Seattle City Council Votes to Keep Tunnel Moving, McGinn Says it Can Go To Ballot
Yesterday, the Seattle City Council voted to cooperate with the Washington State Department of Transportation on three agreements concerning the tunnel to replace the Highway 99 Viaduct, keeping the ball rolling on the controversial project. This vote is one of two approval votes; this one during the design phase, with one more before groundbreaking. Mike O'Brien was the sole dissenter. Another dissenter, one not on the city council, is Mayor Mike McGinn.
McGinn has never been a fan of the tunnel -- in fact, opposing the tunnel was part of his platform -- and he's now making good on his history of tunnel-hate by promising to veto the decision. Council President Richard Conlin, according to the Seattle Times, said that the council would likely override the veto on February 28, but the Mayor's office says that there's another avenue. The tunnel could, in accordance with part of the City Charter that states that any decision made by the Mayor or the City Council may become a referendum, go to public vote.
This is not unheard of. We did the same thing with strip club laws in 2006. However, City Council spokeswoman Laura Lockard told The Stranger that this is somehow different from other ordinances, and won't ever see a public vote. Time will tell whether or not this is, in fact, the case.
Last month, the city entered a $1.4 billion contract with Seattle Tunnel Project after they submitted the winning proposal for the tunnel design plan. All 155 pages, plus the 236 pages of appendices, were posted on Slog.
