Signs of Viaduct demolition by WSDOT from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

High cost-of-living, a population explosion and the return of the viaduct. Happy Halloween Seattle. more ›

We're still a week away from a full closure of the viaduct, but there will still be plenty of construction and activity to snarl traffic over the weekend. The 520 bridge will be closed in both directions to all traffic (again) beginning on Saturday, which is never pleasant, and we'll also see Husky and Sounders traffic jamming up the southern part of the city. Hooray! more ›

viaduct #5 by photosbysomeguy from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

Police, litigation, surveillance tapes. These are some of the common threads in today's headlines. If those don't sound enticing, however, we've got plenty of other news, including some positive budget announcements (for once), and an important announcement for West Seattle Metro riders. more ›

You knew this day was coming. Now, it's got a date. Get ready, Seattle--the viaduct is coming down. more ›

News from West Seattle! Baskin-Robbins gets robbed (meanwhile, the far superior Husky Deli has a birthday), Lucha Libre, stolen aerial equipment, an arrest in Tuesday's White Center shooting and a memorial for a beloved local artist. Oh, and get your heart checked, kids. more ›

The WSDOT Final Environmental Impact Statement was released last week, and wow -- it is long. Here's our notes on what we could find in the Final EIS, including the effects of tolling, transit times, and effect on the environment. more ›

The corpse flower, Weiner, the Viaduct, a whole lot of state departments shutting down, an injured baby duck and all the McKenna that's fit to print. more ›

This morning, almost 29,000 signatures supporting a referendum putting the proposed deep-bore tunnel to a public vote were turned in, well over the 16,500 required. The King County Elections office will verify the signatures and have the results in a couple of weeks, but in the meanwhile, tunnel supporters and city officials are thinking of alternate ways to block the referendum. We're on the edge of our seats. more ›

A group called Let's Move Forward has registered with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, and Publicola has confirmed that they are a pro-tunnel group. This adds another key player to the heated SR-99 replacement debate, with anti-tunnel referendum group Protect Seattle Now in full-swing. more ›

Six months just flies by! If you were planning on traveling by the SR-99 viaduct this weekend, you might want to think of a creative detour. It is once again time for its semiannual inspection, the ones that have happened every six months for the past ten years, since the Nisqually quake, that ideally keep it from falling down at the drop of a hat. In addition to the normal maintenance and inspections, the Washington State Department of Transportation will be testing a new system with sensors, apparently similar to railroad gates, equipped to monitor the early signs of a moderate to severe earthquake. The goal is to clear traffic within two minutes of any seismic activity with a magnitude of 5 or higher. more ›

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. more ›

Re:Take is local history buff Rob Ketcherside's weekly look at the Emerald City now and in days of yore through photos dug out of the city archives. This week, south Seattle booms with bubbly 1920s auto expansion. more ›

The folks at Sound Transit must be in good spirits this week--the lowest construction bid for the University Link tunnel was $20 million lower than Sound Transit's original estimate. more ›

Damn you, Mercer Island! You did this to us. Here's Judy Clibborn on democracy:

All this talk is just so much noise to Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, who chairs the state House Transportation committee. "The state is building that tunnel," she said in an interview. "It's a done deal."

• So excited to hear about Cap. Hill's quest to get hipsters fat opening of Captain Black's. We've always wanted to know what came first, the chicken or the waffle?
• Nick Montana -- Joe Montana's son, rated one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation --says he'll attend college at UW.
• Scoot, scoot! All you scooters get your little 50cc engines running for the second annual All City Scooter Day, coming up this Saturday.

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! more ›

Mayor Nickels, speaking of the tunnel for which no cost overruns can be foreseen, noted that, "The design work and engineering on the 'mile in the middle,' which has been the controversial part, will go forward in about two years." Does that mean what it sounds like? Is the most controversial part really undesigned? (The Weekly's Damon Agnos has some terrific quotes from someone who looked like the Mayor speaking out strongly against a tunnel a little while ago.) more ›

A friend of ours was at the Washington Conservation Voters auction fundraiser last night, where Mayor Greg Nickels was being applauded for his greenery. But when Nickels got to the part about the deep-bore tunnel, the response was noticeably tepid. Perhaps thinking people needed a little push, Nickels mentioned his excitement about the tunnel again, only to hear some back-of-the-hall derision. Did his staff not tell Hizzoner that real greens don't buy into tunnel-vision? more ›

• Seattle, do you realize what you are finally witnessing? The first baby demolition steps that will (fingers crossed) lead to the demise of the Viaduct.
• It took not even six months for Capitol Hill's defunct organic pizza joint Pizza Fusion to go out of business. Now as they auction off all their equipment and furnishings this Thursday, you'll have one last chance to snag some of the coveted Sunset Bowl memorabilia.
• Ferries are all the rage--Budget Travel Magazine names the Seattle-Bainbridge commute as one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the U.S. They forget to mention the ferry system will be jacking up their summer prices 25 percent this Friday.

It's heartening to discover we weren't the only ones who found it possible to envision cost overruns in building Seattle's deep-bore tunnel. Sightline's Clark Williams-Derry: "It's a potentially enormous financial burden, since even the best planning process can't anticipate things that can go wrong with such a massive undertaking." The Seattle Times' Danny Westneat: "I do think it's suspicious that this same tunnel was rejected in December by a stakeholder advisory committee on account of it being way too expensive. Only to have the costs then shrink (!) by $400 million, arriving at a size that happily fits the state's pre-existing budget." Westneat does everything but call those involved bald-faced liars. Since the alternative is that they're delusional, we're not sure which option is preferable. more ›

Sometimes we fantasize that the Capitol dome is a Reset button that just needs a really big thumb. Here's the exciting part about the viaduct bill that just passed the House: "Any costs in excess of ($2.8 billion) shall be borne by property owners in the Seattle area...." Are you at all reassured by Gov. Gregoire's spokesperson that "we don't envision any cost overruns to occur on this project"? more ›

Some Lynnwood residents may have had a different church-going experience on Easter Sunday, when a 2.5 magnitude "micro" earthquake occurred just before 10 a.m. This was just one of the many "micro" quakes that have been shimmy-shaking throughout Washington this year. Researchers worry that if these "micro" quakes turn into anything bigger, say a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, it would be catastrophic for Seattle and its skyline. If that does happen, we know the Alaskan Way Viaduct is a goner and so would be many of the old high-rise buildings (Hello, Columbia Center), built before new earthquake friendly regulations were enforced in 1994.
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• A neighborhood-based local business discount card for Capitol Hill? Um, yes please! CHS tells us the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is exploring the idea (take a survey about it here), and JSeattle leaks via Twitter, "Think it's definitely happening. Question is how it works." Rad.
• West Seattle Blog posted a surprisingly brief blurb on Mac Clay's $15 million settlement from a lawsuit over his paralyzing injury two years ago at West Seattle High School.
• Have you taken your walking tour of the viaduct yet? Queen Anne View reminds us that we have another chance on March 21. It's free, and only 45 minutes. Do it.

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. more ›

Taxpayers may not be the only ones seeing extra digits. King County assessor Scott Noble is being investigated for a possible DUI. The Dawgs are no longer in the doghouse with labor activists, now that UW is canceling its apparel contract with Russell. And January's earthquake shook the viaduct "harder, longer" than anyone knew. Which is whole lot more fun than a boring tunnel, right? more ›

It's lonely at the top of Queen Anne, and, if you're a tunnel, boring. Queen Anne View recaps the bored tunnel meeting WSDOT held last night. While we're on Queen Anne, what's your bid on the Queen Anne High condos that will soon hit the auction block? My Ballard explains the tragic-yet-bizarre reason that flags at state agencies are at half-mast today. And the Daily Weekly pokes fun at native son Po Bronson for his Starbucks quote on the perils of success. Po should know. He's been on Oprah! more ›

Third choice may be the charm for Gary Locke, the latest pick for Commerce Secretary. If Locke leaves, someone will have to pick up the slack on China, energy, and governmental relations. Ponder this as you walk around Greenlake, which is safe after a bomb scare this morning, PhinneyWood reports. Should you decide to be part of the solution, West Seattle blog has info on upcoming Vidaduct meetings, and MyBallard reports on plans for a car camp for homeless folks. more ›

Organizers announced the course for the Seattle Rock and Roll marathon today, which will replace last year's bungled Seafair Marathon. The hilly June 27 race is a for-profit event run by a California company. It starts in Tukwila, near a casino and sexpresso stands, and will show off the industrial area around Boeing, and Rainier Beach, before heading up the Alaskan Way Viaduct and must-see Highway 99. And since there's a rock music theme, expect to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit" approximately 26.2 times. more ›