No vote allowed! The only public works program more idiotic than the I-5 Bridge replacement/loot rail extortion is the latest Seattle idiocy (II)

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As I pointed out here: the current Alaskan Way Viaduct project has become a monster that will become an economic black hole even worse than the megacasino down here in Clark County.

So, what to my wondering eyes appear? A requirement to jack up taxes an additional $1.4 BILLION dollars to pay for our local version of Boston's notorious Big Dig.

Well, government, here's a clue: We're broke. We can't afford it. And like our Bridge down here, we don't need or want it.

We already know that with our government, when they say the price is going to be $4 billion, they really mean 8. And no one cares... because THEY are spending OUR money!

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Doesn't it have that impact on you?

Tunnel extras: $1.4B needed
While building a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct would remove noise and blight from the Seattle waterfront, the project might elicit a roar from King County taxpayers.

By By Mike Lindblom, Seattle Times transportation reporter


MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Gov. Chris Gregoire, center, shakes hands with King County Executive Ron Sims after he and Mayor Greg Nickels signed an agreement to screw the taxpayers over the unnecessary and criminally expensive replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bore tunnel.

While building a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct would remove noise and blight from the Seattle waterfront, the project might elicit a roar from King County taxpayers.

Politicians are suggesting as much as $1.4 billion in new local taxes, fees and grant requests to pay for all the desired buses, streetcars, a sea wall, road work, utility relocations and parks associated with the tunnel.

The money could be collected without a public vote.

House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, already has questioned whether so many new taxes are a good idea. This after voters last fall approved doubling the Sound Transit sales tax, backed Seattle measures for Pike Place Market and parks, and in 2006 approved a Metro Transit sales-tax hike plus a Seattle property tax for transportation.

The new $4.2 billion tunnel proposal includes $2.8 billion for the tunnel and other highway sections through Sodo, and the remaining $1.4 billion from local government.

How to raise the city's share:

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proposes these sources to pay for improvements related to tunnel. The state's tunnel and other highway work is estimated at $2.8 billion — but the total reaches $4.2 billion if the other projects and King County bus improvements are added.
Parking tax: $200 million, roughly a 10 percent boost in parking costs
Downtown property tax: $300 million, from landowners who benefit
Utility rates: $252 million, a 2 percent to 2.5 percent increase
Car-tab tax: $65 million, at $20 a year per car
State grants: $5 million, routine revenue-sharing
Federal grants: $55 million, for streets or streetcar
Obama stimulus funds: $80 million, for east-west Mercer and Spokane streets rebuilds.
Sources: state DOT, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis

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More of this incredible stupidity:

The only public works project more idiotic than the Bridge/Loot Rail? The Alaskan Way... Tunnel?

You know, I'm FROM Seattle. And every day, in every way, Seattle becomes an increasingly greater place to be FROM.

The problem here is that in this instance of insanity, we can neither afford this nonsense nor is it necessary. In those respects, the situation in Seattle is not unlike the situation we face here: the unneeded and unwanted, as well as indecently expensive replacement of the I-5 Bridge for purposes of bringing loot rail into Vancouver.

I vividly remember the pro-gas tax campaign not too long ago: we were repeatedly (and wrongfully) told that if we voted the gas tax down, the Alaskan Way Viaduct would collapse, killing millions and that the world would end as we knew it.

They were lying, of course... but our state supreme court has approved the process of campaign lies, so the messaging continued. The result? The people spoke. We were, as I pointed out, lied to... and the project list underwent a massive (30% or so) cut (all another part of our government lying to us) 60 seconds or so (figuratively speaking) after the vote passed.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct would be replaced by a tunnel under an agreement reached between the state, King County.

So now, instead of doing the right thing... instead of repairing and/or upgrading the Viaduct (much like we should be considering when it comes to the I-5 Bridge, but an unacceptable option to the downtown Mafia who demand loot rail at any price) the idiots running our government want the most expensive possible option: tearing down the viaduct and putting in a tunnel.

Think "Big Dig," and what an utter, complete disaster that was and is. Think in terms of $4.25 billion only being the opening charge. Think in terms of additional, unspoken billions and tax increases to pay for it. Think in terms of special interests blowing holes in our collective wallets.

Think in terms of the same kind of government arrogance displayed by the City Council of Vancouver.

I know I am.

 
Originally published January 12, 2009 at 11:53 AM Page modified January 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM

City, county, state agree to replace viaduct with tunnel

The Alaskan Way Viaduct would be replaced by a tunnel under an agreement reached between the state, King County and the city of Seattle.

By Andrew Garber, Mike Lindblom and Emily Heffter

Seattle Times staff reporters

Flickr WSDOT renderings of bored tunnel
Twitter search Reactions to viaduct news
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Archive Viaduct tunnel rises again
Archive Tunnel option was disliked by nearly everyone
Archive Tunnel's price tag may top $3 billion
Archive Viaduct down to two options
Archive Port of Seattle urges more study of viaduct tunnel hybrid
Archive All viaduct options unfriendly to pedestrians
Archive Compare the eight Alaskan Way Viaduct options

OLYMPIA — The state and local governments have agreed to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel under downtown Seattle, Mayor Greg Nickels and Metropolitan King County Councilmember Dow Constantine confirmed today.

The agreement between the state, King County, the city of Seattle, and the Port of Seattle is expected to be formally announced Tuesday.

The state would cover the cost of the two-mile tunnel, with the city and county picking up the tab for surface-street and transit improvements. The port would be involved as well, but details are still sketchy.

The total cost is expected to be around $4.25 billion, with the state's share totaling $2.8 billion, according to a source close to Gov. Chris Gregoire. The city's part of the deal would be just less than $1 billion, Nickels said. It would cover repairs to the sea wall, street improvements and possibly a streetcar line, he said.

"The burden is going to be on the city and county to provide some of the other surface and transit improvements needed to make local transportation work," said Constantine, D-West Seattle. "The big questions will be, how quickly can the tunnel get built, how long can the viaduct reasonably last and is there a gap between those two dates?"

The tunnel would be bored beneath the western edge of downtown, under First Avenue, which might allow the current viaduct to remain in use during tunnel construction.

Nickels said the city's share of the money would come from a variety of sources, including a local taxing district. He also said he hopes the federal stimulus package expected from Congress would include some money for the project.

Constantine said counties also have a local car-tab tax at their disposal.

The county was already searching for new money to replace stagnant sales taxes that threaten to cripple King County Metro Transit. He said he hopes state and local governments can figure out how to take care of that revenue shortfall and the viaduct replacement at the same time.

Nickels has supported a tunnel for some time.

"My goal has been to open up the waterfront," he said, "and this will do that."

The agreement reached between the state and local governments calls for a four-lane tunnel that would start at Royal Brougham on the south end, travel under First Avenue and emerge near Thomas north of the Battery Street tunnel.

In December, the state, city and county came up with two finalists for viaduct replacement: another elevated highway like the existing viaduct and a surface "couplet" in which southbound traffic would run on Alaskan Way and northbound traffic on Western Avenue.

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