"Infrastructure" = Viaduct, Correct?
From President-elect Obama's weekly address this morning:
Second, we will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money. (emphasis ours)
Call us naive, but if Obama is fixing to write some ginormous checks, shouldn't we be deciding on a viaduct option muy pronto? The Emerald City is going to look a tad foolish if we walk up to the plate with eight bats on our shoulder, so to speak. Emergency task force, anyone? Special session? Hello? Is this thing on?
The Alaskan Way Viaduct is the perfect sort of high-visibility project that an entire re-election campaign can be built around. Few can debate the need for the project. The visuals are stunning and the transformation would be obvious. If, you know, we can make up our minds on what we want as a replacement.
(And the Eastside Corridor light rail project can be done for around $1 billion in case there are leftovers. Everyone wins!)
