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Alaskan Way Viaduct

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What would real political change look like?

Posted Tue, Nov 3, 5:27 p.m.

The election will bring change, but the entrenched factors suggest only a few nudges. Here's an agenda for substantive change in our tax system, our spending priorities, our stalemated politics, and the post-Boeing economy.

READ MORE 13 COMMENTS

Mallahan or McGinn? That is the question.

Posted Wed, Oct 28, 6 a.m.

I have no answer yet about how to vote in the Seattle mayor's race. Like a lot of people, I'm still working it out.

READ MORE 25 COMMENTS

McGinn's tunnel cave

Posted Wed, Oct 21, 6 a.m.

One reason not to vote early in Seattle: From here to election day is an eternity, especially with two mayoral candidates like Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn.

READ MORE 9 COMMENTS

Is the tunnel a boondoggle?

Posted Tue, Oct 20, 6 a.m.

A new study shows Seattle-area tunnel projects are very likely to break the budget. But the nature of most mega-projects also suggests the Viaduct surface option wouldn't be exempt from cost problems either.

READ MORE 36 COMMENTS

New chapter for Elliott Bay?

Posted Sun, Oct 18, noon

Seattle's iconic Pioneer Square bookstore might move. It could also close. Tough times bring tough choices for the bookseller, and the neighborhood it has helped to revive.

READ MORE 9 COMMENTS

What would Jane Jacobs do about the Viaduct?

Posted Fri, Oct 2, 6 a.m.

The patron saint of livable, walkable cities is being invoked on both sides of the debate over Seattle's Viaduct solution. Would Jacobs be a tunnel supporter, or a surface option fan?

READ MORE 29 COMMENTS

Mike McGinn comes out of the tunnel

Posted Fri, Sep 25, 6 a.m.

An engaging candidate for mayor, McGinn is also a conviction politician. What does that mean for folks who are not on the moral high road with him?

READ MORE 37 COMMENTS

Article on the Mercer Mess created a lot of false alarms

Posted Tue, Sep 22, 6 a.m.

A Vulcan spokesperson pleads: no more ill-informed pieces on South Lake Union by John Fox.

READ MORE 20 COMMENTS

Why it's time to act, finally, on Mercer

Posted Mon, Sep 21, 6 a.m.

The director of Seattle's Department of Transportation makes the case for moving ahead on the Mercer Mess, and how the western portion got redesigned and will be funded.

READ MORE 20 COMMENTS

Five peeves, including uninspiring local campaigns

Posted Fri, Sep 18, 6 a.m.

Let's get down to some serious issues, rather than side shows about racism, public options, trade wars with China, Hutchison's past political leanings, and cynical appeals to quickie light rail lines.

READ MORE 22 COMMENTS

The great rookie debate

Posted Thu, Sep 10, 10:03 p.m.

The first face-off of Seattle's mayoral candidates offered contrasts, but no aha! moments.

READ MORE 5 COMMENTS

Why we should stick to our consensus for a deep bore tunnel

Posted Thu, Aug 6, 6 a.m.

Key is the economic context, argues a member of the Viaduct stakeholders' committee. Boring an inshore tunnel keeps the Viaduct in place during construction, avoiding years of traffic congestion.

READ MORE 40 COMMENTS

'Misimpressions' about the Viaduct plan

Posted Mon, Jul 27, 6 a.m.

A City Council candidate makes his case against the deep-bored tunnel solution to the central waterfront, calling it far from a done deal

READ MORE 52 COMMENTS

Why Seattle's Viaduct solution is good for Wenatchee

Posted Thu, Jun 18, 6 a.m.

A 'trade mission' by the Port of Seattle makes the case for the deep bore tunnel, which avoids cutting off Eastern Washington trade from the port for years

READ MORE 10 COMMENTS

High time for a High Line?

Posted Tue, Jun 9, 6 a.m.

New York has just opened a park atop an abandoned railroad trestle, showing the possibilities of parks that rise above it all and reuse urban history. Here are some ways Seattle could follow suit.

READ MORE 12 COMMENTS

Mayor Bozeman's Seattle slapfest: returning the favor

Posted Fri, May 1, 2:35 p.m.

Turning Seattle's waterfront into a bourgeoisie theme park is the worst thing you can do for a port city's economy

READ MORE 20 COMMENTS

Is Seattle's best mayor in Bremerton?

Posted Thu, Apr 30, 11:15 a.m.

Cary Bozeman may have insulted Seattle's leadership, vision, and downtown icons with his blunt critique of the city, but he's mostly right.

READ MORE 19 COMMENTS

Needed: civic visionaries who think about costs

Posted Fri, Apr 24, 6 a.m.

Seattle used to create civic visionaries who reshaped the urban landscape. Now our civic visionaries have poor math skills.

READ MORE 12 COMMENTS

Ready to try public-private partnerships yet?

Posted Wed, Apr 1, 6 a.m.

With state transportation agencies too strapped to fix bridges and roads, and union pension funds looking for investments, the P3 idea is spreading. Maybe even to a wary West Coast?

READ MORE 13 COMMENTS

Will he or won't he?

Posted Wed, Mar 11, 6 a.m.

Momentum is building for Peter Steinbrueck to challenge Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, but the former city council member is going to decide his way.

READ MORE 12 COMMENTS

Other media

McGinn: 'Very deeply committed' to the waterfront tunnel project He's gone from opposing it, to questioning it, to not blocking it, to full advocacy. An early sticking point will be whether he can remove the city's liability cost overruns.

Who pays for tunnel budget overruns unclear says AG McKenna It's a political hot potato and Washington's attorney general says at the moment, there's no clear answer.

Danny Westneat: What to make of the flip-flopping mayor's race "We citizens can't do much but gape as our two newbie candidates take one head-scratching U-turn after another through the issues of the day," the columnist says.

McGinn backs off tunnel opposition Following the City Council's approval today of a "memorandum of understanding" with the state, the mayoral candidate said that while he's still opposed to the deep-bore tunnel he would honor the agreement if elected.

City Council hears tunnel financing plan today In advance of Monday's vote, the council gets more details on Mayor Nickels' plan to pay the city's share of the Viaduct-replacing tunnel. Highlights include more expensive parking and car tabs, and a "local improvement district" tax for downtown businesses that would benefit from an open waterfront.

Blog posts

Exceeding the speed limit on Mercer

Posted Fri, Oct 30, 6 a.m.

The City Council tries an irregular maneuver on the Mercer West project, leaving opponents (and the new mayor) little chance to weigh in.

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Duel of the scary Viaduct videos

Posted Mon, Oct 26, 4:07 p.m.

Pro- and anti-tunnel advocates each showcase their disaster scenarios.

MORE

McGinn's tunnel cave

Posted Tue, Oct 20, 11:17 a.m.

One reason not to vote early in Seattle: From here to election day is an eternity, especially with two mayoral candidates like Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn.

MORE

The tunnel and the 'Westneat dilemma'

Posted Mon, Oct 19, 3 p.m.

WIth a new Sightline report predicting cost overruns on plans to replace the Viaduct, it's a good time to revisit the Times columnist's perceptive framing of the debate.

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Updated: The Viaduct issue looms in Seattle races

Posted Wed, Jun 17, 7:04 a.m.

Voters seem opposed to the expensive tunnel solution, giving candidate Mike McGinn an advantage. But do they want to reopen the fight?

MORE

Drago and Nickels really are different, despite the Mayor's hug

Posted Tue, May 26, 10:10 p.m.

Nickels won the battle for the opening story-line (Ms. Me-Too), as the challenger finds her real appeal is a difficult horn to toot

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Another riposte to Mayor Bozeman

Posted Fri, May 8, 3:24 p.m.

Before we develop a case of peninsula envy, we might give Bremerton credit where credit's due. That would be Norm Dicks.

MORE

When Chopp speaks, parse it closely

Posted Thu, Mar 26, 9:14 p.m.

The Speaker seems to be moving from his opposition to the Viaduct tunnel plan. Here's the three-cushion shot that probably lies beneath that very hedged statement.

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Can it be? A Viaduct solution?

Posted Mon, Jan 12, 4:22 p.m.

The bored tunnel idea, long a long shot, helps the politicians find common ground. Now, can they find enough funding for it?

MORE

You call that socialism?

Posted Tue, Dec 30, 6 a.m. 2008

In economic hard times many states are re-looking at privatization and "pawning the family silver" to raise cash.

MORE

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