Publicola on How WSDOT Pimped its Deep-Bore Tunnel Ride

Late yesterday Publicola tweeted that big news was on the way (a Twitter tease, Josh? What are you, the News at 6?), and then unveiled a post titled "Documents Reveal Fix Was In for Deep-Bore Tunnel."

The backstory is that Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel (SCAT) got their public disclosure request of WSDOT fulfilled, and an enormous amount of really tedious reading became available. It either blows the lid off things or just confirms your suspicions that pro-tunnel interests were driving the WSDOT bus. Publicola's Erica Barnett sums up her findings here:

Emails, internal memos, and other agency documents reveal that WSDOT appointed longtime advocates for the deep-bore tunnel as “experts” on tunnel costs; redistributed tunnel costs to make the price appear lower; and failed to study the surface/transit/I-5 alternative, subbing in a faux four-lane “surface” alternative that included none of the transit and surface-street improvements in the surface/transit/I-5 proposal.

If you are for the construction of the deep-bore tunnel, you will find it hard to get exercised at the sight of WSDOT trying to reduce costs on the project, or enlisting the help of analysts who are likely to help them make their case.

If you are against the tunnel "boondoggle," you may be incensed to find that you aren't supposed to know what the draft environmental impact statement says: "We respectfully request that the public not be given access to this document because FHWA has determined that this preliminary document is an intergovernmental exchange that may be withheld under the Freedom of Information Act."

If you are sick and tired of hearing about the tunnel, you won't have read this post.

From my perspective, the most damaging (if unsurprising) news is that WSDOT didn't bother to compare the tunnel to its most likely competition in the Viaduct replacement sweepstakes: the surface/transit/I-5 plan. It's one thing to paint the best picture of your favorite option; it's another to leave competing options out. If you commute on I-5 daily, you might appreciate an extra lane at the bottleneck.