"The Viaduct Under Construction,1951." We don't mean to play favorites, but this image is from the beloved Seattle Municipal Archives, which amazes us more with each image they share.

Then again, isn't that what they always say? The Washington State Department of Transportation claims that the most recent repairs have stopped the so-called settling of the viaduct. (They call it settling because it sounds much nicer and considerably less alarming than "sinking.")

It seems like someone from the WSDOT is trotting out a new report or the latest repairs monthly to curb our reasonable fears of driving on the viaduct. Everyone in this town knows the viaduct is not safe. It is Seattle's large-scale version of Russian roulette—every time you make it off the viaduct without the Big One hitting, you get a little rush of adrenaline. The day someone from the WSDOT comes out and says "the viaduct is a death trap, we've all known it since the SF/Oakland Quake of '89, and we've just had our heads too far up our asses to really do anything about it"...now that will be a newsworthy day.

The viaduct is scheduled to be torn down in 2012, but that doesn't help ease the worries of driving on it for the next four years—repairs, or no.