For most of 2012, WSDOT was watchdogged by KOMO News because of cracks found in new pontoons for the new 520 bridge. Now the Seattle Times reports that Bertha, the 7,000-ton tunnel boring machine, purpose-built for digging the SR 99 tunnel beneath Seattle, sustained damage during its initial testing in Japan. Continue reading Both of WSDOT’s Seattle Megaprojects Off to a Bumpy Start
But, just over a year out, McGinn has just one challenger: Charlie Staadecker, a former hospitality executive who sounds like a political rookie himself. And events seem to be conspiring in McGinn’s favor. Continue reading Op-Ed: Could the Tunnel Elect Mayor Mike McGinn Twice?
Moving ahead with the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement project, Washington Department of Transportation crews will reroute Alaskan Way traffic south of Spring Street to a newly improved road below the viaduct. That in turn will change the way you get to the ferry toll plaza at Colman Dock. Continue reading Alaskan Way Reroute Begins 2nd Week of May
But, faced with years of tunnel-construction and Viaduct-destruction, the Port and Mariners have decided a new stadium is a bridge too far. Why? Fears of traffic congestion. Here is a delightful section of the Port’s letter to all and sundry in which they discover that they never got their promised east-west connectors, that tolls divert traffic, and that they forgot to demand meaningful construction mitigation. Continue reading New Stadium Notion Leaves Port, the Ms Feeling Congested Even Before Tunnel Toll
WSDOT is not normally in the habit of announcing that they have $200 million in fun money they have no use for. There exist WSDOT projects with perhaps more impact than ferrying 57,000 vehicles (per day by 2030) past Seattle’s core. For comparison, Mercer Street, which carries 80,000 vehicles per day, is getting a makeover costing $164 million, $36 million less than WSDOT’s estimating error on their $3.1-billion tunnel project. Continue reading Seattle’s Shunpikers Slice $200 Million From Tunnel Toll Estimates
It doesn’t get much more high-stakes–Constantine put the county’s credit on the line, but the proof as they say, is in the sludgy pudding about 300 feet below Lake Forest Park. On the other hand, what can’t Constantine do? He’s juggled $60 million deficits, kept Brightwater from boondoggle status, and most recently talked not one but two Republicans into raising car tab fees to pay for transit. Perhaps later he’ll leap Snake River on a rocket cycle. Continue reading Brightwater Tunnel Breakthrough, Courtesy Dow “Kick-Ass” Constantine
The Seattle City Council is all over this newfangled blogging thing the kids are always on about. No longer to they have to beg the Seattle Times for space on the op-ed page. Some are more prolific than others: Tim Burgess I think leads the way–he even has his own blog–but Sally Bagshaw is right in there. Nick Licata writes frequently, with a monthly round-up. Sally Clark writes once or twice a month, just ahead of Bruce Harrell. Jean Godden was last heard from in March, and the sporadic Tom Rasmussen has let six months go between posting. Continue reading City Council Blogs: the Missing Jail, “Rubble Yard” Money & $80 License Fees
