: "I'm The Decider"

It looks like Guv Gregoire was stung by all those comments about her punting on Seattle's favorite watercooler topic: the Viaduct. She's now issued what KIRO-TV is calling an "ultimatum" that if no city vote is held before April 22, the State will issue us a replacement viaduct. Or maybe she's heard about that rumored poll that doesn't show the tunnel gaining 50% of the vote, and is eager to make Mayor Nickels her roadkill.

Typically, this news comes just after the P-I reported on the City Council's plan to quash the vote with a compromise solution. Our favorite reaction is this one, which we believe John Fox provided via Auto-Reply:

John Fox, co-chairman of the No Tunnel Alliance, called the possibility "outrageous. ... It's the height of arrogance on the part of locally elected officials."

We don't think much of Gregoire's get-tough attitude with the dithering Seattle process; we're all for deadlines, but here we're being offered a choice between a too-expensive tunnel and and 2.8 billion dollars worth of waterfront blight. As King County elected the governor, we hope she realizes that pissing off the Seattle electorate is not what they call "savvy" political strategery.

And just when we had been feeling a bit more optimistic after reading Susan Paynter's column on a third solution. We're not sold on the solution she mentions, precisely, but we think it's a good sign when people point out that a solution should incorporate more than one transportation element.

After all, the constituencies -- people heading to downtown, people driving through Seattle, and freight -- all have disparate needs that don't stuff into a tunnel neatly. Clicking our heels together and chanting "tunnel tunnel tunnel" or "rebuild rebuild rebuild" only ducks that issue. The focus on maintaining capacity -- which is backwards-looking -- is a wrench in the wheels of progress. The question is, what kinds of transportation modes will best serve Seattle's future?