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Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
Tue Jan 27, 2015, 05:09 PM Jan 2015

Washington State Bill Would Scrap Delayed $3.1 Billion Seattle Tunnel Project

(Reuters) - Two Washington state lawmakers have introduced a bill to scrap a $3.1 billion roadway overhaul and expressway tunnel excavation in Seattle, branding the project a failure beset by cost overruns, construction mishaps and delays.

The project to replace an aging waterfront freeway in downtown Seattle has been stalled since December 2013, when the world's largest earth-boring machine, named Bertha, became stuck underground after drilling just 10 percent of a planned tunnel route.

A bill sponsored by two Republican state senators, Doug Erickson and Michael Baumgartner, says the tunnel project is ill-conceived and likely to be plagued by additional construction problems and massive cost overruns.

"This thing puts every project in the state and every transportation dollar in the state at risk, if the costs balloon. And I believe they will," Baumgartner said on Tuesday.

The measure is likely to be opposed by Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who have supported the project, as well as by various members of the state Legislature, which endorsed the project in 2009.

more...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/us-usa-seattle-tunnel-idUSKBN0L02NM20150127

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Washington State Bill Would Scrap Delayed $3.1 Billion Seattle Tunnel Project (Original Post) Purveyor Jan 2015 OP
The sooner they scrap this boondoggle the better PSPS Jan 2015 #1
What do you suggest they do instead? ManiacJoe Jan 2015 #2
They removed the best option at the beginning PSPS Jan 2015 #5
If I remember correctly (not a safe bet) ManiacJoe Jan 2015 #6
Actually the best option was the "cut and cover"... Johnyawl Jan 2015 #7
Boston, on the other hand, successfully completed its Big Dig KamaAina Jan 2015 #3
A bit of political grandstanding by a couple of unknown republican Senators... Johnyawl Jan 2015 #4

PSPS

(13,516 posts)
1. The sooner they scrap this boondoggle the better
Tue Jan 27, 2015, 05:24 PM
Jan 2015

This was a horrible idea to begin with. The only people who would benefit are the big downtown property developers. And the design would permanently reduce the capacity of this essential corridor by 50%.

Their "rescue pit" has already caused damage to the surrounding area's buildings. The portion of the viaduct they demolished for this fiasco should be rebuilt.

ManiacJoe

(10,136 posts)
2. What do you suggest they do instead?
Tue Jan 27, 2015, 08:02 PM
Jan 2015

None of the original plans were that good, but this one does move more traffic than any of the others.

PSPS

(13,516 posts)
5. They removed the best option at the beginning
Tue Jan 27, 2015, 10:43 PM
Jan 2015

The best option is to retrofit the existing viaduct. It would cost a fraction of the doomed tunnel, retain the existing capacity and not disrupt traffic during the work. It was ignored, of course, because it wouldn't provide the requisite financial windfall for the big-monied developers.

What I fear will happen is that the tunnel will be scrapped after the rescue hole collapses the viaduct, and they'll decide not to do anything more than revert to surface streets, meaning the permanent balkanization of Seattle. Seattle -- the only large city I know of where the main interchange (I-5) consists of a whopping two lanes through the middle of the city.

ManiacJoe

(10,136 posts)
6. If I remember correctly (not a safe bet)
Wed Jan 28, 2015, 12:28 AM
Jan 2015

retrofitting was not feasible. It would have amounted to rebuilding the viaduct, which would have been a decent option.

I-5 is three lanes each way under the Convention Center, isn't it?

Johnyawl

(3,205 posts)
7. Actually the best option was the "cut and cover"...
Wed Jan 28, 2015, 12:44 AM
Jan 2015

We had to tear up the waterfront anyway to replace the seawall (which project is well underway and completely off everybody's radar), the cut and cover plan was to dig a trench, and at the same time the seawall was being rebuilt, build a freeway at the bottom of the trench and then lid over it and build a park on top of the lid.
This was the plan supported by Seattle Mayor Greg Nichols in the beginning. My wife ran for King County Council in 2005 and it was still an option at that point. The next year it dropped off the table and was never mentioned again. I have no idea why. (money, I'm sure)

Retrofitting the existing viaduct was never a permanent option, the structure is too old and cannot be brought up to current seismic code. And the replacement viaduct they designed looked like the Berlin Wall, only uglier.
 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
3. Boston, on the other hand, successfully completed its Big Dig
Tue Jan 27, 2015, 08:05 PM
Jan 2015

albeit with massive cost overruns.

Could this be an omen?

Johnyawl

(3,205 posts)
4. A bit of political grandstanding by a couple of unknown republican Senators...
Tue Jan 27, 2015, 09:18 PM
Jan 2015

...thier bill has already been killed by their own leadership. The tunnel project may indeed get cancelled sometime in the near future, but not from anything those two knuckleheads will do.
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