Results tagged “alaskanway”

We know. It does sound like a painful, invasive operation. Would it be too much to ask our government to use English when asking for our input on the details of things they're forcing down our throats? Coming up, the Federal Highway Administration, WSDOT, and the City of Seattle are holding three local meetings on the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program (which will also include info on the new waterfront surface street). "You will be able to ask questions and share your thoughts on what environmental elements and mitigation measures should be studied in the supplemental draft environmental impact statement on the proposed bored tunnel alternative." Meeting details after the jump!

The bored tunnel option just got a big wet kiss from the Senate, though its House reception will not be so warm. Still, the clock's ticking and WSDOT, King County, and the City of Seattle are inviting you on a free short walking tour of the viaduct on Saturday, March 21, while the structure is closed to traffic for an inspection.

Last night, concerned citizens met at Town Hall to discuss the remaining two viaduct replacement options on the table. Though there are some still holding out for options that have already been discarded, Gregoire, Sims and Nickels will be deciding between these two only: a surface transit hybrid (map [pdf], fact sheet [pdf])and an elevated bypass four-lane scenario (map [pdf], fact sheet [pdf]). We couldn't make it to the meeting, so we'd like to stage our own Seattlest version right here, right now: what do you think, and why? (Comments are welcome, poll closes at noon tomorrow.)

West Seattle Blog is tweeting from the King County Courthouse, bringing the latest on the viaduct situation from a City of Seattle press conference. According to her, the two options now presented are a surface/transit hybrid and an elevated bypass hybrid.

It's a fact that chambers of commerce are populated largely by jaw-dangling idiots; we joined a chamber once but dropped out after we kept trying to unlock our front door with a light bulb. That is why we're not surprised to hear that the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce is pushing what they call "surface-subsurface hybrid" as a replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Seattle Times explains that charming "subsurface" nomenclature for you: "Washburn's idea is to put the viaduct traffic in a tunnel, either a deep-bore tunnel or a lidded trench." Hey, is this thing on? Seriously though, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, you guys wanna run the hat around? Got a few billion dollars? No. Oh. Then shut the fuck up.

Yes, Virginia, there really is a viaduct decision. "After years of debates, arguments and advisory votes the replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct will finally be chosen next month," says the P-I. The viaduct is all over both dailies, with the Seattle Times pointing out that the state's projected $4.6 billion deficit isn't likely to affect transportation decisions as much as you'd think: "Transportation has a separate budget with its own source of revenue — primarily the gasoline tax, which is more stable than the sales tax." The surface street option still pencils out as the least expensive, fastest-to-buid choice, but at $800-$900 million and five years of construction, would still take quite a toll on the north-south commute.

The scale of this crime--six heisted parking meters!--is what impresses us. Also the location, beneath the Viaduct, is kinda noir. We can imagine a lot of deals going down in the shadows. Not usually involving parking meters, though.

One of the oldest jokes in the book is at the expense of the Sixth Amendment: how can twelve people who couldn't get out of jury duty be counted as your peers? Juries, after all, are populated by the unemployed and retirees--people who don't have to actually for a living.

Via Slog, here's the video of the Minneapolis 35W bridge collapse. Looks like it just went WHUMP. No warning.

This Saturday offers at least three ways to make a difference in Seattle, or at least look like you care whilst furthering your own selfish interests.

It's hard to believe that you were born 54 years ago today, Alaskan Way Viaduct. You don't look a day over 50. Sure, your reinforced concrete could use some work. We all need a little health maintenance as we get older.

ELECTION NIGHT PARTY: Get happy with Cary Moon and the People's Waterfront Coalition, the prophets of the surface/transit waterfront.

Doesn't matter whether you rebuild, retrofit or dig. Doesn't matter if the State Dep't of Transportation pretends they need to maintain the Viaduct's current capacity of 110,000 vehicles a day (even if The Stranger and others make it clear the number is closer to 75,000).

The state DOT today said that one of the two choices on the March special "what to do with the viaduct" election isn't safe, effectively rendering the election pointless.

Seattle's proposal for a reduced, four-lane Alaskan Way tunnel should be dropped from further consideration, because of "serious operational and safety problems found during our technical review," the State Department of Transportation said in a letter released this morning.

Continue reading "State: Tunnel Vote Is Pointless"

Gov. Christine Gregoire got so frustrated trying to broker a compromise between Mayor Greg Nickels and House Speaker Frank Chopp on the Alaskan Way Viaduct that she turned to a Republican wise man for advice.

Continue reading "The Tunnel Is On The Chopping Block"

Sonics owner Clay Bennett, displaying an uncanny sense of timing, delivered an estimate on keeping the Sonics to Governor Gregoire today, 24 hours after she'd decided there wasn't enough money for an Alaskan Way Tunnel. From the letter [pdf]:

To make this project work, it is clear that we will need at least $300 million in revenue sources authorized by the state. These would be taxes collected only in King County...

A woman tried to incinerate herself in an elevator at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront this morning, reports the Seattle Times:

Continue reading "Self-Immolation Attempt in Waterfront Marriott Elevator"

The latest chapter in the drama (using the term loosely) around WSDOT's updates of the Alaskan Way Viaduct article on Wikipedia. Wiki administrator Crzrussion posted on the article's talk page this explanation from Amy Grotefendt at WSDOT :

No offense was intended in providing updates to the Wikipedia page, and we want to abide by the expectations and guidelines involving the Wikipedia community. The Wikipedia page was updated on October 27, 2006, to correct inaccuracies about the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Project and project cost estimates. Below is the information we wanted to correct – we invite others to make these updates or we would like to make these changes, if no one objects.

Continue reading "Update: "We Didn't Intend to Spin!" Says WSDOT"

If the Wikipedia user WSDOT Alaskan Way Viaduct Project wants to spin any more entries they're going to have to identify themselves to the powers that be at the site. As noted in the comments of our post on Friday and at Wikipedia's discussion page for the Alaskan Way entry, WSDOT Alaskan Way Viaduct Project has been banned.

Have you read Wikipedia's article on the Alaskan Way Viaduct lately? Here are the two most recent versions of the opening paragraph. The first is from September 21, last revised by Bibliophylax:

The Viaduct is closing this weekend for a semi-annual inspection, which we like to imagine as Mayor Nickels walking up to and attempting to shake a support column. Thumbs-up, DOT, looks like we're set for another year or until such time as a replacement tunnel is funded!

Upon hearing that Alaskan Way viaduct tunnel or rebuild will cost billions more than originally thought, some on the city council are calling for...oh, you'll just never guess, so here's what the Times says:

Dear pansy-ass liberals at KUOW--stop the relativism. Just as there's a difference between Gitmo and My Lai, there's a difference between East and West Marginal Way.

Someday the Viaduct is going to collapse and kill a bunch of not-so-unsuspecting Seattleites and maybe a few guys from Everett. Only the elevated highway nymphs and the guy deep in the earth who pulls the earthquake levers knows when, exactly, that will be, but we have a pretty good idea that it will happen "someday." So we busy ourselves fixing it, or, failing that, arguing about how to fix it.

NEW is history, say the policy pundits at Cascadia Scorecard. Call us the Sightline Institute instead. (Someone's been busy in the art department turning wonky into wowzers! Ha ha! No, seriously, the site looks hot.)

Magnolia is getting a new bridge, if the city can get some money to pay for it.

At 2:30 p.m. today, March 13th, the Seattle City Council is holding a hearing with members of the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Seattle Department of Transportation concerning the controversial Alaskan Way Viaduct program.

Earlier in the week it looked as if Mayor Nickels' plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel had run out of time. Olympia lawmakers wanted him to present a funding package by April 1, an almost impossible task given the project's 3 to 4 billion dollar cost.

We're not sure exactly what Ghost Cycle is. Is it a protest? Against what? Is it an awareness campaign? Possibly. It is very powerful as a visual image - We saw one of the white bikes off of the lower Alaskan Way yesterday while we were on foot and then later almost massacred a number of bicyclists while driving home along that very route. That road, by the way, may be one of the safer passages out of downtown on a bike, but it's still harrowingly dangerous and that might be the point of Ghost Cycles - We saw the white bike; later, in the car, we saw the pre-white bikes with actual riders and we concentrated extra hard on not hitting any of them.

Until we had to actually consider it we had absolutely no opinion of the waterfront trolley. We just watched it going by day after day from the loading dock behind our office. Generally empty. Everytime it clang-clanged its way through the intersection across the street we'd glance up and mutter curses at whichever driver thought they could beat it through. Just once did we see it hit someone. It was a minivan and we only got to personally witness the aftermath. What do you call it when something on rails does very little damage in a collision? If it were two cars you would have called it a fender bender.