Posted Wed, Apr 25, 8:18 p.m.

Thanx. And I'll hope you'll consider my positions/perspectives fairly. Here follows some notes on your wording below. I'll disagree with your $20 subsidized 'actual' cost figure because 1, the capital could be paid off sooner (there are ways to do that), 2, it will be paid off eventually, and 3, ...

Posted Tue, Apr 24, 6:47 p.m.

Really? Really? says: "FHSC, fully operational will rank high on the Seattle 'Transit Oddities' list, cost more per rider, per boarding, per hour, per passenger/mile, whatever, less effectively than a simple trolleybus from Pill Hill to Coleman Dock via Yesler." - This is likely correct, however, both routes are logical ...

Posted Tue, Apr 24, 12:24 a.m.

I'll give yall my cessment uh the frickin furst heeall sturreet-kar on da rayuls sumtime latur. Course I will juz make fools uh ya again no doubt when I mention it aint thuh rayels what makes the plan good nuf fer the perfesshunal wurld circles what I freqwent. Yalls are ...

Posted Mon, Apr 23, 8:03 p.m.

Lorenbliss, I will be doing a brief edit job on this if you don't mind. I'm letting you know and saying thank YOU. As for comprehensive transit reporting, Seattle has a long way to go to ever become respectable in many quarters. "This notoriously anti-transit region" I'll ask politely to ...

Posted Sat, Apr 21, 10:46 a.m.

More nonsense from Borkowski. Southcenter is not just a shopping mall. It is Tukwila's commercial core and major employment center with high potential for growth and TOD. The extra cost was justified by predictable Link ridership and development potential that the route offered. Richard Borkowski: sellout. Whose side are you ...

Posted Wed, Apr 18, 12:23 p.m.

McKenna scares me. Any man that much a wuss is hiding an agenda. He may be looking to pay back the bullies who intimidated him in high school. He'd probably be happier working as a clerk at Abercrombie & Fitch, but would rather weild power to defy those who don't ...

Posted Sun, Apr 15, 9:56 a.m.

“New Car Warning label” WARNING: Driving can kill you. WARNING: This vehicle can harm and kill your passengers, pedestrians, other motorists, yourself. WARNING: A collision during pregnancy can harm your fetus. Driving less: Can reduce serious risks to your health.

Posted Sun, Apr 15, 9:10 a.m.

“New Car Warning label” WARNING: Driving can kill you. This vehicle can harm and kill your passengers, pedestrians, other motorists, yourself. A collision during pregnancy can harm your fetus. Driving less can reduce serious risks to your health.

Posted Tue, Apr 10, 11:41 a.m.

It's no surprise Ms Hammond is a shill for automobile-related interests. She was only appointed wsdoh director because her predecessor Doug MacDonald lost public confidence due to the agency's vile corruption and flagrant incompetence. Hammond became the new face for the old regime hellbent on fleecing the public solely for ...

Posted Tue, Apr 10, 11:03 a.m.

The deep bore tunnel, Richard, is an atrocity. It will immediately and forever destabilize the foundations of many historic and valuable buildings which will require their demolishment. In an earthquake, sudden collapse with horrendous death toll is entirely possible. Its related surface street reconfigurations are likewise atrocious and will make ...

Posted Tue, Apr 10, 1:44 a.m.

From Borokowski's article "Tukwila approval not required" June 2002: "Tukwila city officials opposed the first proposed route down Highway 99, (not Interurban Ave) pushing instead for a route serving (Southcenter), the city's commercial hub. Sound Transit said it was too expensive. Last year ST adopted a compromise "Tukwila Freeway Route" ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 6:42 p.m.

Mr Borkowski. Reducing my extensive and varied comments to name calling is how the lazy or guilty person avoids addressing charges of incompetence and other concerns. The public is entitled to be angry when predictions and expectations are suspiciously not met. My concern with Seattle transit plans has more to ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 12:59 p.m.

Nonsense, Mr Borkowski. Portland and Seattle are comparable despite your lazy excuses why Seattle transportation systems are a dismal failure while nary 150 miles away Portland exceeds national standards. Crossrip is correct: Portland's regional governance agency Metro jurisdiction covers 3 counties - Multnomah, Clackamas & Washington - whose population is ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 10:41 a.m.

Once again, Crosscut awards an Editor's Pick for nonsense. As a Portlander nearing my 20th year as advocate for light rail & transit oriented development (TOD), I'm satisfied with the progress nationally, but extremely disappointed with Seattle and Washington State. Link, SLUT & Sounder are the nation's WORST new rail ...

Posted Mon, Apr 2, 11:05 p.m.

I'll just weigh-in one last time here with my most humble pardons begged for dragging the innocent thru the muck, the mud muck of your PNW state Highway department bunglements... One year ago, wsdot admitted failure on 'their' I-5 CRC design (overbuilt) and have now submitted a follow-up design that ...

Posted Mon, Apr 2, 10:22 a.m.

Washington State Department of Highways, WSDOH, is a criminal organization acting solely on behalf of automobile-related business interests whose goal is to establish and maintain the automobile as a transportation monopoly. Screw national security, public safety and protecting our environment, their motto is "He who dies with the most money, ...

Posted Mon, Mar 26, 10:24 a.m.

Think of the global economy as a car going too fast, plowing through crowds, hit & run fleeing the scene of the crime, the power mad driver excused on the grounds of plutocratic immunity. Step by step we're closer to a plutocratic final solution: population control measures.

Posted Sun, Mar 25, 12:03 p.m.

How is falling demand in China a 'Wild Card'? Quite ruddy writing otherwise.

Posted Sun, Mar 25, 11:26 a.m.

Dam you lazy ass transit pukes. Proven against your unchallengeable viewpoint, yet again the latest CRC design option is the worst, not near the best, the discussion ends. WASHINGTON DOT is to blame as it reached a tentacle across a border and had it chopped off by Oregon NOAA and ...

Posted Thu, Mar 22, 8:48 p.m.

Mr Hall, your report is a mere fraction of what's wrong with the CRC engineering. I've explained on this forum before how the leading transportation agency WSDOT, here too as in Seattle, demonstrates dispicable corruption, horrific incompetence and callous disregard for public safety. The current I-5 bridges are 2-lanes acting ...

Posted Fri, Mar 16, 9:27 p.m.

"An unsuspecting San Francisco cadre appointed a head of BART likely to be again (thrice) be fired after damnable waste, theft, incompetence." DOT AND TRANSIT agencies display an unbelievably likeminded determination to ultimately serve automobile-related business interests primarily even to the detriment of non-motorized travel and use of efficient mass ...

Posted Wed, Mar 14, 8:19 p.m.

Wsdot should change its acroynm to Wsdoh (department of highways) because the only mode of transportation the agency considers is highways. SDOT's former director Grace Crunican was fired from her position of Oregon state highway director for her incompetent oversight of Portland's Ross Island Bridge rebuild project. Her disregard for ...

Posted Mon, Mar 12, 3:47 p.m.

Another example of displaced pressures is how rail embedded in an asphalt street eventually breaks the surface. The DBT may not rise as much as surrounding soils sink. Voids created during construction and indefinitely after will create unseen sinkholes beneath building foundations. The deciders of Olympia and from suburban estates ...

Posted Sat, Mar 10, 12:21 a.m.

When dire peril is ignored, over-educated idiots spout blather like "F=ma"(BS) and "Why harp on past decisions?" The insanely dangerous DBT and its poorly engineered street reconfigurations are a reality that sensible people cannot ignore. An earthquake is made exponentially devastating with the DBT in unstable soils.

Posted Fri, Mar 9, 12:37 p.m.

"Why would a square box for a roadway somehow be stronger?" writes GW. Answer: The latest (least-disruptive) cut/cover tunnel is a properly-anchored, solid-cast, minimal structure with few seams and joints that will weaken and fail under extreme stress. More important, the cut/cover poses little threat to downtown buildings AND manages ...

Posted Fri, Mar 9, 10:55 a.m.

Picture the Deep Bore Tunnel: a 60' diameter tube with miles of its multi-segmented seams sealed & bolted, its southern 1/2 mile 'unanchored' in unstable watery soils that liquify in an earthquake. Its monumental weight there continually pressing down, also forcing pressures outward and upward, will split seams, crack bolts, ...

Posted Tue, Mar 6, 7:13 p.m.

The Alberta shale should be in its initial or further stage restoration process studies. Consult them and their proponents. Restoration studies should be ongoing. As to when an expected planned return of topsoil and control of toxic tailings studies are due, is anybody else's guess. Protect river water from runoff ...

Posted Sun, Feb 26, 9:12 a.m.

Gregoire has more than willingly obeyed the questionable commands of State highway department officials and business cronies. Her interest in our national parks is yet another automobile-related business interest tailored to fit her character as an anti-environment democrat in name only. "See the USA 'die' in a Chevrolet lie." GM ...

Posted Mon, Feb 20, 9:31 a.m.

Seattle is a town where an abominable lust for money is celebrated and civic conscientiousness patronized while deals are doled out behind closed doors. This stadium deal serves no real need except for those with money to burn; another money hole near the south portal of the money hole tunnel ...

Posted Fri, Feb 17, 10:54 a.m.

And then questions a few people ask regarding whether to site a new arena in the SoWa deadzone or Revive Key Arena go un-answered by nitwits who can spell the words oscillating & tubular without understanding their meaning. Then the questions the few people ask regarding a new arena or ...

Posted Thu, Feb 16, 6:14 p.m.

Mark didn't account for the SanDiego design advantages. RUINING Alaskan Way (or Railroad Way before that) is unfortunately more likely when those calling the shots haven't a clue how sensible transportation engineering should work; the City Council for instance and Wsdot, Metro and the region's other transit agencies for instance. ...

Posted Wed, Feb 15, 10:57 a.m.

To those who should and will read the edit above, Wsdot is NOT to be trusted. Their reform is long past due. Constitutional Amendment may be the only recourse for Reform & Efficiency Modernization. Metro & Sound Transit are embarrassing failures. City Hall & SDOT employ unaccomplished department heads currently ...

Posted Tue, Feb 14, 3:10 p.m.

(Expected better from Mark Hinshaw. Here follows an edit pen.) "Seattle plans for the waterfront wind sharply through twists and turns mostly free of rancor that characterized the tunnel debate. The DBT-of-Death. The conceptual work on the waterfront has been a (barely desguised) love fest. Landscape architect James Corner descriptions ...

Posted Mon, Jan 30, 11:56 a.m.

The initial Link LRT failed to achieve ridership predictions because Seatac Airfield is NOT a major destination; it's a place people go when they're going somewhere else - glibly polluting the atmosphere to temporarily escape the hometown chaos and funnel millions into the bank accounts of tourism hucksters. The initial ...

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 5:17 p.m.

Communism is failing because it does not produce enough. Capitalism is failing because it produces too much and shares too little. 36 cents may be 14% of a $2.50 gallon of gas, but spend your time instead considering exactly how billions invested may produce more tangible value than dollars and ...

Posted Wed, Jan 11, 12:13 p.m.

Once again the last word in engineering is met with no resistance. I use the words 'horrendous, atrocious, catastrophic', with regret and only to meaningfully portray the bored tunnel potential for abject failure. I must inform the public of this incredible risk beyond an acceptable one to many prominent professional ...

Posted Tue, Jan 10, 5:30 p.m.

Do not trust the MacDonalds of Highway Robbery who love and understand money more than sensible roadway engineering.

Posted Wed, Dec 28, 9 p.m.

Since the word "new" was used to imply a positive outcome of "walkability" that kids & adults need, I'll add that ALL downtown neighborhoods face sharp increases in traffic volume, speed hazards & congestion/gridlock with the DBT/MercerWest/LaskanWay Lack of sensible engineering. I'm so afraid for your people who aren't terrified ...

Posted Tue, Dec 27, 10:16 p.m.

The enmity is at worst about a stupid psuedo-conscientious objection to tax money spent on bike lane paint. I wonder who holds that view highly.

Posted Mon, Dec 26, 10:43 a.m.

The fight to stop the bored tunnel isn't over. Seattle's obese and limp-wristed know-it-all faux-progressives simply prefer to ignore the permanently unavoidable, unrepairable damage to dozens of downtown towers. Even the high potential for catastrophic collapse in an earthquake is to be ignored. Crosscut is a rightwing rag stained with ...

Posted Fri, Dec 23, 5:31 p.m.

UnFortunately, Seattle does NOT have real parks nor much thriving natural settings other than engineered show trees and groomed lawnspots along sea & lakeside borders. Seattler city dwellors have little nature to live amidst. The bored tunnel will undermine many dozen downtown building foundations, leading to their demolition or possible ...

Posted Thu, Dec 22, 2:41 p.m.

Sculpture Park should be on this list of obnoxious failures. Seattle sculptures also stand out as offensive oddities. Hammering Man is a insult to the working class. It portrays laborers as 2-dimensional, featureless flat black wage-slaves embroiled in endless, strenuous, monotonous toil amidst the leisure class. Its long neck suggests ...

Posted Thu, Dec 15, 1:49 p.m.

Thank you for reading this and forgive me...... THE MOST Honorable Mayor Michael Patrick Mcginn has Fought for You seattlers...settlers & pioneer-types. "Seattlers" is your moniker. The honorable mayor must win because too many people with sense left absolutely oppose the dbt as obviously deemed a deadly mistake that pollutes ...

Posted Sun, Dec 11, 10 a.m.

Here follows an engineering quesion for phneu-urhbanistas to consider. It regards the Columbia River I-5 Bridge Crossing project, of statewide as well bi-state importance. Seattlers most unconcerned include architects and their professional buddies. Give it a read, luzurs: Both the old bridges are considered 'substandard' because their design is 2-lane, ...

Posted Tue, Dec 6, 11:22 a.m.

Sculpture Garden lacks amenities that define parkspace. The gravel path evicts bicyclists and wheelchair users and makes walking uncomfortable. With few shade trees and seating, it's not designed to enjoy the magnificent view of Puget Sound. It is more like a private museum than a public parkspace. Its sharp-edged angular ...

Posted Mon, Dec 5, 12:22 p.m.

"We need to know precisely how much space is available for park and plaza amenities and how much devoted to vehicular circulation, the largest user of Seattle's current and future waterfront." This information is censored by the DOTs and parks department planners. Imagine 20,000 more vehicle thru-traffic, roughly tripling current ...

Posted Sun, Dec 4, 4:12 p.m.

McGinn is a great mayor defiantly against the dbt no matter his public statement. Our nation's worst traffic engineers are employed in Washington State. The bored tunnel machine will be useful elsewhere in more stable soil conditions. Don't waste the money.

Posted Sat, Dec 3, 11:49 a.m.

The word 'ludicrous' comes to mind. The design elements are like the barren Sculpture and Lake Union parks where public use is 'intentionally' discouraged. I suspect JCF and cohorts are only following orders from Seattle's pompous elite whose planning for 'their' new waterfront is like ordering a custom Maserati. With ...

Posted Fri, Dec 2, 11:56 a.m.

From the above Counterpunch article by Olympia's Alan Nasser: "A notorious Citigroup report encapsulates economic cosmology in its thesis that “the World is dividing into two blocs – the Plutonomy and the rest. Mounting inequality has become planet-wide. In a globalized world, 'national' consumers are obsolete. There are only the ...

Posted Wed, Nov 30, 10:36 p.m.

One visit is enough for the discerning tourist to conclude Seattle culture is pompous and chaotic, its hospitality overrated, its wondrous environmental setting insultingly abused. Seattle is the armpit of the Pacific Northwest.

Posted Mon, Nov 28, 4:45 p.m.

The Waterfront Streetcar line may readily extend north to Interbay & the shipping canal. From there under the bridge another mile reaches SPU. The canal there is narrow. Twin 16' tunnels are simple enough, simpler than a tallish, high-impact streetcar bridge. The north portals direct streetcar lines to Fremont & ...

Posted Sun, Nov 27, 11:44 a.m.

"Fallen by the Wayside" "Questions abound, skepticism is pervasive" (quoting) and the need to pare back some rather frenetic over-reaching aspects of James Corner ideas did engender responses from readers, very thoughtful expressions of heartfelt concern (regarding) Field's team thinking apparently (obviously) a bit off-track. My thanks to Hinshaw for ...

Posted Mon, Nov 21, 11:14 a.m.

Well Well, full on confusion once again... Good idea? Bad idea? Some rail links save-able easy? But they're ignored? Waterfront? No history to repeat there, obviously. Why even think of rail there? Impossible! Duuhh... Who'd want rail there? Today's leaders don't want it there even as their own fathers had ...

Posted Thu, Nov 17, 10:25 a.m.

Nothing says 'opulent' better than exotic air travel vacation getaways from the day-to-day drudgery, rush hour traffic and nauseating American culture whence familiarity breeds contempt. Call it a business trip! Attend a convention and stay at 5-star hotels near boutique shopping, dining and entertainment! Ignore air pollution and dwindling petroleum ...

Posted Sat, Nov 12, 11:34 a.m.

Resusitating the James Corner Fields proposal will require more than an editing pencil. He is merely following guidelines set by Seattle elite who prefer parkspace that deters everyday use and favors designs that serve commercial purposes, venues and special events. Too little consideration is given to pedestrian crossing of Alaskan ...

Posted Thu, Oct 6, 10:33 a.m.

Wsdot and DBT proponents can't be trusted on the DBT because their presentation materials are vague and critically important concerns are left unanswered. SDOT can't be trusted because Mercer West and the current design for Alaskan Way are likewise terrible engineering. The lengthy process is entirely due to questionable designwork. ...

Posted Mon, Sep 26, 10:13 p.m.

Your stare is deceptive, whether you realize and intend it to be so or not, Ms Lightfeet. Seattle is doomed. Maybe you should DO something about it? Have a nice catastrophe.

Posted Fri, Sep 16, 12:57 p.m.

If Romney is the pick & wins, tis only becuz the moor stupider of republicon--servatives ---- THEM & there drinkin buddies once again paid enuf ta buy a win 4Richy boys (old enuf to NO better?) While the rest of us LOST 10years of their idiotos-bimbos men/women speaker-types what talk ...

Posted Tue, Sep 13, 4:13 p.m.

The bore tunnel 'presence' alone dooms historic Pioneer Square buildings, numerous known as unable to handle the least vibration. The Underground too will suffer destabilization as will all infrastructure above and nearby. The underground, under sea level pressures forcefully 'redistribute' the weak soils and the new water flows will develop ...

Posted Tue, Sep 13, 9:45 a.m.

Hugo's opinion piece falls short on solutions. The motorists unable to deal with Seattle's notoriously dysfunctional roadways will continue to release the frustration on bicyclists. A better understanding of traffic problems does not solve them with a simplistic understanding of how roadways can accommodate bicyclists. Psychoanalysis of the mindset will ...

Posted Mon, Sep 12, 1:08 p.m.

Roger's premise for density is a typical inner-city Seattle perspective. Seattle as a metropolitian area is left out of the equation. New Urbanism's basic philosophic principal of mixed-use development highlights 'economic diversity' more than density. For Seattle's psuedo new urbanists, the highlight only shines on the inner-city even though hyper-densifying ...

Posted Sun, Sep 11, 8 p.m.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ...

Posted Sun, Sep 11, 7:47 p.m.

It is 7:36 pm time in the dear pacific northwest. "Close your eyes, it's all right" sang James with guitar thanks to c-span rebroadcast with that song's 2 minutes. The names are pronounced aphabetically by many families speaking together in pairs, trios, respectful. I respect your mayor for his gut ...

Posted Tue, Sep 6, 11:18 a.m.

Read "The Regional City" by Peter Calthorpe. In it 3 cities are modelled; Portland, Salt Lake City and Seattle which serves as the worst-case example. PSRC ignored warnings that bypassing Southcenter on the Link LRT route would result in low ridership, but the agency paid heed instead to Seattle interests ...

Posted Tue, Sep 6, 9:37 a.m.

The grass lawn atop the ferry terminal embraces the view of the parking lot. The functional ferry building below has no natural lighting. Neither the unnaturally angular dog piss putting green nor its replica south offer shade. Surrounding the larger waste of space are decorative pier pilings; a perfect place ...

Posted Sun, Sep 4, 6:49 p.m.

The mspat reminds us of rail logic: Uphill - Bus. Flat ground - Rail. Alaskan Way is the rail choice, NOT 1st Ave with Middle-of-street stops making the wait not so good. No trolleybus though they climb better. The "International" Line should work out okay. Tie it to a Waterfront ...

Posted Sat, Sep 3, 11:18 a.m.

I wish these big projects were as simple as how to pay for them. Unable to understand basic engineering, Seattlers have produced a complete road system disaster and likewise dysfunctional parks, pedestrian, bicycling and mass transit infrastructure. Seattlers may never learn how the more money they end up needing, the ...

Posted Fri, Sep 2, 2:21 p.m.

No, Mr Brewster, Seattle is obviously not able to create a "splendid waterfront park" with most elements of this particular design being inherently & absurdly dysfunctional. Do Seattlers ever use their heads for any purpose other than a decoration above their shoulders and its tongue to utter absurdities? I won't ...

Posted Thu, Sep 1, 11:04 p.m.

Last note: The Discovery Special is Either a 2-hour or Possibly 3-hour repeated special with no commercial interruptions. Watch & Record.

Posted Thu, Sep 1, 11:01 p.m.

Discovery Channel on the eleventh of september will broadcast a Memorial Gardens construction project documentary filled with heartfelt testiment. The day can be memorialized well watching between 5:pm to 11:pm this repeated show. No commercial interruptions. Set your tv to record and watch at convenient time. Just a heads up; ...

Posted Wed, Aug 31, 10:44 p.m.

Seattle personifies the maxim, "The inmates are running the asylum." Opulent wealth wasted on monumental delusions of grandeur. Only one visit need reveal the Seattle motif: a repulsion of natural surroundings. South Lake Union becomes an regimented assortment of glass tower windows overlooking a sewer of sparkling traffic. Roadkill is ...

Posted Sun, Aug 28, 10:10 p.m.

"Density" is not the operative element nor term for urbanist progress. That operative word is "Diversity". The article shouldn't have presumed analytical urban progress is determined by issues & matters regarding Density. Therefore its premise is incomplete. Diversity, OTOH, incompasses 'economic diversity' 'biodiversity' 'socio-diversity' 'class diversity' ethnic, cultural, intellectual, professional, ...

Posted Sat, Aug 27, 12:14 p.m.

This highway builder has more concern for PR than wild or any other kind of life. The article is pure greenwash for public consumption. Happy indigestion!

Posted Fri, Aug 26, 10:49 a.m.

Greenwash.

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 9:15 p.m.

Sayeth Lincoln, "Link light rail is an expensive boondoggle hyped as mass transit but carries a fraction the trips a highway carries at greater cost per lane-mile." B^llsh^t. What Seattlers don't understand about light rail is its land-use application whereby their need to daily commute across the county may be ...

Posted Wed, Aug 17, 4:55 p.m.

I hope some of you who read my previous post, got its meaning, just how much a mistake this tunnel is and how you have no frickin idea how dangerous, you freakin fools... Honestly, I can & have framed my perspective analysis with care and high regard for Seattle's future, ...

Posted Wed, Aug 17, 10:34 a.m.

"If the DBT struggles or fails or bankrupts us, we'll have only ourselves to blame." On the contrary, blame notoriously incompetent Wsdot & SDOT directors and department heads, the chamber of commerce, downtown business associations and assorted cronies whose love for Seattle is diminished before their love of money, prestige ...

Posted Mon, Aug 15, 11:31 a.m.

Humbler words of wisdom for individuals (and organizations of individuals) who only think they know how to change or fix things for the better. Seattle's lengthy planning process is a ruse formulated to conceal disreputable deal-making. Speeding it up will not necessarily make things better.

Posted Sun, Aug 14, 8:29 p.m.

Heres a sunday night Missive, Anti-DBT: "Washdot engineers have a Grudge Against Nature" The "Crown" of the 60' diameter bore, bolted in like 10 segments of 10' rings for nearly 2 miles is about 60' below footings of many downtown building; that's how close to the buildings, falling off by ...

Posted Fri, Aug 12, 10:21 a.m.

Washington State highway department officials should not be trusted. Call them incompetent "Old School" or call them corrupt, too many of their engineered roadways are horribly substandard, poorly built, planned to be obsolescent, excessively expensive boondoggles surrepticiously loaded with graft and cronyism. MacDonald had best hope his DBT SCHEME is ...

Posted Wed, Aug 10, 2:14 p.m.

For those who have eyes to see, the end is not in sight. To "delay" this insanely reckless tunnel proposal advances better options. The corporate notion of globalization heralded by Constantine is equally reckless. Ed Murray may have sat on transportation committees, but his credentials are in Billion Dollar deal-making ...

Posted Tue, Aug 9, 10:31 a.m.

It's rather a less big fallacy, the Gering argument and only main point, that: ("When I-5 is closed routinely for its own reconstruction or whatever, SR99 central-artery must work for cars, so trucks won't get stuck in I-5 car traffic"). Not a bad point to raise, but that argument 'For' ...

Posted Mon, Aug 8, 11:43 a.m.

I'm sorry, Mr Baker, the writing style 'dialect' I think sometimes is yours and you would understand it clearly: "Uz got sum sik pepls dare, norwesteners. warshdirtt dept dunnit gin, bros." Rewritten en English: "You have some sick people there, northwesterners. Wsdot department done it again, bros." And may I ...

Posted Sun, Aug 7, 10:47 p.m.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-rejecting-the-tunnel/Content?oid=9323195 Post#37,8:40pm DBT fanatics don't think. Holden did the best reporting, but this one needed an edit. Call me a plaigerer, I'm still your better engineer. Thanks agin, Mayor McGinn, friends, and foes of the dbt, a too much could go wrong, risk not to take.

Posted Sun, Aug 7, 5:13 p.m.

A Considoratur's considerashun of Kly-Mat are unheard-of subjects in the Hwy builder clubset; As if 'our' full/fair consideration of the risks isn't worth 'their' time; neither do many RWers really understand engineering, as if all our rides are mere mass-produced convenience-mobiles that unfortunately Don't run on pixey-dust and even electric ...

Posted Sun, Aug 7, 2:01 p.m.

I've done a short review but intend to post after 6:30 tonight or tomorrow. Whoever won't like it may be able to say it's at least not more of the same, I promise. Anyway, It's also kinda funny, sorta. The only word that can be called "Old" from me is ...

Posted Fri, Aug 5, 2:45 p.m.

Feel like letting it go, and not sure about for-or-against the insane & unstable Bore Tunnel below buildings? Or about the higher-up crew of Power followers voting yes-sorta. City Council & leaders are too cheerfully indifferent to critically-important concerns. The DBT and the companion street rearrangements that adds 20,000 MORE ...

Posted Fri, Aug 5, 1:07 a.m.

The traffic count has been fudged again. Last year 35,000 vehicles, this year 25,000 WITH TOLL accounting for MORE not LESS traffic on Alaskan Way! Wah? The official warshdut figure has "decreased" for some reason. Where did that traffic go? I-5? I-5 thru the MESS? I-5 with no 'extra' northbound ...

Posted Wed, Aug 3, 10:25 a.m.

Ceis may see Vancouver as a place where another example of Warshdot incompentence gone awry can be exploited. Some 80,000 SOV motorists commute to Oregon daily, the majority across the outdated and aging I-5 bridge with miles of stop-n-go traffic. Sound familiar? Warshdot leads the committee to design its replacement ...

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 6:41 a.m.

The issues have NOT been debated. Pertinent, critical questions are left unanswered. Behind closed doors, abject DOT failure is kept a private concern while department chiefs devise nauseating PR campaigns to save face for DOT employees less responsible for this monumental fiasco. The bored tunnel is a potentially catastrophic danger. ...

Posted Mon, Aug 1, 11:06 a.m.

Writer's Pick: "Yes, like Paris, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Prague, Vancouver, San Francisco and other world class cities without freeways through their core, people go out of their way to avoid those places." — louploup

Posted Sat, Jul 23, 3:17 p.m.

"There's an honest difference of opinion whether this is the best environmental solution," said Goldman. If Goldman understood how the grand plaza will most likely include makeshift and probably permanent parking lots, honest disagreement over the environmental benefits of the bored tunnel would be respectable. There are many reasons to ...

Posted Sat, Jul 23, 10:17 a.m.

A year after the 2007 voter slap-down, WARshdot presented their tunnel Scenarios 'G' & 'H', a cut/cover and a shallow "covered trench" like Kurmudgeon suggests. They were both 4-lane tunnels that required demolition of the AWV to complete. The "covered trench" had 6' tall, approx 40' long (view blocking) ventilation ...

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 8:53 p.m.

To answer Martin's Dumb Baby Dumb question about surface street and transit improvements for Seattle: How about some nice new concrete sidewalks and curb extensions? Sorry, most of the pure riverbed sand turned into concrete is poured an underground highway. How about PAYING for transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure? Sorry, ...

Posted Wed, Jul 20, 9:23 a.m.

The bored tunnel length is almost 2 miles, Jan. The Cut/cover in the EIS is half that length, requires less concrete and recycles more, makes the strongest seawall, and its 6 lanes maintains SR99 capacity and traffic speed. The debate over which tunnel option makes more sense, DBT vs C/c, ...

Posted Tue, Jul 19, 9:52 a.m.

"Because the engineering aspects and the merits of viaduct replacement schemes have been thoroughly debated over 10 years, I've grown more interested in the politics and campaign strategies." On the contrary, thorough debate has NOT occurred. The supposed debate has ALWAYS been limited to style over substance and political posturing. ...

Posted Mon, Jul 18, 5:24 p.m.

I regret writing vague statements. My above attempt at a mayoral accomplishment was meant to place Mayor Bozeman alongside great mayors especially for the elegant classic Bremerton waterfront dockside entry; future evening outings destination on the ferry; quite an accomplishment. I hope to represent only 10-20% our engineering/architectural professionals who ...

Posted Sun, Jul 17, 8:10 p.m.

Hey, it is 8pm, folks, first night published. This writing deserves better responses. I'm obliged to bow to comrades who hold the Puget Sound feel better than my ignoble self (as only regular-visitor outsider). I'll refrain from responding to the usual insults awarded my call for an award of national ...

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 5:57 p.m.

Hmmph..

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 4:34 p.m.

January 1st, looking back 7 months, a couple weeks and 1 day, I am reminded of the better perspective I try to practice. Know what I mean? Thanxagaynol...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 6:29 p.m.

One word: Frontage Road, AKA, Railroad Way historically, two lanes east of a 4-lane Alaskan Way circa Post-seawall/Pre-AWV, about 30 years of no bypass highway which I-5 now mostly accommodates; therefore, that circa Alaskan Way arrangement should absolutely be considered instead of ignored. No one here is as sure about ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 1:41 p.m.

Quote of the day: "The Tunnel is a solution befitting a rodent" -toughbretts The DBT RISK is off the charts... Mercer West becomes a 'freight corridor' majore Boulevarde Trafficko --through Lower Queen Anne neighborhoods, Somebody tell the Queen Annians what more traffic moving faster looks like; how unsafe and intimidating; ...

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 10:19 p.m.

There are many logical reasons to argue against the bored tunnel. The arguments in its favor are weak, biased, absurdly nonchalent about RISK. The new waterfront will be great, but its engineer designers are inept. Angular treeless Lawn Roofs? Weak piers with storms coming? Alaskan Way no medians & bikes ...

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 11:21 a.m.

I decided to copy & print to edit this semi-environmentally conscientious opinion piece. What a piece of carved baloney. It's full of holes of course, but shows how members of 'our' environmental community are easily misled. I do not blame misled people who support the earthquake-dangerous BORE TUNNEL. With 1/3 ...

Posted Wed, Jul 6, 11:31 a.m.

ha ha, I forgot to make my original point for jmrolls sake: "No other proposed configuration matches the AWV in transportation-related category. (way wrong). The rights of way exist and the configuration can handle 110,000 vehicles. (so what?) It provides a bypass and ramps to downtown for Ballard and West ...

Posted Wed, Jul 6, 11:01 a.m.

jmrolls, I've long believed your honesty and diligence has added significant matters of point to the analysis argument against the deep bore tunnel. I'm sure your effort is imminently valued by many readers on Crosscut and elsewhere. BTW, I hope Crosscut will survive its ERROR in Judgment on the +++DBT+++MercerWest+++AlaskanWay+++ ...

Posted Tue, Jul 5, 1:02 p.m.

The sworn mission of those in power is to cultivate ignorance. Brewster's tongue-in-cheek diatribe is an expression of extreme bias based upon little understanding (ignorance) of what is possible and ideal for Alaskan Way sans AWV. It is typical fear & smear tactics calculated to mislead voters. Brewster is NOT ...

Posted Sun, Jun 26, 9:58 a.m.

The 1950's made-in-japan movie/tv series Starman, w/ dubbed voices, documents some person's idea of our future with a space hero Starman who fistfights and acrobat flips caucasian/japanese goose-stepping nazi leftovers. Consult your video bibliographer for title. Mcginn is correct like all Irish were back then...

Posted Sat, Jun 25, 10:55 a.m.

GaryP, I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Money is only one factor among many that determine the worthiness of private development and public works projects. The Greenline Monorail was poorly engineered and was rejected for that reason more than because of its high cost. Poor engineering is plainly evident in Seattle's ...

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 8:15 p.m.

The Point is (edit) that the ACTUAL Main Question we must answer REALLY IS about WHAT we build - NOT the GaryP viewpoint - that it is ALL about HOW we 'PAY' for it (edit). I repeat, Money Concerns follow Impact, Effectiveness, Whole solution approaches, BETTER Designwork, etc. Leading with ...

Posted Sun, Jun 19, 10:19 a.m.

Doug Macdonald complaining about the job railer builders are doin. Yeahright. It's unforgivable the DOT work in SeeATuLL... DBT-MercerWest Mess Part II... Shortcomings with new ALaskan Way road concepts for Western too... MAYOR MIKE is YOUR BEST MAYOR IN DECADES !! !! !! HEROIC !! !! HE IS RIGHT.....

Posted Sat, Jun 18, 1:43 a.m.

One last comment before this blunder/mistake discussion dwindles and those responsible or loyal to reading every post has the chance for one last read::: Louis Olay, BallardReviewNewsQuote of the day: "The bore tunnel is the Most expensive, Least effective, done deal.". It'll never be carbomb proof... It'll NEVER be carboom ...

Posted Wed, Jun 15, 12:58 p.m.

True enough; Washington State leaders have blundered on tunnels, TODs and taxes, plus not admitting to these blunders. How else may they learn from their mistakes? It's too lenient to describe transportation planning agency "mistakes" as simple blunders. Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement planning has been more like an intentional, conspiratorial, ...

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 11:43 a.m.

Deep Bore Tunnel supporters have big egos and big ideas, but only a small sense of how completely inappropriate the bored tunnel is as a replacement for the AWV. Mercer West is likewise disgracefully poor engineering. The designs for Alaskan Way are more of the same big idea flim-flam, despite ...

Posted Mon, Jun 6, 3:10 p.m.

"Plans for Bothell relocate the state highway closer to the river which seems counterproductive for a park removed from noise, fumes and traffic. A broad, landscaped boulevard might separate retail energy rather than focus it." Likewise, Alaskan Way without landscape medians divides waterfront activity and imperils crosswalk users. The Alaskan ...

Posted Fri, Jun 3, 9:40 a.m.

Los Angeles has 4 respectably operating LRT lines and a greater need that justifies accellerated expansion. Seattle's Link LRT & Streetcar line are rated as the nation's worst and it's transportation system as a whole is below national standards for walking, bicycling, transit, highway and roadway network. Washington State's shady ...

Posted Wed, Jun 1, 9:29 a.m.

Cancellation of the DBT & MercerWest would not mean going back to square one. The intentionally indecipherable studies still contain useful information to carry forward on alternatives, including a 'temporary' retrofit. Boulevard first (Post-Seawall/Pre-AWV era), then a sensible cut/cover tunnel or more elegant viaduct as best feasible options eventually if ...

Posted Wed, Jun 1, 12:30 a.m.

The Killing was the 16th chapter of Upton Sinclair's 1927 Oil! Still a good read. Now why wouldn't outside film crews be wanted around at this time? I am so proud of Mayor Mcginn. Fine man among the smiling misled. Order #1) Put all concrete in hole... Order #2) Spend ...

Posted Wed, Jun 1, 12:07 a.m.

..and yur havin a hard time plannin food, good grief. And uther stuff yer plannin ain't lookin good round these here parts. Deebeetee-Hole or sumthin? I'd ask What is the best road design for the 35K-to-65K vehicle Alaskan Way? I've studied and say "Post-Seawall/Pre-AWV" era. Rethink the beach a bit ...

Posted Tue, May 31, 11:48 p.m.

Cutting egde food carts need proper walkway, shade, pedestrian-amenity, especially crosswalks. Seattle downtown sidewalks don't work well, sorry. Border a row with a simple small swail or 2 and fix a little walkway, then give it a shot. The new seawall must protect from severe storms sure to disrupt habitat ...

Posted Mon, May 30, 10:36 a.m.

An Editor's Pick for a Sitka post despite its blatant misinformation? Does Crosscut now condone deceit? Is the DBT the 'best' solution? Hardly. Does the cut/cover require demolition of the AWV? No. Does the reduction of lanes from 3 to 2 matter? Yes! In any accident, minor or major, 3 ...

Posted Wed, May 25, 1:59 p.m.

I must urgently warn that the "subsurface hydrology" and unstable soil conditions through which the bored tunnel passes is incredibly dangerous, in construction, in an earthquake, even in its long-term presence beneath downtown buildings. Think of the bored tunnel the same way embedded in-street rail works its way to the ...

Posted Wed, May 25, 11:18 a.m.

Fair enough, Keith, but toll avoidance should be expected and traffic predictions affected. Even with NO tolls, traffic and its impact would simply worsen on the Mercer and Denny Way corridors. It's a lose-lose situation. David, aside from your pro-tunnel bias, your article fairly presented the political nature of the ...

Posted Tue, May 24, 11 a.m.

Kieth, your take on the toll question is simplistic. Many motorists will avoid the toll throughout the day, even during rush hours when traffic on downtown surface streets and I-5 is heaviest. Only the upper-class have the luxury of paying the toll to avoid traffic congestion. A toll on the ...

Posted Tue, May 24, 9:33 a.m.

The referendum can only have real meaning as a public rejection of the Deep Bore Tunnel & Mercer West projects. These two inextricably-related projects are (respectively) insanely risky and poorly engineered. Other AWV replacement options are actually feasible. An Alaskan Way boulevard can be arranged to manage traffic and not ...

Posted Mon, May 23, 6:35 p.m.

The James Corner Fields presentation last Thursday was pathetic. After 3 months, the company had nothing to present but more touchy-feely BS, including the same material presented February about Puget Sound supposedly becoming a glorious globalization hub considered a foremost guiding principle. Some very simplistic work on salmon habitat restoration ...

Posted Wed, May 18, 12:05 p.m.

Seattle's high art community is narcissist. A once quite popular style of tower 'overhung' a narrow base which gave the impression that the tower was 'above' nature. The statement is Nature is dirty and dangerous and rightly observed only from sanitized interiors through hermetically sealed glass walls. Many public spaces ...

Posted Tue, May 17, 11:43 a.m.

This article is pure political hackery. It caters to those who care more about this disgusting political circus than respectable public policy. It caters to those who forge shallow political alliances that further separate already disparate interests. Seattle and the State of Washington's political machine is a meat grinder fed ...

Posted Sat, May 14, 4:50 p.m.

Ahem.. I guess what irks me personally about seattlers predicting their future, as in this case, is the potential (I see) missing from the author's opinion. I see a depressing need for better pedestrian essentials, (curb extensions at intersections, well-marked crosswalks etc), and amenities which should include complete Do-over, nevermind ...

Posted Sat, May 14, 4:39 p.m.

Remove the burberry outlet bs please.

Posted Sat, May 7, 10:31 a.m.

That's right, Crosscut editors, to be considered a credible local authority on these sort of seattle issues, you must not publish critique. Real seattlers find critique so annoying it makes them laugh. Critique is so like, you know, so like funny, cuz it's like so what who cares, man, about ...

Posted Fri, May 6, 10:53 a.m.

Responding to Jan: The design still fails to meet higher Standards. It is better than the existing bridge in important ways, but it doesn't achieve Least-impact. This is a running topic folks. Keep it lit. How is 520 Sub-Standard ?? DBT? Way-below Standard. Mike's gut intinct may be right on ...

Posted Thu, May 5, 10:27 a.m.

This sums up the level of my respect for mayor Michael McGinn. He's an outstanding national leader for the environment and community. An politician able to 'stand up' in the ring of public discourse. His 'gut instinct' understanding of transportation planning guidelines demonstrates how both proponent and opponent can be ...

Posted Wed, May 4, 10:31 p.m.

----Imagine this: The southern portion is demolished. The bored tunnel is tied up for years in court, or the money runs out, and we are left with permanent gridlock.... To manage traffic: I-5 gets widened. That'll help. 1st Ave could rearrange its trolleybuses routes to run more often. At least ...

Posted Wed, Apr 27, 10:08 a.m.

And so a former Wsdot director who abusively mismanaged a ruinously controversial highway replacement project in Seattle and left his post like a rat deserting a sinking ship, is demoted to the Department of Greenwash. "Thank you, waiter. I'd love a dollop of petroleum byproduct in my glass of water. ...

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 1:09 p.m.

Just a little paring down to make a point, thank you: Knute is right. The only thing that stands between our fair city and state-imposed ugliness and pollution is the mayor and city council. Five city councilmembers are up for re-election. So far, concerned communities haven't gotten up to speed ...

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 12:46 p.m.

I value crosscut as an inviting venue with diverse voices. Though my own voice perhaps forcefully represents the frustration others likewise experience with "inexcusable" transportion planning in Washington, Crosscut remains a good site for culture and politics.

Posted Thu, Apr 21, 3:57 p.m.

I'm leaving a comment supporting your work. Thank you. And wish the cross cuts well, even those who don't get my anti-dbt geek. Nygaard now proves me right. Read the executive summary. It's excellent and hears both sides. And the anti-dbt side wins this debate. Division in the engineering community ...

Posted Wed, Apr 20, 6:53 p.m.

I don't mean to be rude. I wish the project well. Make it a public affair. Seattle Seattle Seattle. Your dreams didn't begin nightmarishly, Toxins in the water, Toxins in the air, Noisome traffic everywhere. In an earlier time when rail worked, Your dreams began, before too many cars, overan ...

Posted Wed, Apr 20, 11:14 a.m.

A better context for Hammering Man is in GasWorks Park. It's more associated with industry there and totally unrelated to downtown's avante garde modernity. The whilygig arm swing is more fitting a playground. And the visability for miles around creates depth and adds substance. In its current setting, it's a ...

Posted Wed, Apr 20, 10:50 a.m.

Sounds like a dream assignment. Probably good for his health. Lucky Mossback.

Posted Mon, Apr 18, 4:49 p.m.

Spent a few minutes looking at the Quai de Bacalan via Google 3D camera. Along the urban stretch where buildings on both sides can compare in height, density and activity, the boulevard is 4-lanes separated by a narrow median, curb parking on both sides, then the double-track streetcar, then boy-howdy, ...

Posted Mon, Apr 18, 10:49 a.m.

Carlson's statement, "Dems understand politics isn’t about negotiating; it’s about winning..." could've been reworded to indicate Reps also understand and make a full time practice of political dishonesty to win. "Drill baby drill." Otherwise, John's artice is a fair assessment of the state's biggest clown contest. At leat one candidate ...

Posted Thu, Apr 14, 11:40 a.m.

Awhile back, the P-I posted their collection of historic Alaskan Way photos. Before and After the seawall, there were many rail lines in various arrangements and more than one roadway. These photos should be studied for historical narrative. After the seawall, Alaskan Way's basic arrangement (from west to east) was ...

Posted Wed, Apr 13, 4:40 p.m.

After the bored tunnel is built, every historic building located above and nearby will deteriorate beyond repair. Like old streetcar rails will solidly work their way to the surface, the bored tunnel will shift soils above it and below old and new building foundations until they collapse. Seattle's developers expect ...

Posted Tue, Apr 12, 5:42 p.m.

Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler and Mao Zedong were NOT social engineers. Rather, they were conservative individualists who enforced conformity to the singular views of their dictatorships, dbreneman. Dictatorships have more in common with American conservatives than with American liberals.

Posted Sun, Apr 10, 12:16 p.m.

The deep-bore tunnel is the worst option in terms of its insane risks, its absurd engineering and the egregious impacts to public health and safety due to where it redirects hazardous traffic. The surface boulevard actually manages redirected traffic better on Alaskan Way and Elliott/Western boulevards which can handle it ...

Posted Sun, Apr 10, 9:49 a.m.

The bored tunnel redirects displaced AWV traffic onto the "Mercer Mess" through Lake Union and through "residential" and similarly pedestrian-oriented Queen Anne to Elliott. Phase One Mercer reduces lanes from 4 to 3, plus adds 3 lanes of westbound traffic, plus left-turn lanes. Widening Mercer (further west) creates a new ...

Posted Sat, Apr 9, 8:06 p.m.

David Sucher. As you figure perfectly well, in a straight-across election, (Bored Tunnel vs Surface/Transit), Bored Tunnel would win; not because the bored tunnel is the better option, but because the public is being misled to believe it. The surface/transit option actually manages displaced street traffic better than the bored ...

Posted Sat, Apr 9, 1:26 p.m.

I must correct an 'Editors Pick' from David Sucher who is "concerned that the only alternative is Surface/Transit." The truth is, the surface/transit option does NOT rule out an 'eventual' cut/cover tunnel nor a replacement viaduct. Picture Lower Belltown with the surface boulevard option devised in Wsdot's Scenario 'H' Trench ...

Posted Sun, Apr 3, 9:19 p.m.

Like so many others, AllanFlash repeats bored tunnel propaganda, word for word, and ignores anti-bored tunnel analysis. I'd support the bored tunnel if it weren't extremely risky, poorly engineered for managing traffic (worse than the surface boulevard option) and poses detrimental impacts to public health and safety. Pro-tunnel whiners add ...

Posted Sat, Apr 2, 9:16 p.m.

jNiles, Wsdot rigged their AWV replacement studies from 2001 on. Wsdot began cut/cover tunnel studies with the most expensive, an indication their intent was to make it "prohibitively" expensive. Wsdot knew all along about the the 6-lane 'stacked' version now in the DEIS, that can be constructed while leaving the ...

Posted Sat, Apr 2, 11:14 a.m.

I support Sounder and LINK LRT more for their positive affect upon station area economic development than initial transit service. The connection between development and transportation is deceptively miscalculated by the highway robbery club. If money is apprpriated to local economies instead of automobile-related corporate business interests, responsible clubmembers are ...

Posted Thu, Mar 31, 2:11 p.m.

jmrolls' claim that there are no other 'proposed configurations' that match the AWV for capacity is false. The current cut/cover tunnel in the DEIS does match, minus the Senceca/Columbia ramps to 1st Ave. Those ramps create traffic hazards on 1st Ave and on steep sidestreets leading to them. I-5 ramps ...

Posted Thu, Mar 31, 10:05 a.m.

"Gary isn't accounting for northbound motorists exiting to downtown and to a lesser extent Interbay. Most of the pass-throughs to Aurora are captured by the tunnel. The tolls will scare some people off, but if traffic is light that'll attract some people who currently drive on surface streets." The number ...

Posted Tue, Mar 29, 9:19 p.m.

City Council members fail by not providing a full and credible explanation for their decision to support the bored tunnel. Saying a debate was conducted is not enough. There are many red flag warnings that the bored tunnel is insanely risky and terrible engineering with egregious environmental impacts. City Council ...

Posted Mon, Mar 21, 11:28 a.m.

The answer to chybn's question is in the asking. As more people ask the question, the city and state will be forced to stop ignoring it or deflecting it with the deceitful answer that it was fairly considered and honestly presented to the public.

Posted Sat, Mar 19, 11:11 a.m.

The bored tunnel is insanely risky to construct and it will make traffic worse than the surface/transit option. Mayor Mcginn is right to oppose the bored tunnel, but wrong to support Mercer West. And as for the new Alaskan Way boulevard, the current design disregards Seattle's desperate need for better ...

Posted Fri, Mar 18, 10:21 a.m.

The deep bore tunnel displaces tens of thousands of cars to surface streets through Queen Anne, Lake Union and Denny Triangle; tens of thousands of cars to Pioneer Square and Alaskan Way, and tens of thousands more in avoiding the toll. All studies show the latest, last and curiously best ...

Posted Thu, Mar 17, 8:22 p.m.

Seattle's shortage of curbside parking should be supplimented with lower rates at parking garages. Motorists should resort first to parking garages rather than circle the block(s) for an elusive curbside spot. Further incentives could include businesses offering to validate garage parking. Hey, here's something! Parking under the AWV is going ...

Posted Thu, Mar 17, 1:15 p.m.

The question to answer is not whether public disapproval is legal or not. The question to answer is which AWV replacement alternative fulfills the the objective of managing traffic and justifies the major investment. The bored tunnel does not achieve this objective because it worsens traffic through Alaskan Way, Lake ...

Posted Sat, Mar 12, 7:50 p.m.

Mayor Mcginn is correct to support the surface/transit option because, contrary to what people are being misled to believe, it has more potential to reduce traffic congestion than the bored tunnel, believe it or not.

Posted Sat, Mar 12, 7:45 p.m.

The cost-overrun issue is a ruse. It limits discussion by excluding the far more important issues of engineering and environmental impact which are HORRIBLE AND WORSE than the collapsing viaduct video. Mayor Mcginn may be trying to save the reputations of career engineers who've produced absolutely deplorable designwork with the ...

Posted Fri, Mar 11, 12:45 p.m.

The deep-bore tunnel battle may be an honest choosing of sides, for or against, but its proponents have "dishonestly" presented AWV replacement options from the start. Public input is thus disregarded because the public is uniformed and purposefully misinformed via the mechanism of inadequate information and presentation material provided by ...

Posted Sat, Mar 5, 9:24 a.m.

If only 30,000 vehicles daily pay a $5 toll, it would take 10 years to raise the $400 million. The toll is manageable and would probably drop to $2 indefinitely thereafter, affordable for most motorists, useful for raising revenue and congestion pricing. Still, for the first 10 years, 80,000 vehicles ...

Posted Wed, Mar 2, 10:43 a.m.

Some thoughts about parking: If of the 1000 structured parking spaces are built, 700 dedicated to apartment dweller use and 300 dedicated for public parking to replace the surface parking spaces lost, how many more surface parking spaces will be lost for sidewalks, pedestrian amenities and street access on the ...

Posted Tue, Mar 1, 12:05 p.m.

Rolls is right. The bored tunnel is a huge mistake in terms of regional mobility. The simplest, safest, least-cost and least-impact route between Ballard and SR99 is via Lower Belltown, NOT Queen Anne, you idiots! Wsdot's Scenario 'H' details a surface design through Lower Belltown that has potential and merits ...

Posted Mon, Feb 28, 11:33 a.m.

Larry Ward's comment makes an important point: "The Port of Seattle agreed to give $100 million to the tunnel project 'if' there is a functional freight corridor on the waterfront as a necessity for marine industry. That means few if any traffic lights. Any other outcome will result in a ...

Posted Sun, Feb 27, 12:58 p.m.

The popular Amtrak Cascades route (and Talgo trainsets) have earned this expansion. Plans to further develop Seattle's Pioneer District and the waterfront pretty much guarantee more paying riders on the two new train runs. It's a safe bet the investment will pay back significant returns. There's no need for electrification ...

Posted Fri, Feb 25, 8:34 p.m.

Management is just another form of labor. Management's proximity to the money supply creates a class of middlemen who determine that their labor is worth many time more than production labor, without whom management would derive no income.

Posted Thu, Feb 24, 6:59 p.m.

Bubbleator's mother wears combat boots.

Posted Thu, Feb 24, 12:09 p.m.

Improving Seattle's tourism should begin by improving the living conditions of its residents. Should any civic culture cater to strangers who can afford luxury travel and who return home with little more an unsettling sense of having been fleeced in a tourist trap? Will tourists learn only that seattlers are ...

Posted Thu, Feb 24, 10:50 a.m.

Looks like bubbleator enjoys being a chickenshit with an ignorance is bliss attitude.

Posted Wed, Feb 23, 9:28 p.m.

My assessment is fair and straightforward, rolls. Take off your blinders. The AWV has deteriorated beyond a retrofit. There is no fix for it nor is it worth keeping. It's been an embarrassment to the engineering community and most seattlers from the start. The bored tunnel is even more an ...

Posted Wed, Feb 23, 9:51 a.m.

jmrolls, the AWV cannot be strengthened and retained. It can be replaced, but that would indeed be expensive and more disruptive to construct than the cut/cover plus it loses tremendous economic gains and the spectacular amenity of the waterfront and Lower Belltown sans AWV. You shouldn't deny that the 'stacked' ...

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 10:23 p.m.

What jmrolls just wrote (about the AWV) is false and/or misleading. The 6-lane 'stacked' cut/cover tunnel (depicted in the DEIS) matches the AWV in every way except that it does not replace the Columbia/Seneca ramp access to 1st Ave. These ramps should not be replaced because 1st Ave has too ...

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 9:05 p.m.

Says dbreneman, "Road building is a core function of government since before the Roman Empire. People form governments to construct roads. If maintaining roads is too expensive for the state, it's an indication that the state is spending too much on programs that are a lower priority." Wow. What a ...

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 11:35 a.m.

Deep Bore Tunnel supporters expect its trickle-down economics will produce some profit for them. Using state resources to create sustainable communities isn't as appealling as their sense of I-got-mine greed. United we would stand, but that's social engineering. Better to fall divided in a fight over chump change. The cost ...

Posted Mon, Feb 21, 11:17 a.m.

Locating the streetcar barn next to Occidental Park wasn't a good idea. That particular ground floor use would not increase activity needed for the park (safety in numbers), nor would it be compatible with apartments above. It took years for advocates to realize their error and the same seattlers get ...

Posted Wed, Feb 16, 7:15 p.m.

"So the mayor who came out of nowhere to beat a generally popular incumbent with the anti-tunnel stance should just say "Nevermind" and leave the citizens with the bill?" .....editted to least words... "The letter would've been something had the stakeholders offered to accept all cost over-runs they're so certain ...

Posted Wed, Feb 16, 10:52 a.m.

The bored tunnel may supposedly be "least inconvenient" to construct, but it is also the most "most dangerous" to construct, operate and maintain. And it dangerously mismanages traffic with or without tolls. Too much traffic is redirected onto Mercer Street through 'residential' Queen Anne and already overloaded through Lake Union. ...

Posted Tue, Feb 15, 7:57 p.m.

The Mercer West plan widens Mercer to 6-lanes plus bike lanes plus one left turn lane southward, builds 10' wide sidewalks on both sides. But it's still a trench. An overhead pedestrian way would have a splendid view, is possible and an elegant design could become iconic. It's fairly certain ...

Posted Tue, Feb 15, 8:42 a.m.

Keith. The town center development I mention most is along aLink LRT extension south closer to Federal Way, nearer the college. I also advocate for an LRT spur to Southcenter eventually through to Renton. This spur could extend west of Seatac Airfield to Burien. Then there's the BelRed corridor. It's ...

Posted Mon, Feb 14, 10:17 p.m.

Neato ideas for ignoring the facts! The AWV is NOT good engineering nor can be a new sleek elevated structure. Any new elevated wrecks Lower Belltown with poor ramp design. I'll give the replacement viaduct idea this much: with the Two-Intersection design(Scenario 'H'), 2-stoplights at Elliott & Western directly to ...

Posted Mon, Feb 14, 11:34 a.m.

Cocktail would keep the Viaduct in its present capacity as a public roadway. Whether it functions "very well" as one is debateable. The Columbia/Seneca ramps to 1st Ave direct 20,000 cars daily onto that street which is overloaded with traffic and should be more transit and pedestrian oriented. The treacherously ...

Posted Sun, Feb 13, 3:53 p.m.

McMahon offers a beautiful picture of future trends with "I must say this piece is more the vision of an urban planner and less a study of statistical trends. I agree the trend toward town urban centers is on the rise -- but not quite yet. (Why not?) As fuel ...

Posted Sun, Feb 13, 11:44 a.m.

"The endless expansion of commercial strip — that homogenous blob of sign clutter and asphalt is (I agree) reaching the end of its useful life. The Commercial strip with no beginning, no end, no center, and no way to get around but to drive is becoming obsolete in an era ...

Posted Sat, Feb 12, 9:42 p.m.

(jan) Obama was elected because he was a very promising counterpoint to Bush/Cheney and fear-mongering Republicans who started 'one' of our two mistaken wars that increased enmity toward America, ruined American economy, piled up a mountain of debt, (blame never going to republicans whose slight admissions of failure do not ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 12:12 p.m.

The main New Urbanism measurement is mixed-use development; diversity, not density. Complete and complementing mixed-uses require undeveloped space for parks, fields, small farms and gardens, formal walkways and bikeways, primitive trails in preserved natural areas, etc. And the mixed-use measurement includes all travel modes must function adequately. Single-family neighborhoods are ...

Posted Sun, Feb 6, 11:16 a.m.

Don't mind me but the 30-cab ferris-wheel is plain great. Nearest is the EMP architecture that qualifies as Space Age. Interior could be upgraded for open space and better lighting. The Circulator Monorail would have 'plunged' the line underground west of EMP with a basement-station to access Fischer Pav & ...

Posted Sat, Feb 5, 10:29 p.m.

I'm gonna say one last time for doug/others to hear, my charges against the bored tunnel are alarmist. The DBT offers no way of avoiding maximum risk and has very poor results traffic-wise. It's a mistake & I am pissed & blame leaders, supposed experts, who literally ignore simpler the ...

Posted Fri, Feb 4, 10:34 a.m.

WsDOT is a rogue agency criminally undermining its obligation to serve the public interest in order to benefit automobile-related business interests - financial institutions, insurance, petroleum and highway construction companies, TV radio and newspapers which derive income from automobile ads, car-dependent sprawl developers and speculators, big box retailers, Wall Street ...

Posted Thu, Feb 3, 11:44 a.m.

Leave it to Warshington State Department of Highways (DOH) to foul up the Columbia River Crossing I-5 Bridge project. Three years ago, a proposal was forwarded to build 'only' a Southbound lanes bridge plus a MAX light rail bridge while leaving the existing bridges in place to handle northbound traffic ...

Posted Wed, Feb 2, 7:14 p.m.

A glaring contradiction reveals an unreasonable anti-rail bias in Macdonald's opinion piece: Amtrak Cascades isn't fast enough to be considered 'bullet' high-speed rail, and the rail corridor's most environmentally beneficial use (supposedly) is with freight rail. High-speed passenger rail such as the Amtrak Acela, requires exclusive right-of-way. The Amtrak Cascades ...

Posted Fri, Jan 28, 9:43 p.m.

"Trail boosters seem to recognize that any historic trail system will have to have a narrative and be coherent, interactive, and multi-modal." Totally sounds like a tourist trap. Will this trail include a ride on the clownish, are we having fun yet, Duckboat? The bored tunnel jeopardizes the structural integrity ...

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 6:33 p.m.

I tried to make the point that some WashDOT engineering crews don't merit control of your ferries. These don't seem to be interested in any kind of mass transit. They're not that good at planning street traffic either; symptemic of the larger failing. Mayor Mike is in every way correct ...

Posted Tue, Jan 25, 9:37 p.m.

The car ferry works for drivers, but not as well for walk-on passengers. The ferry is failing its transit-oriented intention. Better transit connections at docks, especially @ Alaskan Way Coleman Dock. Better bus routes for all main ferry docks. Some DOTs are not much interested in mass transit plans at ...

Posted Mon, Jan 24, 10:16 p.m.

"In the middle of the wine-tasting, celebrating the ridiculously expensive tunnel/park design and ridiculously expensive Disneylandish I-520 termination at Montlake, someone yelled 'Hey, we forgot about the ferries!'" haha nice one The "ecological waterfront" design relocates the seawall back maybe 30' however, it won't achieve 'ecological goals' with timber rot, ...

Posted Thu, Jan 20, 6:52 a.m.

Give some thought to how the DBT will affect subsurface hydrology. What are the affects of watery soil meeting the 60' diameter tube? Will this admittedly slow-moving water be forced up over the tube? Will that force cause surface street buckling? How will it affect seemingly sound building foundations? Will ...

Posted Wed, Jan 19, 10:49 a.m.

jmrolls writes ad nauseum, "No other proposed configuration for the AWV matches the existing viaduct in any transportation related category," but it's NOT true. The cut/cover option as depicted in the SDEIS 'matches' the AWV except regarding the Seneca/Columbia ramps which provide access for 20,000 vehicles daily onto 'overloaded' 1st ...

Posted Tue, Jan 18, 5:38 p.m.

Mass transit is as fundamental a travel mode as walking. Where travel is dominated by the personal car, no travel mode, including travel by car, can function optimally. The energy efficient electric car alone is not a solution. An ideal multi-modal travel/transport system also requires adherance to elementary rules of ...

Posted Tue, Jan 18, 12:20 p.m.

Mass transit is as fundamental a travel mode as walking. Where travel is dominated by the personal car, no travel mode, including travel by car, can function optimally. The energy efficient electric car alone is not a solution. An ideal multi-modal travel/transport system also requires adherance to elementary rules of ...

Posted Mon, Jan 17, 4:20 p.m.

For I think the 5th time a with a new argument, here's a new one adding to the argument that Mike is right, whether you agree with him or my arguments or neither, Surface-Transit is the Right/correct choice option, as he may only simply imput legal argument first, then/now environmental ...

Posted Tue, Jan 11, 11 a.m.

Yeah, what beaky said, sans keeping the AWV. A cut/cover is the only sensible tunnel option. The surface/transit option gets the dangerous AWV down soonest and does not rule out an eventual (sooner rather than later) cut/cover roughly as shown in the SDEIS.

Posted Mon, Jan 10, 9:05 p.m.

Again sorry to interrupt the subject with DBT notes. Consider how globalization may require a reduction of all shipping - not more exports, less imports as a reduction strategy. No brainer? The CRC is designed for increased import/export, a failure Washington shares with Oregon. Concept#1 Hayden Island Off Island Access ...

Posted Mon, Jan 10, 8:45 p.m.

I'm sorry to be so rude sometimes, but I've followed seattle road & rail transit plans carefully, analytically and find them wanting as you know. Honestly I'm sorry, but the doubts are serious and held by MANY within the engineering community outside where your cadre of 'poor-done' builders hang out ...

Posted Mon, Jan 10, 10:41 a.m.

Seattle cheerleaders crack me up. What a mess.

Posted Thu, Jan 6, 11:49 a.m.

It's likely that half of hi-speed rail planners spend more time on expensive 200+mph Acela trainsets and track instead of less expensive 150mph Talgo trainsets which are actually more applicable to US railway redevelopment in many instances. Now is a good time to argue in favor of Talgo-type systems; non-electrified, ...

Posted Wed, Jan 5, 2:36 p.m.

May I suggest Mr Connelly consider the science of hydrology? How will a 60' diameter 'tube' embedded in watery soils affect Alaskan Way and entire waterfront subsurface hydrology? Answer: These subsurface waters will increase pressure and alter flows upward & downward around the tube in alternating east/west direction, affecting joint ...

Posted Mon, Jan 3, 6:42 p.m.

"Public sector unions gave us the weekends?" considers @plcorne who won't admit public sector unions did indeed win the standard 5-day week. On Sundays the mill was turned off, mostly. That's a republican in denial, Baker is probably right. Mr. Vogt's sentiments don't drift far from his personal ability to ...

Posted Mon, Jan 3, 5:09 p.m.

Thanks Crosscut, for awarding revisions of history an editor's pick. Sometimes we misled appreciate being better advised. We take as fact half-truths as in the above writer orino, whom I agree with on other points in the post about Portland being distinctive. Keep it weird. "That freeway got knocked down, ...

Posted Sat, Jan 1, 11:54 a.m.

Most traffic in US cities is within their roughly 20-mile radius regions or 'inner-city'. High-speed rail addresses 'inter-city' traffic concerns that affect only a minority of motorists. The deep bore tunnel will make inner-city traffic worse while it literally subtracts from Seattle mass transit. The WashPirg high-speed rail report puts ...

Posted Wed, Dec 8, 4:28 p.m.

The common definition of HSR is 200+mph, Andy. Promoters never mention average speed, which for the LA-SF run will supposedly average 170mph over the 255 miles between LA and Fresno, with 5 stops in between. The average speed between Portland-Seattle currently is about 45mph on the 150 mile trip with ...

Posted Wed, Dec 8, 12:38 p.m.

For cryin out loud. So-called "true" high-speed rail is overkill and its high cost will indeed 'kill' HSR in the USA - California, LA/LV, everywhere. Bi-partisan lust for gold-plated Cadillacs makes me sick. Perhaps republican representatives Mica indeed plans to kill HSR except in his own state? The Amtrak Cascades ...

Posted Thu, Dec 2, 10:12 a.m.

Prime example of Crosscut downplaying the issue or what? Significant opposition to the deep bore tunnel is based on its "deplorable" impacts, not the risk of potential cost overrun.

Posted Wed, Dec 1, 2:39 p.m.

"Richard Conlin is wisely worried about confronting legislative leaders on the tunnel project, which is a settled issue in Olympia." How is it wise to not confront legislative leaders on the deep bore tunnel which to many professionals is among the most reckless highway projects in US history? The cost ...

Posted Tue, Nov 30, 10:35 a.m.

Poor Virginia Foxx. Her thunder was stolen. When giving her much-awaiting speech against, what the republican party considers terrible government policy, C-span broadcast on their other channel the monday Smithsonian associates interview with President Carter. Americans who watch C-span channels tuned Foxx out. Poor Virginia Foxx got her thunder stolen. ...

Posted Mon, Nov 29, 6:51 p.m.

Where a new tall structure would block a historic building(s), care should be taken in design to retain a percentage of the lost view. I don't believe the sidewalks are all that 'historic' and figure better sidewalks and crosswalks subconsciously signal motorists to slow down. The economics of pleasant walking ...

Posted Mon, Nov 29, 9:25 a.m.

Better bicycling infrastructure will be created by sacrificing road and curbside parking space. Road bikers wrongly believe speed is their friend in the mortal battle to share the road with traffic. Bicycling in style can only become a cultural norm when bicycling overall is much safer and where necessary, out ...

Posted Sun, Nov 28, 4:48 p.m.

A better bicycle network cannot be ruled out and is possible along most corridors. Uphill "bike/transit" can be 'coordinated' with the bike-track districts that are coming. By uphill "bike/transit" I mean - some model of low-floor multi-door trolleybus with bike space inside (like the streetcar) to run specific hill routes; ...

Posted Mon, Nov 22, 12:40 p.m.

This article is long on building height considerations and short on other equally important considerations. Thus it can be taken as fodder for inconsiderate developers. Density is NOT thee solution. Diversity (economic, transport, as well as cultural diversity) is closer to thee solution. Density without diversity, backfires.

Posted Sat, Nov 20, 11:29 a.m.

"A worry from a project senior engineer who looked me in the eye last summer and said, after repeating my Name for emphasis, "The risks in this project are just SO enormous." I was expecting a little pep talk, but instead was left speechless," quoting a Beacon Hill guy yesterday ...

Posted Thu, Nov 18, 9:24 p.m.

Take a poll. Most DBT analysis is disappointing. The minority opinion regarding DBT engineering is to support it without question. Some DOT engineers make huge mistakes almost ritually. Put a fork in it...

Posted Thu, Nov 18, 7:58 p.m.

Editors that leave questions unanswered aren't editors as much as judges. I can't say my engineering perspective is impecable, but I will say it's likely most engineers outside seattle warshington oppose the DBT. Why pass up 'the best' solidification of Alaskan Way soft soil with a cut/cover? Why divert traffic ...

Posted Thu, Nov 18, 11:13 a.m.

Those who are stubbornly pro-car don't realize or account for the fact that when travel options are limited to driving, even driving doesn't work near as well as it should. I oppose building another viaduct on basic engineering terms. Losing the Seneca/Columbia ramps to 1st Ave is wise. There's too ...

Posted Wed, Nov 17, 6:51 p.m.

maxxch, The cut/cover offers the lower cost utility relocation. It's access is better and would certainly cost less if anything goes wrong with the deep bore, a verified high risk. Don't pretend the soils aren't a problem for construction and long-term maintenance. In the end, the cut/cover is better engineered ...

Posted Wed, Nov 17, 12:46 p.m.

maxxch, WSDOT rigged their cut/cover study to increase cost, construction duration and impact. WSDOT proposes to dig a huge 6-block trench between Spring and Main followed by two similarly large trenches to the portals. The more sensible cut/cover construction process starts at the south portal and works north in roughly ...

Posted Wed, Nov 17, 11:02 a.m.

Speaking of violating ADA standards, that's what undid Ms Crunican's career and lose her position of ODOT Director while overseeing the Ross Island Bridge rebuild of surface lanes, sidewalk and ballustrade. Crunican "refused" to rebuild the sidewalk wide enough for wheelchair access and build a safety rail between the sidewalk ...

Posted Wed, Nov 17, 10:51 a.m.

To put it mildly, WSDOT is caught red faced, pants down, hand in the cookie jar, up to no good. The ONLY sensible tunnel is the cut/cover as proposed in the current DEIS, 6-lane 'stacked', Battery Street Tunnel retained, SR99 rebuilt below Elliott/Western in Lower Belltown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P91H-l9QCfU&feature;=player_embedded (just picture better ...

Posted Fri, Nov 5, 12:59 p.m.

The community of bicyclers includes urban cyclists, off-roaders, spandex-wearing speeders, bike messengers, trick bikes, BMX, etc. The most uncooperative faction are the speeders on very expensive bikes who treat other cyclists and pedestrians like objects on an obstacle course, or, like every paved pathway is a freeway passing lane. Correct ...

Posted Tue, Nov 2, 10:40 a.m.

The intellectual competence of deep bore tunnel supporters is already questionable. When McGinn challenges supporters, their natural recourse is certifiable denial. Gregoire's "Find another sponsor" jab was less than cooperative. When self-described "environmentalists" won't discuss the SEVERE environmental impact of the DBT, there's some serious mental imbalance tolerated generally and ...

Posted Sun, Oct 31, 2:50 p.m.

Main goal is stop The DBT -- A REALLY BAD OPTION -- As many professionals agree. It's true. More shaking heads than I've ever seen. DBT has too few advantages compared to Cut/cover Tunnel. There's no question the Cut/cover is far far better engineered. INN FACT, the "surface/transit option" indeed ...

Posted Sun, Oct 31, 10:31 a.m.

A streetcar barn across from Occidental Park isn't a good location. It limits the street-level uses of any new building in place of the parking lot. Consider a bridge over the RR tracks at Broad Street. Such a bridge is desirable for regular, detoured, and truck traffic, no matter what ...

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 11:15 a.m.

Managing traffic should be the #1 priority for Old Town, especially when the AWV is closed permanently. Many if not most of the 20,000 cars a day that access 1st Ave at Columbia/Seneca ramps will make traffic impossibly worse in Old Town. Reconfiguring the trolleybus system should be considered. A ...

Posted Thu, Oct 28, 9:57 p.m.

I hope Seattlers will realize the danger of boring the tunnel beneath downtown buildings, realize the terrible impacts tens of thousands more cars on downtown streets, but I'm reminded of Olivia de Haviland's character in the scene from the movie "The Snake Pit" where she realizes most everyone in the ...

Posted Wed, Oct 27, 9:25 a.m.

So stark was the pioneering divide that led agricultural livelihoods to Oregon and commercial exploitation north of the Columbia River, business leaders figured they needed separate state mechanisms to make the exploitation legal. Thus North Oregon Territory was renamed Washington, a proud name also exploited.

Posted Tue, Oct 26, 4:32 p.m.

The more appropriate pioneering city to compare with Seattle is Portland rather than San Francisco. To say "Pioneers divided between those who went to the land of milk, honey and gold (California), and those who chose the land of the apple and the pine (Washington)" doesn't ring true. The pioneering ...

Posted Sat, Oct 23, 7:27 p.m.

Why the parks dept suburban lawns in the city? Sculpture, Gasworks, Steinbrueck, Seattle Center, now Lake Union Park, LUP. Myrtle Edwards too more a fairway than a natural water's edge, about the right amount and kind of trees, more than Sculpture and LUP. Current parks dept designers are not all ...

Posted Fri, Oct 22, 8:57 a.m.

That sucker is going down, andy, and no stinking pipedream for an elevated walkway made of its crusty remains is staying up. Maybe save a few pillors installed as a testament to a the era of DOT error.

Posted Thu, Oct 21, 12:17 p.m.

New: Business Excise Tax to consider as fitting replacement for sales tax to fund transit. Newish: Trolleybus Reconfiguration of short lines and small fleet that offers 5-minute no-wait service downtown and inner-city. Newish: Surface/Transit option incurs "Less" environmental impact than DBT and Mercer West. God forbid the day readers think ...

Posted Wed, Oct 20, 11:19 a.m.

A better financing scheme is business excise. Businesses are better managed to handle forms and pass the tax on w/ discretion and use transit for advertizing and walk-in clientelle. The Sales Tax mechanism doesn't reflect the benefit of transit investment to businesses. Seattle hills leave no choice but to build ...

Posted Sat, Oct 9, 11 a.m.

"Bye bye, miss American pie. Drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry. And good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing "This'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die."

Posted Fri, Oct 8, 11:50 a.m.

Hubert Locke's opinion piece is neither tongue-in-cheek satire nor manifesto. It's a blatant political attack sprinkled with bits of salty humor to entertain the most powerful political base of wealthy industrialists and automobile-related business interests who should be ashamed of their end product Revelation: Carmageddon. Northwest ports expand to accommodate ...

Posted Thu, Oct 7, 5:42 p.m.

One-word summary: "spin"

Posted Tue, Oct 5, 1:06 p.m.

I recognized only a few of the religious symbols bit noticed the symbol of a smoking joint was missing. Isn't the pot high Seattle's most popular religion?

Posted Sun, Oct 3, 9:40 a.m.

Good riddance to Grace Crunican who should never again work in transportation planning agencies which honestly try to fulfill their responsibilities, nor within those whose covert intent is to make traffic worse, Crunican's specialty.

Posted Tue, Sep 28, 1:44 p.m.

Incompetence, corruption, sabotage. As much as I use these words to describe what I see wrong with Seattle's transportation systems and planning, they are not "easier" to use as Knute suggests. I've explained specific shortcomings of Link LRT, monorail, streetcar, trolleybus and regular bus transit system designs and design proposals ...

Posted Mon, Sep 27, 10:28 a.m.

When disrupted, scurrying mice appear abnormally large.

Posted Sat, Sep 25, 9:29 a.m.

"This is the kind of mind-numbing shlock that's turning our society into a cultural wasteland." Lois Griffin something like that...

Posted Fri, Sep 24, 9:44 p.m.

The DBT will be Dead by December. Mayor McGinn will be exonerated. Paula Hammond will be fired. Richard Conlin will not run for City Council again.

Posted Thu, Sep 23, 10:04 p.m.

Crosscut contributors collectively present broad perspective. Too many media sources restrict the presentation of views to either leftwing or rightwing or some pretense that amounts to one or the other but not both. An editorial board, staff, crew, team or what have you which presents both sides is to this ...

Posted Wed, Sep 22, 9:22 p.m.

I figure it was James Corner Fields Philadelphia Pier Park that made the sale. Think Pier 62-63. At the Wednesday presentation, the video interviews caught my eye as most representative of Seattle's future. In the background stood a defiant 100 year old waterfront warehouse antiquity worth enhancing while preserving. Consider ...

Posted Mon, Sep 20, 10:20 a.m.

Whatever Trevor.

Posted Sun, Sep 19, 10:43 a.m.

http://mayormcginn.seattle.gov/mohai/ http://mayormcginn.seattle.gov/more-on-mohai/ One can read Mayor McGinn's position here, or, one can take the word of anti-McGinn losers who'd rather their opinions go unchallenged.

Posted Tue, Sep 14, 9:41 a.m.

In every engineering sense, the access ramps to SR99 in Lower Belltown, as well as the Columbia and Seneca ramps onto 1st Ave, are disgracefully poor in design. Retrofitting or replacing the AWV does nothing to correct their egregious errors. From Elliott Ave, the southbound entrance to the AWV is ...

Posted Mon, Sep 13, 3:44 p.m.

There has never been conducted a full, fair and open discussion to conclusively determine which AWV replacement option is best engineered to achieve the goals of managing traffic, minimizing environmental impact and risk at a reasonable cost. Too many years of needlessly wayward studies have always led to conjecture and ...

Posted Tue, Sep 7, 9:04 p.m.

Auburn is close enough to Tacoma. Steilacoom doesn't generate enough ridership. The Longacres aka Boeing's own discreetly personal stop is a sign of its wicked power and influence.

Posted Sun, Sep 5, 9:58 a.m.

On Talgo trips between Portland and Seattle, the scenic stretch between Lacey and Tacoma is its fantastic highlight, no doubt about it. On the other hand, operational delay on this stretch of track regularly increases the average time to 20+ minutes shaved off via the Lakewood route, plus a more ...

Posted Sat, Sep 4, 12:44 p.m.

How did this discussion go from Lake Union park museum to DownTown Waterfront masterpiece? As an outsider, I must say seattle's engineering and parks departments should stop going it alone. Seattle profers too much artsy-fartsy crap. Flying Fords? Sculpture Flark? Mayor McGinn may exactly be the outsider seattle needed to ...

Posted Thu, Sep 2, 5:52 a.m.

Gadfly and David got right what ruffner, lukoff, miller and cocktails got wrong. Jmrolls argument to preserve traffic-handling capacity is right, but wrong to claim that "no other proposed configuration matches the AWV in any transportation related category." The proposed cut/cover tunnel "matches" the AWV (except for the Seneca/Columbia ramps, ...

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 10:17 a.m.

SpoilerAlert. Don't get mad that my viewpt is too often contrarian, please. Here it is: Seattle's Waterfront should take into account its historical nature, that is, lots of wagons crossing e/w confronted with n/s thru-vehicles of all kinds, hoards of workers loading/unloading, and a rail line or 2 on the ...

Posted Tue, Aug 31, 5:25 p.m.

ENJOY... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m692Tqbnbxo Somewhere in this is a gud argewmint4 PHEVs&peds.; Its the beck onion ointment fake tears makeup and rehearsal, too weird.

Posted Tue, Aug 31, 4:48 p.m.

Poster lincoln says Peak Oil is a "non-event". Poster jaz would rather subsidize electric cars than build streetcar lines. Streetcar lines do work admirably in many locations. However, The Waterfront Streetcar route is just better than 1st Ave. With a bridge over the RR tracks at Broad, two track could ...

Posted Sun, Aug 22, 5:57 p.m.

Sorry about my earlier slip of tongue. My views often lead me to an angered uncivil tone, an understatement I admit to, but try to learn from. Seattle is in danger and I am warning you as best I can. Don't Build The DBT. Some of you know I've already ...

Posted Fri, Aug 20, 11:27 a.m.

"The people want affordable solutions" is double-speak -for- "Energy Corporations want free-market mechanisms" I have to disagree with Roger Pielke's assumption, "The world is going to need vastly more energy in the future" principally because supplying an efficient minimim amount of energy for most people is only possible via conservation ...

Posted Tue, Aug 17, 8:48 p.m.

mhays, it's true. The Surface/Transit option does NOT shift Interbay-bound traffic as the DBT does, up and over the hill to its north portal in South Lake Union. That traffic is expected to use Mercer Street and steep Mercer Place to get to Elliott, but it's more likely that Denny ...

Posted Tue, Aug 17, 8:26 a.m.

The Surface/Transit Option 'constrains' displaced traffic to Alaskan Way, unlike the DBT which 'disperses' displaced Interbay-bound traffic from the straight Elliott/Western most suitable commercial corridor to at least 3 alternate thru-corridors - Mercer, Denny Way and Westlake/Nickerson where traffic impacts WILL worsen. The DBT also closes the Battery Street Tunnel ...

Posted Mon, Aug 16, 7:06 p.m.

"Excluding the elevated structure, only the “demand-management option” had better traffic levels on downtown streets than the bored tunnel option, and, all surface options made the downtown a worse environment for bicyclists." -NOT TRUE- "In 2006, Hebert Research found even partial closure of the AWV on SR99 would cost our ...

Posted Sun, Aug 15, 5:20 p.m.

"To equate siting a Muslim Cultural Center near Ground Zero to placing a Japanese cultural center near Pearl Harbor Memorial is offensive nonsense." "It's the equivalent to laying blame for WWII atrocities perpetrated by Imperial Government Japan on American citizens of Japanese ancestry who live in Hawaii." I think she's ...

Posted Fri, Aug 13, 2:20 p.m.

The screwup crew, Won't listen to "Less please sir, Less if you please sir, Of your global trade I mean, sir" . McGinn right. S/T less impact than dBt. What a coincidence! Add letter 'e' To this monstosity, Spells deBt. . Getting Railroad Way matched. Old style frontage. Worked for ...

Posted Sat, Aug 7, 6:53 p.m.

The building itself is an albatross. It's an ugly warehouse that cramps public space on its north and south sides. Raze it. If honest concensus favoring another building is reached, the foundation footprint should be much smaller to improve access to and visibility of venues to the west. It could ...

Posted Wed, Aug 4, 5:39 p.m.

Honestly, 1st Ave is an important pedestrian corridor with too much traffic and mass transit poorly arranged. The traffic along the dangerously steep side streets leading to the Columbia and Seneca ramps absolutely should be discouraged. Seattle's hilly topography literally dictates the need for downtown-specific transit that enables motorists to ...

Posted Wed, Aug 4, 1:51 p.m.

An AWV-free Waterfront would be great. The proposed Phase 1 Mercer Rebuild project looks great. Reconnecting the grid at Aurora and John, Thomas and Harrison Streets is a sensible road network design and would be great. However, depending on which AWV replacement is chosen, these 3 'Thrustian' projects can come ...

Posted Wed, Aug 4, 11:54 a.m.

For Mr Van Dyk to say the DBT "seems the best option" is dishonest. The truth is it's the worst option in every way; worst engineering for ably managing traffic; worst environmental impact from traffic displaced from a grade-separated highway onto numerous surface streets through residential neighborhoods and popular commercial ...

Posted Tue, Aug 3, 9:30 p.m.

I suspect, Mr Van Dyk, that you know perfectly well the problem with the DBT and its related surface rearrangement projects - Mercer West and Alaskan Way - isn't its potential for cost overrun. You know the engineering is abominable. You know their environmental impact is atrocious. You know the ...

Posted Sun, Aug 1, 6:54 p.m.

I keep forgetting Seattle is filled with knee-jerk obstructionists. The single-track design reduced costs and impacts, simplified construction, and produced more ridership than the much larger, more expensive Greenline. The Circulator's latest alignment uses only 4 cars to run every 5-minutes between 12 stations: 4 stations for Seattle Center; 1 ...

Posted Sun, Aug 1, 7:11 a.m.

@coolpapa. The Lower Belltown access ramps (for Ballard, Magnolia, Interbay, West Queen Anne traffic) should be retained. The various designated and makeshift routes for this major traffic pattern (from Elliott to the DBT north portal on Aurora) will incur high environmental impact and severe inconvenience to motorists. Even the Surface/Transit ...

Posted Sat, Jul 31, 8:45 p.m.

Alaskan Way is part of a State Highway. The Surface/Transit option connects SR99 in the south to the Battery Street Tunnel and Aurora/SR99 in the north. The State is committed to removal of the AWV and reconstruction of Alaskan Way, also the elevated roadway to Elliott and Western Aves in ...

Posted Sat, Jul 31, 10:50 a.m.

I was thinking 'single-track' instead of 'double-track' through downtown. Single-track minimizes physical and visual impact, makes station siting simpler, and reduces all costs. The Circulator Monorail was only 4 miles of single-track added to the existing track in 2 loops; an expansion 1/4 the Greenline, yet with more ridership potential. ...

Posted Fri, Jul 30, 7:59 p.m.

Richard B. My previous post starts with "Godden's first paragraph brought back the grotesque memory of Duh-bya overturning furniture in the White House looking for those pesky WMDs." What the hell was she thinking? I still believe the monorail dream and have amended "The Sirkulat Circulator" route, following logic, of ...

Posted Thu, Jul 29, 10:13 a.m.

To become a reliable source of information, editors and columnists must present contrasting perspectives alongside each other. A return to the "Fairness Doctrine" in journalism is opposed by demogogues who have no compunction against shouting down opposing views when hautily demeaning them is an insufficient "might makes right" tactic in ...

Posted Thu, Jul 29, 8:53 a.m.

Even if McGinn set up a dress code that everyone wears overalls, he's right to oppose the dreadful deep bore tunnel fiasco-rama.

Posted Wed, Jul 28, 5:55 p.m.

Reading the comments before the Godden's opinion piece, I nearly gagged at Mhays comparison of Mayor McGinn to George W Bush. Ridiculous, yet, Godden's first paragraph brought back the grotesque memory of Duh-bya overturning furniture in the White House looking for those pesky WMDs. Godden only heightened my alarm with ...

Posted Tue, Jul 27, 10:50 a.m.

Wow. Sean gets an 'Editors Pick' for an opinion that Crosscut offers "honest, informative, and insightful coverage." Crosscut's coverage on the DBT issue is biased. And neither is Crosscut honestly informative when pertinent information about the DBT's engineering, environmental impact and extreme risks is ignored. Insightful? More like Crosscut is ...

Posted Sat, Jul 24, 11:56 a.m.

The deep bored tunnel project is like trusting the alcoholic country club procurement officer with funds to purchase a reliable 12-passenger mini-van who's tempted to instead buy a newly painted luxury 4-door sedan from Pal Prescott's used car emporium with the enticing guarantee of free oil fillups for the first ...

Posted Thu, Jul 22, 10:33 a.m.

New Urbanism philosophy is the apex of professional attempts to rectify the Machiavellian flaws of the previous urban planning school of thought which began with the introduction of automobiles and was recognized as unsustainable years before the Great Depression. Cars first overran cities and short decades later overrun entire metropolitan ...

Posted Mon, Jul 19, 9:25 a.m.

The DBT is poorly engineered, has the worst environmental impact, is extremely risky, and most likely to be most expensive and even a complete failure. It's inextricably related surface street rearrangement "Mercer West" is likewise the worst engineering imaginable. The only sensible tunnel is some version of the cut/cover Tunnelite. ...

Posted Sat, Jul 17, 11:20 p.m.

Crosscut frames the debate, censors information and derisively dismisses contrary viewpoint to influence the outcome of a vote. I didn't say Crosscut conspires with pro-DBT interests, but it's evident there's some back-scratching going on. Crosscut allows contrary posts like mine, but rarely addresses the factual premise behind contrary viewpoint. It ...

Posted Sat, Jul 17, 12:31 p.m.

No one should worry about keeping the AWV or building some version of Choppaduct. NOT going to happen. Everyone should worry about extreme risks the DBT poses to downtown buildings during construction and forever after. Everyone should worry about the environmental impacts of DBT-displaced traffic upon Alaskan Way, Lower Queen ...

Posted Sat, Jul 17, 12:10 p.m.

Berger doesn't mind a public vote because Crosscut frames the debate, censors information and derisively dismisses contrary viewpoint to influence the outcome. The 'stacked' SIX-LANE cut/cover Tunnelite closes the AWV and rebuilds the main segment of the seawall at least 2 years before the DBT and poses no risk of ...

Posted Fri, Jul 16, 9:44 a.m.

Tunnelite fan back again. Some digging found tons of political support for Tunnelite as early as 2006, probably before that too. Dug MacDonuld admits to regional support, Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Association, Gov Evans, environmental and labor organizations. Gee, where are all these Tunnelite supporters now? Still nursing ...

Posted Thu, Jul 15, 8:28 p.m.

The DBT has an inherently catastrophic risk of severe damage to downtown buildings during construction and ever afterwards. It is risky in terms of potential for the bore machine to breakdown at any point in the drilling process. It is risky in terms of water table seepage problems during and ...

Posted Thu, Jul 15, 3:25 p.m.

-- The preliminary south portal work is applicable to Tunnelite, thus pleasing some WSDOT public employees who can believe some of their work is worth the time and effort. -- Greg Nickels should be pleased with Tunnelite because he invested his political capital to support it in 2007. -- Tunnelite ...

Posted Thu, Jul 15, 12:34 p.m.

WSDOT spent years studying the most expensive tunnel designs before settling on the simplest cut/cover Tunnelite. WSDOT then misled voters into rejecting it in 2007 using scare tactics about the supposedly horrible disruption to business-as-usual with its construction. Why did WSDOT spend another year studying Tunnelite if they didn't still ...

Posted Wed, Jul 14, 8:26 a.m.

The only elected leaders Seattlers have representing their best interests with the DBT are Mikes McGinn and O'Brien. I fear the discussion is limited to the issue of cost overruns because well-dressed highway department honchos, henchmen and cronies are misanthropic thugs whose crimes would worsen if they were hauled before ...

Posted Tue, Jul 13, 12:34 p.m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P91H-l9QCfU&feature;=player_embedded You guys should watch this video. Notice something different about it? It's the Sept 2007 version of a 'stacked' 6-lane cut/cover from Parsons/Brinkerhoff. The more recent treatment for reconnecting the grid above a lowered Aurora could be applied instead. Capping the open blocks through Belltown (completely concealing SR99 there) ...

Posted Mon, Jul 12, 5:06 p.m.

There are 4 main concerns with this project, in this order: engineering, environmental impact, risks, and costs LAST. The replacement has to achieve the main objective of managing traffic, minimizing environmental impact, incur inherently few risks, and be affordable. There are 4 basic replacement options for the AWV: A Cut/cover ...

Posted Mon, Jul 5, 10:27 a.m.

Yesteryear memories of Vancouver are of pawn brokers. It felt like Bremerton without the shipping yard or that city's new waterfront park. Though Vancouver didn't feel crime-ridden, it did feel sorely neglected. Should its budding revival be attributed to updated Ester Short Park? Only in part. New housing complexes and ...

Posted Sat, Jul 3, 8:54 p.m.

And mhays operates with eyes and ears closed, head buried in BS. I'm talking about saving hundreds of Million$, minimizing construction disruption, and designing a transport system that does not make Seattle's notoriously bad traffic worse. 1), Leave Mercer Underpass 4-lanes but do convert it to 2-way operation. 2), Keep ...

Posted Sat, Jul 3, 11:26 a.m.

Most of the 40,000 vehicles that daily access SR99 in Lower Belltown, mhays, originates or is headed to West Queen Anne, Magnolia, Interbay and Ballard via Elliott, 15th Ave, whatever. For the hundredth time, Mercer Place is NOT a suitable thru-corridor! SDOT designates Mercer Place 'TBD' (to be determined). In ...

Posted Fri, Jul 2, 7:34 p.m.

No one, mhays, has addressed the problem of redirecting 20,000 vehicles from the DBT north portal to Elliott, traffic which today accesses the AWV in Lower Belltown. Reconnecting the grid at John, Thomas, Harrison and 6th Ave is an excellent plan, but it does nothing to handle this redirected traffic. ...

Posted Fri, Jul 2, 12:05 p.m.

Mhays over-simplifies misleadingly, as do many DBT cheerleaders. The 3 streets reconnected are John, Thomas and Harrison where SR99 is rebuilt below grade. Reconnecting the grid is a good plan, but could be done without the DBT at a fraction of the cost. Repukelican Street becomes the main exit/entrance ramp ...

Posted Thu, Jul 1, 5:59 p.m.

Portland's Waterfront Park doesn't compare well with Seattle. There are no working piers, no seawall businesses, no ferry. There is a fire station and many storefronts facing the river across Naito Pkwy, old 99 West. MAX LRT runs on 1st Ave the same distance as Western is from Alaskan Way. ...

Posted Wed, Jun 30, 8:53 p.m.

To sum up: Mayor Mike opposes the deep bore tunnel to create insufferable traffic gridlock that discourages 'outsider' motorists from visiting, shopping or working in Seattle. Oh, I see. This sly wit has devised a political ploy: opponents of the deep bore tunnel are green snobs. That nonsense will be ...

Posted Sat, Jun 26, 10:11 a.m.

The current design for Alaskan Way surface street is wholly inadequate. Early designs incorporated a 2-lane frontage road on the east side with islands between it and a 4-lane Alaskan Way. SDOT misled members of Seattle's environmental community to believe that a 4-lane Alaskan Way is sufficient ONLY to win ...

Posted Fri, Jun 25, 9:54 a.m.

Mr Skolnik, I appreciate your candor, but I've formulated honest critiques of Seattle parks on various forums and regretfully come to the conclusion that Seattlers don't listen to anyone outside their mutual admiration peer group. Whether the subject is light rail, streetcar, monorail, the AWV replacement, parks, public art, sidewalks, ...

Posted Fri, Jun 25, 3:56 a.m.

"A few words in defense of Freeway Park: It is a stylized representation of a forest floor amid boulders and cliff walls". (BS) "The concrete walls are symbolic echoes of the nearby skyscrapers as well as the freeway sculpture." (BS) "It has been extensively replanted, following a marvelous plan devised ...

Posted Thu, Jun 24, 10:46 a.m.

I've always seen Key Arena as an architectural masterpiece. Freeway Park feels like encroaching nature fought back with hastily constructed concrete barriers. Its emphasis is more on the concrete than nature. The 90 degree turns of the high concrete walls create (a sense of) dangerous hiding places. It should be ...

Posted Wed, Jun 23, 5:54 p.m.

Here's how the cut/cover Tunnelite could be constructed: Starting from the south end, the trench is dug in 1 or 2-block segments. Traffic is routed around the trench, under the AWV (which remains in operation) and returned to the surface above completed segments. Excavation debris is removed via the tunnel. ...

Posted Tue, Jun 22, 9:21 p.m.

The AWV is doomed. It was not built to last even this many years. It must come down. It wasn't well designed. The southbound entrance from Elliott is an uphill climb with a dangerous blind merge. What 1950's morons approved this stupid entrance ramp? The exit northbound onto Western is ...

Posted Tue, Jun 22, 11:58 a.m.

Crosscut has posted an artist's rendering of Steinbrueck Park extended west, capping the proposed boulevard that would not be possible to conceal that way with the DBT. In order to bolster a highly dubious case for the DBT 'also' creating a world class waterfront, Crosscut posts an image that is ...

Posted Tue, Jun 22, 10:23 a.m.

Can Seattle make a great waterfront park? Not if Seattle's hyper-brewsters receive more credence than its realists. Thank Mayor McGinn for pushing the seawall replacement (and waterfront) properly into the spotlight. His "experience" includes local ballot initiatives for parks, sidewalks and transit, and Sierra Club leadership. Robert Moses must be ...

Posted Sat, Jun 19, 1:14 a.m.

A few more things with a 2-lane frontage road added to the 4-lane Alaskan Way configuration: With the surface/transit option, 3 stoplights can be subtracted from the proposed 13 between Pike and King Streets. They are Washington, Columbia and Seneca. The islands between Alaskan Way and the frontage road become ...

Posted Fri, Jun 18, 7:40 p.m.

Here's my brief description of Tunnelite: WSDOT's late 2008 Scenario 'G' 4-lane cut/cover built directly adjacent to and incorporating the new seawall, the rough equivalent of the March 2007 proposal then called Tunnelite. Lately I've suggested a 'stacked' 6-lane cut/cover (a version of Tunnelite) is also possible, especially after the ...

Posted Fri, Jun 18, 9:56 a.m.

Cary, there's another rationale defending the surface/transit option to pursue, namely that its environmental impact is less than the DBT. Here's how the rationale works: The DBT dumps Ballard-bound traffic at Mercer. Routing this traffic from there to Elliott has more impact than if the only route were Alaskan Way, ...

Posted Thu, Jun 17, 9:03 a.m.

Are Seattlers sure they're getting their money's worth on those engineering piles of crap DBT, Mercer West and Alaskan Way? The answer is 'No', but Seattlers aren't known for rational thinking.

Posted Tue, Jun 15, 10:27 a.m.

A recent proposal for the north side playground area was in the newspaper. Basketball court, maze, vegetable patch, kiosk or two. On cue, oohs and aahs resound, but on closer look, the asphalt remains. Kids just love asphalt, especially on hot summer days. Never get hot asphalt in a skin ...

Posted Mon, Jun 14, 6:40 p.m.

I'd like to read the 5-page submission omitted and get a full look at the others with artist renderings and such.

Posted Tue, Jun 8, 7:35 p.m.

Yeah Yeah. Make sure you get your money's worth on this piece of crap deep-bore tunnel. Nevermind that it's crap.

Posted Fri, Jun 4, 9:40 a.m.

Let's listen in on the professional engineers and 'others' actually managing the project, shall we? "40,000 mo cars up 2-lane Mercer Place hill too much, no good. Where them go? Ah, no problim. Bild nuthah biggah Rora bridge ovah Mercer. Frum tunnul hole they go Dexter and 6th to Denny ...

Posted Fri, Jun 4, 8:29 a.m.

The Deep-bore tunnel and related surface street redesigns are the worst of engineering imaginable. Charges of Criminal Dereliction of Duty should be filed against SDOT and WSDOT directors involved in these projects, including Douglas B MacDonald. How do you like them apples, pal?

Posted Wed, Jun 2, 9:31 p.m.

Seattle's civic 'gridlock' may in part be a result of the impracticable pursuit of utopian perfection. But its wholly unrealistic utopianism is more an orchestrated ruse meant to distract Seattlers as their resources are exploited, their labor manipulated, and their pockets picked. Seattle's verdantly veiled defining character is the Gold ...

Posted Sun, May 30, 10:09 p.m.

Fair enough, afreeman, but my critique of Seattle art and architecture was meant to relate to Seattle's political culture. Both cater to form before function. City Hall should not be a grandiose display on the side of 'closed doors' which the public is allowed. Your assessment of my 'analysis' of ...

Posted Sun, May 30, 12:21 a.m.

Rooftop gardens are the equivalent of an unkempt beard. Mayor Mike keeps his rooftop trim. Modern cityscape roofs will erect greenhouses and sprout within a botanic menagerie of goatee, handlebar and other various exotic mustache plumage, utilitarian AND decorative. Seattle's new City Hall is as conceitedly showy as the emporer's ...

Posted Mon, May 24, 3:03 p.m.

The cost overrun issue is a strawman argument. The DBT engineering is extremely flawed and the partisan sycophant Brewster doesn't want the public to know the how, why and wherefore; nor do the council, SDOT and WSDOT directors, and who knows how many others involved in this fiasco of fiascos. ...

Posted Fri, May 21, 10:25 a.m.

Not to criticize electric assist bikes, or otherwise poke fun at these tips for bicycling in Seattle, but the article neglects bicycling infrastructure, ie, bike paths separate from traffic, intersections and crosswalks roadways designed to give motorists a clue they aren't licensed to kill, etc. Painted bike lanes and sharrows ...

Posted Fri, May 14, 6:41 a.m.

Dropping the cut/cover tunnel dodged a bullet? Sure, when we're more concerned with the dead than the living. In a natural or otherwise cataclysmic event, the death toll potential with a collapsed cut/cover is in the hundreds, with a deep-bore collapse many thousands. Seattlers shouldn't forget the mortal impacts to ...

Posted Mon, May 10, 10 a.m.

Anyone who hasn't concluded that the deep-bore tunnel is a travesty of justice, a planning fiasco, and an engineering nightmare ought to have their head examined. Mike is wise to oppose the deep-bore tunnel, no matter how many nitwits love it.

Posted Fri, May 7, 7:50 p.m.

Mercer West Mess Makes Mercer Mess East messier. Say that 5 times fast. The current Alaskan Way redesign from waterfront up to Steinbrueck park is 4 lanes of consistently stalled traffic, speeding, braking hard, polluting more, and conflict with pedestrians and bicyclists. Waa. I see Harrison and Thomas Streets as ...

Posted Fri, May 7, 5:36 p.m.

Only a few see your prediction. Tunnelite has always been the more sensible tunnel option. Too bad WSDOT and SDOT never explained how the cut/cover Tunnelite makes so much sense. You'd think voters would've been interested in hearing it Spring 07. I thought Tunnelite was an AWV-closing operation, but turns ...

Posted Thu, May 6, 11 p.m.

McGinn is the Dragonslayer. Ask the Brewster why. He may not tell you. Crosscut crosscuts.

Posted Thu, Apr 29, 7:37 p.m.

Niles, I'm laying out another route for the Circulator Monorail. The loop around Seattle Center remains the same elegant simple loop with the historic station relocated beneath Thomas roadway between Center House and Fun Warehouse dive. The loop downtown splits the double-track at Denny with a single track continuing on ...

Posted Wed, Apr 28, 6:51 p.m.

The design for the Chiluly museum thing is ludicrous. Visitors arrive at the space needle circle drive and are directed via the covered walkway to the Chiluly entry as if it's the most important attraction. I noticed this: "the design (should) be changed to allow better public access on both ...

Posted Mon, Apr 26, 12:05 p.m.

TVD should divide the undeniable potential LRT offers from the gravy train complaint. Metro and ST are sub par as transit agencies go, IMO. Another PR show like others in seattle. Who benefits from that sub-par performance other than car related business interests? Retiring the trolleybus fleet doesn't make sense. ...

Posted Sun, Apr 25, 8:13 p.m.

Amusing to me, jmrolls, to read "It’s amusing to hear people condemning our 50 year old “auto-centric” highway system while suggesting we replace it with 100+ year old rail technology." That sentense was your quotable. So, I used it to demonstrate how complete you . jmrolls, you assume rail offers ...

Posted Wed, Apr 21, 7:28 p.m.

This is how the LRT debate boils down to costs alone. Agreed, the financing plan must be credible, long term. TVD's view that "fixed-point stations cannot be reached by (some, but not most) prospective passengers except via car or bus" is considerable. Yet, the larger concern IMO, LRT potential to ...

Posted Wed, Apr 21, 9:42 a.m.

Seneca's Editor Pick "I don't think the current plans for viaduct and 520 replacement are 'inimical' [hostile, unfriendly] to the vision (hizzoner) has," is mere opinion and not well informed. There are many reasons to actually "fear" the Deep-bore tunnel. Displacing 40,000 Interbay-bound vehicles onto Alaskan Way, Belltown and Mercer ...

Posted Tue, Apr 20, 10:52 a.m.

Most people disagree with Jan that no bold visions are coming forth from the McGinn office. If Jan dared criticize the projects she supports, she'd see what is meant by that statement. Dare to compare D-bore to Cut/cover honestly, fully, responsibly. Dare to question Mercer West becoming a major thoroughfare ...

Posted Mon, Apr 19, 4:30 p.m.

Sure. Spruce up the monorail station, but don't over do it. How bout hacknflack's idea of circling the Center? I wonder where he got that idea. A spruced up station though will have a visibility problem north/south. Another circulator monorail idea has the single-track west of EMP dive abruptly into ...

Posted Sat, Apr 17, 12:12 p.m.

Edit: Pick the tunnel option (DB or Cc) NOT on whether its "construction" will be inconvenience, and/or cost too much. Just wanted to make that clear. The DB will be more of an inconvenience indefinitely, expensively so. Nah. You no bettuh. You smarT. Punks.

Posted Sat, Apr 17, 11:53 a.m.

What a bunch of chickenlivers. Too fn bad. Even the editors don't mind letting paltry responses to good articles go under appreciated. Shhh. Quiet. The Tunnelite nut is back. Pick the tunnel on whether it will work, NOT whether it be an inconvenience to your wallets nor whether it will ...

Posted Fri, Apr 16, 7:52 p.m.

Who else is contemplating the restriction of air travel between England Norway and France? It's good material for emission reduction argument/discourse. A cut/cover seawall combo project uses half the cement. There goes your sidewalk material into a hole. :^( .Look. Mercer Mess West II will ruin Lower Queen Anne, friends, ...

Posted Thu, Apr 15, 6:29 p.m.

I'm looking at the computer graphic aerial view looking down on the Needle according to the proposed century plan, and it looks far better than the Chiluly concept. Get out your copy and look at it. It'd be a shame to switch from an almost entire tree canopy to a ...

Posted Wed, Apr 14, 10:37 a.m.

The Seattle Waterfront is common public property open to all. Thus, removing the AWV benefits all, not just developers. The little developable property between King and Pike is constrained by the historical nature of the district. Most buildings facing the piers will be preserved, strenthened structurally and given facelifts. Nothing ...

Posted Tue, Apr 13, 7:44 p.m.

Spare us the Palin-esque cheerleading for a deep-bore tunnel as idiotic as the Quitter from Wasilla.

Posted Tue, Apr 13, 12:31 p.m.

A 6-lane 'stacked' cut/cover is possible while leaving the AWV in place and handling traffic, jmrolls. Either a 4-lane or 6-lane cut/cover are applicable with WSDOT's preliminary design work for the south portal. The big boys at the Ranier Club have only one concern: money. Some are betting a deep-bore ...

Posted Tue, Apr 13, 7:15 a.m.

The deep-bore tunnel replacement for the AWV is a horrendous mistake even if completed on time and on budget. Simply put, it won't fulfill the objective of managing traffic. Instead, it redirects 40,000+ Interbay-bound vehicles onto surface streets - Lower Belltown and Alaskan Way with 20+ stoplights causing gridlock there, ...

Posted Wed, Apr 7, 12:11 p.m.

WSDOT is a corrupt organization assembled to serve automobile-related business interests, NOT the public. Corruption at the department heads, incompetence and obeisant servitude required in the lower ranks of WSDOT employees. Seattle's long-standing traffic nightmare is the intended result of WSDOT's agenda to make travel throughout the region impractical or ...

Posted Mon, Apr 5, 11:08 a.m.

Ted, Please do a similarly thought-through treatice on the election that makes for the better or at least more pertinent comparison material, 1994, if you catch my drift. Mayor Mike McGinn will in the future run for Governor and be elected by a wide majority. Tunnelite II.

Posted Thu, Apr 1, 12:30 p.m.

Had me until "The Center's International Fountain will be renovated... and feature effigies of Microsoft's enemies..." Ha Ha! Are Bill and Allen such enemies that Bill wants to squash the EMP?

Posted Mon, Mar 29, 7:03 p.m.

In 60 words, I spelled out 8 key points, 27 words 6 letters or more. Hacknflack made good points but addressed none of mine despite my effort to simplify. Dang. I'm talking architecture. He's talking attraction. He's right, it could be popular. I'm right to argue the total footprint is ...

Posted Mon, Mar 29, 2:14 p.m.

I just want some caring person to consider these points: - Reducing the 'footprint' NOT increasing it. - Building up 3 stories, with a basement. - Locate Gallery on Top floor. 2nd Floor, 1st Floor, Basement, you figure it out. - Build Bubbleator and Standard elevators. - Modernist goes well ...

Posted Sun, Mar 28, 9:06 a.m.

Tunnelite is so far superior over Deep-Bore, Seattle engineers can't see it and won't talk about it? That's amazing. Strongest seawall, least concrete used with more jobs, old traffic pattern is better, even offers a gardened walkway up to Steinbrueck Park, but Seatters want 4-lanes between sidewalks and bikelanes. Are ...

Posted Sat, Mar 27, 9:10 p.m.

Thanks to Seneca who may recognize a fighter in McGinn willing to shake up City Hall from its chummy complacency when they refuse to answer questions the public must know more fully than answers most times, please. Mercer West is becoming Mercer Mess Two. It'll add 20,000+ vehicles to Mercer. ...

Posted Fri, Mar 26, 11:33 a.m.

------------------------------------------------------- --- M I K E M c G I N N F O R G O V E R N O R --- -------------------------------------------------------

Posted Thu, Mar 25, 8:59 p.m.

Brewster. Does McGinn's style really seem 'irreverent' to you? Boyish adolescent behavior? Generational struggle? I sure hope the younger generation wins this one, because there's a pasture to be put out to with your name on it.

Posted Sun, Mar 21, 10:04 p.m.

A great story Ted, your best best shared national. Brought me to tears with an uderlying elation! over past environmental restoration progress made and today's passage of health care reform bill! Good one, Ted, and please forgive my arrogance born of fear that Seattlers don't know they're being had with ...

Posted Sat, Mar 20, 8:06 p.m.

Fruedian Slip. I thought Ted had written: "Old farts never die" Stop the Deep-bore Travesty-Fiasco. The facts are out. Deep-bore fails in literally every regard compared to Tunnelite or no tunnel actually. The Deep-bore street new arrangement for Alaskan Way UP to Elliott/Western nearly doubles the number of stalled vehicles ...

Posted Sat, Mar 20, 12:20 p.m.

It's not an edifice, tonyg, if new building is better than the old one, I say it has to have small footprint and up at least two stories with basement. The Bubbleator is ideal there and public. Put Chiluly on Top Floor with Public Atrium. The men behind the curtain ...

Posted Fri, Mar 19, 10:50 p.m.

OK OK. Install a Big Ride in Seattle Center's new child playground, built into a structure or something. Landscape it. Install some Small Ride in trees and border landscaping. Again, no asphalt there.

Posted Fri, Mar 19, 10:35 p.m.

My earlier points about the Fun House structure containing basic geometric drawbacks that are "extremely uncomplementary" with amphitheater visability on both north/south sides to east. Whatever is built must have a signicantly reduced footprint to reduce Divide between east and west sides. Capiche? - Build a smaller footprint 3-story in ...

Posted Thu, Mar 18, 1:45 p.m.

The footprint of the Fun House building is too large. The roadway between it and Center House is a narrow dead zone. Enlarging the footprint worsens the problem. Visability and access to the amphitheater on the west side should be opened up. The alley way on the south seems like ...

Posted Tue, Mar 16, 10:11 p.m.

Can't argue with Julane's exuberance. Seattle however is no leader whatsoever in transportation planning, not in bicycling, pedestrian, motor vehicles, nor mass transit. Seattle City Hall truly needs the shake up the new mayor is deftly providing. And the high and common Seattler had best learn from it.

Posted Tue, Mar 16, 11:26 a.m.

Pave some specific alleys so they may be hosed down regularly and water drain thoroughly. Pave them ornately, 'shaped' concrete? Sand-blast brick walls to even out the decay and filth. Set up simple, subtle lighting. Highlight doors, windows and architectural elements. Paint. Arrange a trash receptical system that is above ...

Posted Sun, Mar 14, 10:57 a.m.

Edit: The proposed Chiluly Museum would {be} less inspirational than the Fun House it absorbs like an amoeba.

Posted Sun, Mar 14, 10:55 a.m.

The inspirational landmarks at Seattle Center are the Space Needle and the International Fountain. The former can be said to represent technological grandiosity while the latter represents common pleasures of society writ large, by far the more memorable landmark. It's too bad that park attractions generally are dedicated more to ...

Posted Thu, Mar 11, 10:28 a.m.

It doesn't matter how that piece of crap building is dressed up with wings and added rooms, the pedestrian infrastructure surrounding it detract from the park experience. It should be razed. If another building is desired, its footprint should be smaller and less boxy to enable pedestrian flow around it ...

Posted Wed, Mar 10, 12:34 p.m.

My preferrence for a presidential priority is not healthcare reform. Other issues contribute more directly to all rising costs of living, including healthcare. Health insurance, pharmaceutical and medical service industries can and should reform various practices that discriminate based on ability to pay, (your money or your life). But, it ...

Posted Fri, Mar 5, 11:13 a.m.

The building has always been out of character. It looks more like a warehouse than a park attraction. It completely divides east side from west side attractions. It should be demolished. Another building could take its place if designed to enable pedestrian movement on all sides around it; octagonal possibly ...

Posted Wed, Mar 3, 9:53 a.m.

Maybe they could sell it to the Unitarian Church? What I mean is, christian sects have different ideals, odd though that is to consider. Though the new church architectural 'suggestion' is of modernity, the Methodists don't make that case as much as do Universalist Unitarians. The cross (to me) is ...

Posted Tue, Mar 2, 7:05 p.m.

Richard, light rail often requires a reordering of many bus routes. The notion that light rail must reach every important destination at any cost is not entirely correct. When a destination can't be reached and a bypass station sited, a transfer shuttle system can do more than make up for ...

Posted Tue, Mar 2, 11:46 a.m.

The Vision Line station is a good example of why transit systems don't work; not that such stations cannot attract and serve transit users, but that the elementary notion transfers is rarely built into transit systems. No transit system can work without transfers. And, this station must build one. Light ...

Posted Mon, Mar 1, 11:30 a.m.

There is a cultural malaise about Seattle that upsets lots of people, the eventual result being tension, alienation, disdain for others, resentment, rudeness, disorderly conduct, criminality, etc. I blame automobile-related business interests for Seattle's ruinously alienating traffic.

Posted Sun, Feb 28, 8:47 p.m.

"Silverberg tries to make current situation work but there's no prima facie why commuting patterns will be the same in twenty years. If the solution is present-oriented, will it be out of date in 10 years? The point is, planners should be dealing with best Transit-Transport engineering for the next ...

Posted Sun, Feb 28, 8:40 a.m.

Blah blah, Baker, blah-blah blabbety blah... Seattle has a mayor for the century. He's the man of the year. McGinn for Governor!! !! Governor McGinn !! This is my prediction. Statewide support will build for him to run should he so choose in the future. He probably will, expecting to ...

Posted Sat, Feb 27, 3:03 p.m.

McGinn is right to throw an elbow right now. There is no excuse for WSDOT presenting plans with no transit connection at Montlake/UW. It's ridiculous. And 'Rail later' plans have to be 'installed' Now, Not later. I wish you realized how mean-spirited WSDOT treats Seattle. Lower Queen Anne is to ...

Posted Thu, Feb 25, 11:22 a.m.

Yea Mike Yea Mike Yea Mike!! Mr Brewster et al do not understand how light rail changes the paradigm of urban/suburban development. Mr Ballmer wants to maintain Microsoft's shuttle commute system. Maintaining the notion of living far from work via such commute systems inevitably increases long-distance commuting beyond both highway ...

Posted Mon, Feb 22, 12:01 p.m.

Mayor Mike is right to get started on the seawall NOW, not later. Why are seawall reconstruction studies unfinished? Its expedited replacement is critical and begun first in rebuilding Alaskan Way. WSDOT and SDOT have no excuse for the years wasted studying a multitude of AWV SR99 replacement concepts while ...

Posted Thu, Feb 18, 10:34 a.m.

Listen please. Good engineering offers related 'infrustructure' improvement with mega-projects. The Cut/cover rebuilds the seawall at the same time to its fullest possible measure. Throw in most stable Alaskan Way surface as bonus. Bad engineering turns steep 2-lane Mercer Place hill into a thru-corridor for at least 5,000 more cars ...

Posted Wed, Feb 17, 10:30 p.m.

Ken Shear understands future design and see the old paradigm failing, extremely annoying to motorists of yesteryear. Loudquak cries Mike not playing fair, hidden agenda. Real shortcomings of Deep-Bore? Quack won't talk about that. Serial catowner harangs Mike for ineffective leadership after 1 month, nevermind long-range goals that don't happen ...

Posted Sun, Feb 14, 8:18 p.m.

Well, I guess there'll be no takers today. Olympics to watch. Great athlete performance. Get a grip, Seattlers. Your road planner's jobs are on the chopping block. Crunican first to go, nevermind the good work done on show jobs, and more to come. Unacceptable work by WSDOT, year after year. ...

Posted Sun, Feb 14, 6:48 p.m.

No, just investigate WSDOT and their cohorts in SDOT. What does it take to get Seatters to rethink the deep-bore vs cut/cover? Uuh, smart pills? Hey Mike. A free man weighs in. Poor Lower Queen Anne. Maybe 10,000 more cars and trucks a day up steep Mercer Place hill to ...

Posted Sun, Feb 14, 11:01 a.m.

You people don't really want to show your cards. I am sincerely concerned for the good people of Seattle and surrounding cities. Write something or admit you have nothing to say. I'm warning everyone that Washington DOTs are rapidly failing. How can nothing ready to go after 10 freakin years? ...

Posted Sun, Feb 14, 10:58 a.m.

I'm sorry Steve if my 'artisty' words if they have offended regular readers. It's really a great article worth broader publication. You're an accomplished writer. I just wanted to carry forward the literary licence to write creatively. Edit out "Kudso Steve Rocaboogie" I regret only them as 'off character' of ...

Posted Sun, Feb 14, 12:05 a.m.

Somebody should do one of them colorful needle-point 'stitch poems' that you hang on the wall. Title it "What country should we invade next?" followed by "France of course" and some of Steve's logic. Put it in a frame and hang it up in the bathroom. Send a complimentary print ...

Posted Thu, Feb 11, 3:39 p.m.

Bravo, Quinn. I proffered much the same argument to Cary Moon early in the formation of PWC: Regional development would reduce need for cross-city commuting and general travel thus reducing the need for major highway expansion; bringing job closer to home, etc. My position settled on achieving reduction in cross-city ...

Posted Thu, Feb 11, 12:53 p.m.

Newsflash! Charley Royer supports cut-n-cover tunnel option! The comment from 'crossrip' brings up safety concerns about a seawall failure and flooding a deep-bore (or cut-cover) tunnel. It's likely that a new cut-cover would be earthquake and blast proof with walls many feet thick posing little threat to seawall collapse. With ...

Posted Sun, Feb 7, 3:26 p.m.

That Mitch McConnell feller, he bold. His pose looks like one he would'a done 40 years ago if he'd known then that nude centerfold republicans would get elected. He knows why an obelisk gets the women all sweaty.

Posted Sat, Feb 6, 10:20 a.m.

Queen Anne residents should note that the Deep-bore tunnel turns "Mercer West" into a major thru-corridor between the north portal on Aurora and Elliott, adding as many as 10,000+ vehicles daily, including semi's. If Jan's OK with that, she must not live near Mercer. Who knows how this new traffic ...

Posted Fri, Feb 5, 10:29 p.m.

Good grief. The history of the Seattle waterfront, post seawall, is a set of commercial piers that go back to Seattle's founding. Before that, Seattle was a heavily forested hillside at the water's edge. Seattle's waterfront will indefinitely remain a working waterfront with road access for heavy traffic, curbside parking, ...

Posted Fri, Feb 5, 10:17 p.m.

Air travel is like contemplating one's navel. Do we become who we are by trying to find ourselves somewhere else? No matter where you go, there you are. Etc. Very astute observations, Mr Robinson.

Posted Thu, Feb 4, 11:02 a.m.

I'm sorry about going overboard with my Sculpture Park critique. The point could've been made less crudely. Basicly, the attraction to highlight is the view, not surrealistic, 'manmade' sculpture. I'd rather the park surface were planted with trees and shrubbery, with lots more seating. Use landscaping to obscure the sculpture ...

Posted Wed, Feb 3, 10:42 p.m.

Sculpture Park is idiotic. The best view of Puget Sound wasted on egocentric sculpture. "Oh, a giant traffic cone. How clever! Oh, a metal tree! Oh, a flourescent orange and stylized container crane, dubbed An Eagle. Oh, a land-scarring plow, dubbed A Wave." Who cares about the sight of the ...

Posted Wed, Feb 3, 11:35 a.m.

"The hype and hip-factor surrounding Portland are mostly manmade, not the consequence of dramatic surroundings." Au contrare. I think of Portland as "womanmade". By that rationale, Portland is built closer to nature with more parks, street trees, and restored natural settings than Seattle whose built environment is more "manmade", having ...

Posted Tue, Feb 2, 10:50 p.m.

And people think my advocacy for 'Tunnelite' is a hair-brained idea. At least a cut/cover tunnel makes for the strongest seawall and most stable Alaskan Way, less expensive to build than the Deep-bore, creates more construction jobs, handles traffic way better. Wake up! It's one thing for the illuminati to ...

Posted Tue, Feb 2, 1:23 p.m.

Jordan Royer's claim, "The $3 billion budgeted by the state for the tunnel 'bypass' (AKA deep bore tunnel) ensures congestion will not choke our waterfront and hurt businesses" is false. The Deep bore tunnel does not accommodate 40,000 daily Interbay and Ballard-bound vehicles which will be displaced onto the new ...

Posted Sun, Jan 31, 9:32 p.m.

Correction: President Obama (I believe) is correct when he refers to his efforts as (rough quote) "meant to fix a small part of a larger problem." More than anything else, what (the larger problem) is driving our costs of living up? (pun intended)

Posted Sun, Jan 31, 9:28 p.m.

Like the spiraling cost of health care and health care insurance, reckless financial speculation is indicative of a larger problem. President Obama is correct when he refers to his efforts as More than anything else, what is driving our costs of living up? (pun intended) The link below is to ...

Posted Mon, Jan 25, 10:07 p.m.

C'mon Catowner. It's a working waterfront, not Disneyland. Mike has a successful record on environmental issues - parks, sidewalks, light rail, Sierra Club. Geez. The Deep-bore tunnel will dump tons of traffic onto the new Alaskan Way and Mercer Street. Its engineering is terrible in every way including environmental impact. ...

Posted Mon, Jan 25, 9:31 p.m.

http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=2011007 The link is to Seattle Channel coverage of Monday’s City Council Briefing. It’s 65 minutes. Mayor McGinn lays out his case for quick action on the Seawall and answers questions from the Council. I wouldn’t say the Council is overly skeptical of McGinn’s motives. If you ask me, the ...

Posted Sat, Jan 23, 7:30 p.m.

WSDOT's code for 'construction impacts' is 'inconvenience to motorists'. I won't disagree that 6th is the better choice in that regard, but the bigger problem remains: the Deep-bore worsens traffic on Mercer and on the new Alaskan Way, and thru-traffic is inconvenienced. The Deep-bore inconveniences motorists indefinitely. Thru-traffic that once ...

Posted Fri, Jan 22, 6:03 p.m.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/83C1AAF1-67DB-49A1-95E5-6AE65F1DF87C/0/North_Portal_Proposed_Design_11_30_09.pdf Here's a link to WSDOT's latest revised Deep-bore north portal design, mhays. You figure out why they moved the portal to 6th Ave.

Posted Fri, Jan 22, 4:47 p.m.

R on Beacon Hill, The existing Alaskan Way layout has a frontage road/parking lot which allows side traffic to avoid Alaskan Way. Without the frontage road, there must be stoplights at every intersection. Early WSDOT designs (pre-Crunican) included a frontage road which allows at least 3 of the 13 stoplights ...

Posted Fri, Jan 22, 12:38 p.m.

mhays, WSDOT Scenarios 'B' and 'C' surface boulevards show stoplights at Pike and Union. The Deep-bore increases traffic on Alaskan Way by about 40,000 vehicles daily or 2500 per hour, give or take depending on time of day. That's a lot of traffic running 13 closely-spaced stoplights with side traffic. ...

Posted Thu, Jan 21, 10:44 p.m.

mhays, listen: All streets from Pike to King 'intersect' Alaskan Way. This side street traffic may not 'cross' Alaskan Way, but it must 'access' Alaskan Way in both directions. Duh. Some stoplight synchronization will occur, but not perfectly as you imagine. Imagine bumper-to-bumper gridlock. Imagine motorists looking to park and ...

Posted Thu, Jan 21, 1:21 p.m.

The problem with the proposed stoplights on the new Alaskan Way, mhays, is their number: every intersection between Pike and King, 13 stoplights there and 4 stoplight intersections in Lower Belltown and 4 or 5 stoplights south of King Street. Cross traffic from Western Ave and Coleman Dock adds to ...

Posted Thu, Jan 21, 11:50 a.m.

Why did WSDOT continue to study 'Tunnelite' a year and a half after its rejection by voters in March 2007, producing Scenario 'G' 4-lane Cut-n-cover in late 2008? Does WSDOT believe it's a viable tunnel option? If not, why waste time and money in the study? WSDOT and SDOT have ...

Posted Wed, Jan 20, 11:38 a.m.

Correction: WSDOT Scenarios for a surface boulevard have a stoplight intersection at Lenora. Sorry. I still believe Scenario 'G' 4-lane cut/cover tunnel is possible and the better tunnel option. It would be lower in elevation with no stoplights. Thus, a pedestrian bridge over it leading to the Lenora elevator (raised) ...

Posted Tue, Jan 19, 10:56 a.m.

The new road, with heavy traffic, will be boxed-in between stark condo backsides and a parking garage. Sidewalks could run between the Lenora elevator and Elliott. That elevator may need to be raised another level or two for a pedestrian bridge over the roadway. South of Lenora, sidewalks at road ...

Posted Mon, Jan 18, 3:55 p.m.

mhays. Walking south from Elliott at Blanchard, both sidewalks will be 'boxed-in' with the backside of the waterfront condos and the parking garage below Steinbrueck Park, and there'll be a lot of traffic. An east-side sidewalk should go to Steinbrueck Park. You think people would rather walk alongside lower levels ...

Posted Mon, Jan 18, 10:50 a.m.

That's another thing about SR99 west of Steinbrueck. It's coming down, no doubt about it. he overhead in Lower Belltown and the on/off ramps are coming down and will be replaced with a 'lower' version of the same road. WSDOT renderings show a sidewalk on both sides of the new ...

Posted Sat, Jan 16, 11:41 a.m.

I believe 'everyone' has the right to enjoy Steinbrueck Park, mhays. More people could use it with a remodel. When crossing Western toward the park, pedestrians can be intimidated by seated carrousers. It would be better if the crosswalk led directly into a wide open plaza with scattered and portable ...

Posted Sat, Jan 16, 11:11 a.m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hos_uIKwC-c This video should be included in the discussion. McGinn is right. The City Council had best not get their knickers in a bunch over this.

Posted Fri, Jan 15, 1:27 p.m.

I like Mike. He da man.

Posted Thu, Jan 14, 1:57 p.m.

I doubt Pike Place Market will ever be demolished. The argument that newcomers won't support its preservation because they have no 'old time' memories is silly. The market will always be memorable. There is one area that could be ruined by development and should be a part of this discussion: ...

Posted Wed, Jan 13, 11:52 a.m.

Van Dyk contorts, "Big capital projects should be put on hold. That would mean moving forward with both the deep-bore tunnel." THE TOUGH QUESTIONS: 1). Will the Deep-bore be too close to Seattle towers and historic buildings to risk collapse in an earthquake or terrorist truck bomb? 2). Will the ...

Posted Fri, Jan 8, 11:57 a.m.

Few things could serve Seattle better than replacing Grace Crunican. Her record as chief of Oregon DOT included her curt dismissal of pedestrian/bicycling concerns regarding the Ross Island Bridge rebuild project. She refused to follow ADA and State guidelines. Shortly after its completion she resigned amidst public outcry. The bridge ...

Posted Mon, Jan 4, 11:24 a.m.

Just one question regarding timber and housing: Would REIT status enable tract and McMansion housing on Wayerhouser lands? I'm not against sustainable and regulated timber harvest for frame housing. However, Washington State seems to put a premium on hillside development which comes with paved roads which incur runoff-related problems, and ...

Posted Wed, Dec 30, 10:18 p.m.

Let's hope Cary Moon is still around making waves long after Jan has found something else to do. Cary's perspective on reducing traffic is wise. Jan's perspective on transportation system planning is dangerously obsolete. You go, Cary.

Posted Mon, Dec 28, 12:08 p.m.

Thanks to Cary for summing things up in plain english. Mayor McGinn has his work cut out for him and as candidate demonstrated excellent leadership skills. However, I must point out one shortcoming: The public must receive more information about the severe impacts of the Deep-bore 'north portal' and 'Mercer ...

Posted Tue, Dec 22, 12:24 p.m.

Just a note in defense of the Occidental Park remodel. The old faux granite pavers were terrible, best forgotten, mistake not repeated. Enough London plane trees were preserved to improve park design. The original design of symetric order was too much like a tree farm. I'm skeptical of locating the ...

Posted Mon, Dec 21, 1:32 p.m.

I'd say Pioneer District's #1 flaw is its transportation system (traffic, mass transit, sidewalks). The sidewalks are in a dismal state of disrepair and disfunction. They're broken, patched, misshapen, filthy, neglected and under-appreciated for their potential to be anything but ugly. They're not 'edgy'. This edginess, if you want to ...

Posted Thu, Dec 17, 10:23 a.m.

Actually Sean, the only access important to maintain is Elliott/Western, not Columbia and Seneca ramps. 1st Ave already has too much traffic, and more important, the downtown east/west streets leading to those ramps are dangerously steep, therefore, not replacing them decreases that east/west traffic pattern. Western/Elliott on the other hand ...

Posted Wed, Dec 16, 2:37 p.m.

The problem with the giant 54' diameter Deep-bore's circular form is its many hundreds of segments, each a weak point. And a collapse could be catastrophic.

Posted Tue, Dec 15, 1:37 p.m.

A segmented bore tunnel is weak at every joint and is thus less stable in an earthquake than a ‘box’ cut/cover tunnel. Picture the GIANT 54foot diameter deep-bore tunnel in terms of its segmented design. Each (say 10foot) segment is further segmented in curved concrete pieces that fitted together form ...

Posted Tue, Dec 15, 12:42 p.m.

The Deep-bore tunnel is a terrible mistake. The better tunnel option is WSDOT’s 2008 Scenario ‘G’ 4-lane Cut-n-cover for these critically important reasons: - accommodates regional traffic much better - produces the strongest seawall and most stable Alaskan Way road and plaza - significantly reduces traffic on Alaskan Way (and ...

Posted Fri, Dec 4, 2:03 p.m.

Grace Crunican came to Seattle after 'suddenly' leaving her position as ODOT chief. The reason she resigned was most likely her contemptable disregard for pedestrian and bicylist infrastructure in Portland's Ross Island Bridge surface rebuild project. Pedestrian advocates pled for widening the single 5' sidewalk on the bridge's north side. ...

Posted Fri, Dec 4, 11:55 a.m.

Crunican should be measured by her performance which I consider poor. She may talk the talk, but she does not walk it. I met with Cary Moon a year or so after the Nisqually quake to explain my analysis of the surface/transit option for Alaskan Way - possible only if ...

Posted Sat, Nov 28, 10:37 a.m.

We all mature 'individually', but always within the context of an 'inter-dependent' society made up of varied community organizations, institutions, professions, trade groups, etc which provide for or serve everyone's basic needs in systems of cooperative exchange. While Rightwing ideology epitomizes 'individualism' as the be all end all, Leftwing ideologists ...

Posted Mon, Nov 23, 10:03 a.m.

If Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein actually said the firm is “doing God’s work”, I'd like to read something about his rationale.

Posted Fri, Nov 20, 12:13 p.m.

SDOT is utterly corrupt at the top, purposefully acting against the interests of Seattlers, for automobile-related business interests who derive income from automobile-dependency. Grace Crunican should be fired and given an unfavorable reference for her terrible record. She should NOT work in any department of transportation anywhere ever again. There ...

Posted Mon, Nov 16, 9:56 a.m.

Election 2010 - The rise of the Limbaugh Lamebrains

Posted Fri, Nov 13, 5:54 p.m.

Has Lou Dobbs found he has an ounce of sense left and taken indefinite leave from others like him, loudmouth inciteful hate-directing gas bags who hate Fairness Doctrine? Just try not to make things worse, Lou, OK? Don't invest in crap.

Posted Wed, Nov 11, 11:38 a.m.

Each point is good advice. Learn in the transition process. Lester Brown and the Union of Concerned Scientists say hello.

Posted Sun, Nov 8, 12:49 p.m.

McGinn is definitely a change agent. Enough voters are absolutely demanding change toward transparent and accountable handling of transportation mega-projects. Hutchison would have been a radical change not aligned with reforms voters demand. Despite public process, voters feel decisions are made that disregard public concerns. I believe McGinn is more ...

Posted Fri, Nov 6, 10:04 a.m.

Well, I think the subconscious message independent voters are sending is an alarm signalling the chaotic meltdown of the republican party further boiling over its noxious brew of religious fanaticism and hysterical anti-government nonsense. Terribly messy and disgraceful, but what fun to watch, summed up by this one-liner joke: Sarah ...

Posted Tue, Nov 3, 11:11 a.m.

Jesus came back in 1993. You didn't know that? Yeah, 'both' of the then living true believers were caught up to meet him in the air. There are a lot of self-proclaimed christians who think they're sheep, but act like goats.

Posted Fri, Oct 30, 2:11 p.m.

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/MercerCorridorProgramOct2008.pdf I can't believe SDOT is honestly considering turning Mercer into a freight corridor through Lower Queen Anne. Mercer Way off Elliott is 2-lane high-density residential street with barely room for sidewalks. Mercer through Lower Queen Anne should not be turned into a thru-corridor. City Hall is keeping this one ...

Posted Wed, Oct 28, 5:37 p.m.

Geez. There are more construction jobs possible with the 4-lane cut-n-cover than the Deep-bore. The 4-lane cut-n-cover also costs less, handles traffic better to produce a less traffic-choked Alaskan Way Promenade and a saner Mercer. Wow! What the hell? What the frickin hell! Morons. You guys smoke too much pot. ...

Posted Wed, Oct 28, 11:46 a.m.

Transportation planning still leads as a determining factor in the mayoral pick. I regretfully conclude that SDOT and WsDOT are so incompetent, corruption cannot be ruled out. WsDOT negligently took too many years to formulate a viable AWV replacement and their "final offer" of the Deep-bore still appears to be ...

Posted Wed, Oct 28, 11:10 a.m.

Establishment endorsement of whatsisname is a kiss of death. Vote for the other guy. Wait, could the endorsement be reverse psychology?

Posted Tue, Oct 27, 11:17 a.m.

I wonder which tunnel technology, 'box' cut-n-cover or Deep-bore, is better designed to withstand earthquake forces? The Deep-bore is a 54' diameter 'segmented' tube with interior bracing for a 2-level 4-lane highway with straight walls and ceiling. Will Deep-bore 'segments' separate under intense pressure? The Cut-n-cover is a 1-level divided ...

Posted Tue, Oct 27, 11:02 a.m.

The question to ask is which viaduct replacement option eliminates the threat of catastrophic collapse soonest. The answer there is the Surface/I-5/Transit option. Advantage: Mike McGinn. Which tunnel option, Deep-bore or 4-lane cut-n-cover, reduces the threat sooner? The critical factor is the Seawall. The cut-n-cover is a slow-progressing construction process ...

Posted Thu, Oct 22, 3:16 p.m.

"A McGinn mayoralty would present unacceptable risk." Nonsense! McGinn's opposition to the Deep-bore tunnel is based upon a comprehensive perspective of the dire situation the City of Seattle faces with traffic and related environmental impact, land-use and development, its economy and finances. The real risk is building the Deep-bore as ...

Posted Tue, Oct 20, 11:14 p.m.

The Deep-bore tunnel is neither the best tunnel option nor the 'ideal' replacement for the AWV. The best tunnel option is WsDOT's Scenario 'G' 4-lane Cut-n-cover, designed after the March 2007 voter rejection presumably to reduce construction disruption, and best because it maintains critically important Elliott/Western access. The ideal solution ...

Posted Tue, Oct 20, 10:07 p.m.

"Survival of the un-fittest. Instead of approving the best projects, officials end up funding those that look best on paper." U-Link looks good on paper. The truth is, its predicted ridership is based mostly on bus riders becoming rail riders. Deep-bore looks good on paper, less disruption to waterfront district ...

Posted Tue, Oct 20, 12:03 p.m.

"Danish researcher Flyvbjerg calls the result 'survival of the un-fittest'. Instead of approving the best projects, officials end up funding those that look best on paper." That quote sums up the Deep-bore. It's not the best tunnel, nor the ideal solution. The best tunnel is WsDOT's Scenario 'G' 4-lane Cut-n-cover ...

Posted Fri, Oct 16, 12:26 p.m.

Well, gee wiz. My previous comment is too complicated? Too unconventional? Too radical? Challenges too many assumptions? Went completely over your heads? I was hoping it would be an Editors Pick. It's simple economics that completely disrupts the contemporary understanding of globalization. Look at it another way: New Urbanism also ...

Posted Thu, Oct 15, 2:03 p.m.

An arguably fatal flaw in Bruce Katz reasoning is his 'leap' from regional economics to global economics. This bypasses and subordinates state and national economies. In addition, regional economics as well are not improved by a focus on global exports. One way to consider economics is by their scale, which ...

Posted Wed, Oct 14, 11:11 a.m.

Because Reverend Robinson's article began with a condescending air toward the supposedly inexperienced mayoral candidates and the uninformed voting public, it could go little further and indeed ended with more of the same. Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden for eating of the tree of knowledge, the ...

Posted Fri, Oct 9, 12:41 p.m.

David, The rot beneath the viaduct is the mirror image of the rot at SDOT and WsDOT. Six years after the Nisqually, WsDOT good-ol-boys put before voters their original wet dream, a 6-lane elevated monstrosity to inflict upon uppity Seattlers and cash cow car buyers milked too long. WsDOT's early ...

Posted Fri, Oct 9, 12:09 p.m.

The infamous Seattle 'Process' or 'Way' is surely a sign of insiders dividing the spoils. The public never gets a full airing of pertinent details in public works projects and this sets up contention and discontent, whereby the insiders stand back and watch speculative charges fly and controversy boil. Mass ...

Posted Tue, Oct 6, 8:18 p.m.

In the long run, the Deep-bore disrupts more. It puts Interbay-bound traffic onto the new Alaskan Way. Today, that's about 40,000 vehicles daily or 2500 per hour. That's a lot of disruption. Some of it will be diverted via Mercer through Lower Queen Anne to the Deep-bore portal on Aurora. ...

Posted Sun, Oct 4, 10:52 a.m.

Seattle's economics, TM Sell, are based upon long-distance travel within the region and long-distance transport around the world. If your understanding of economics downplays the folly of this reality, you have no solutions to offer. Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

Posted Fri, Oct 2, 1:32 p.m.

Jane Jacobs would not support the Deep-bore. She'd look at the rush hour commute, trace it back to where those commuters live and conclude they'd be better off working closer to home. To do this, Jane Jacobs would put up a road block with the surface boulevard option. A lot ...

Posted Tue, Sep 29, 6:18 p.m.

In 1995, an early "The Commons" proposal put Mercer below grade and capped between Fairview and 9th leading to Broad Street Tunnel. That design was scrapped. A Fairview (Place) was cut diagonally straight through to the intersection of Harrison and Terry. Every block was cleared from the lakefront to Harrison ...

Posted Tue, Sep 29, 11:06 a.m.

jmrolls, I'm not suggesting cars be eliminated, but a good case can be made that they amount to a "constitutional inequity". No matter how road infrastructure is funded (taxation), motor vehicles impose upon other modes of travel a severe impediment. Thus, gas taxes should be legislated to fund pedestrian/bicycling/mass transit ...

Posted Mon, Sep 28, 5:30 p.m.

Mudbaby. Portland's aerial tram was mired in controversy when it's projected price increased from roughly $15 to $57 million mostly due to OHSU's plans for developing the upper terminus. OHSU covered most of the additional cost, but this didn't stop complaints about the project cost overrun. There were also complaints ...

Posted Sun, Sep 27, 9:07 p.m.

One look at a Metro map tells me the whole system is loaded with inefficiences as well as unintelligible and duplicative route arrangements. Take a lesson from light rail system design. Light rail lines run one simple route with bus connections routed simply to logically located light rail stations. Bus ...

Posted Sun, Sep 27, 11:48 a.m.

Rush Limbaugh, Jabba the Hut of talk radio, lies, misleads, misinforms and otherwise deceives listeners repeatedly, and denigrates all those who hold opinions contrary to his own supposedly conservative views on every show. How can he and others of his ilk get away with the deceit and worse malevolent, rabble-rousing, ...

Posted Sat, Sep 26, 10:04 p.m.

The high-speed rail line I'd like to see is a variation of Amtrak's Pioneer. Instead of running Seattle-Portland-Boise-SLC-Denver, I'd run it Portland-boise-SLC-Las Vegas-Los Angeles. Amtrak Cascades makes a suitable connection from Portland to Seattle. The Los Angeles-Las Vegas segment is proposed for high-speed line. Just continue north from there past ...

Posted Sat, Sep 26, 9:50 p.m.

To me, the hole in Ed Glaeser's reasoning is that he's not making the distiction about what role high-speed rail plays in the larger transportation system. I won't disagree that all large metropolitan areas have worse traffic problems that a high-speed rail line cannot solve. The question to answer is ...

Posted Sat, Sep 26, 5:03 p.m.

The Deep-bore is NOT the best tunnel option, but the Ranier Club boys have decided it's the one they want because it'll cause the least inconvenience with its construction. The 4-lane Cut-n-cover does a far better job managaing traffic, costs less, and creates more jobs. It's kind of like California's ...

Posted Fri, Sep 25, 10:37 p.m.

Correction: "The trench is dug in 2-block segments, traffic diverted around the trench under the AWV..." I'm talking about 'normal' Alaskan Way traffic here, not SR-99 traffic which I contend remains in place up until rebuilding the Lower Belltown segment.

Posted Fri, Sep 25, 10:31 p.m.

Loudquack. I appreciate your measured response. Let me repeat myself to show where our positions differ. Everyone wants the best AWV replacement possible, excluding another hideous elevated. "The traffic diverted may use Alaskan Way, or it may tke the street exit to 4th and filter into the city that way." ...

Posted Fri, Sep 25, 1:16 p.m.

Mr Robinson. I support Mike McGinn largely because my analysis of Seattle's transportation planning over the last decade leads me to conclude the old crew must be replaced. The Deep-bore has two 'fatal flaws' centered around its lack of access at Western/Elliott: 40% of current AWV traffic using that access ...

Posted Wed, Sep 23, 11:27 a.m.

The notion of widening Mercer to 6-lanes all the way to Elliott (with some redirection other than Mercer Place) to become a freight corridor is monstrous. It's the outcome of the Deep-bore AWV replacement tunnel's lack of access at Western/Elliott. I've been saying for nearly two years that cutting off ...

Posted Tue, Sep 22, 1:18 p.m.

http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/images/Mercer%20Corrid This link is to SDOT's latest detailed drawing of the project Dexter to I-5, Mercer to Aloha. It accurately depicts traffic lanes, sidewalks, curb extensions, etc. The drawing shows traffic light signalized intersections (with left-turn signals) on Fairview, Westlake and 9th. Boren and Terry are signalized intersections 'without' left-turn ...

Posted Tue, Sep 22, 12:30 p.m.

http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/images/Mercer%20Corrid This link goes to SDOT's latest, detailed drawing of the project Dexter to I-5, Mercer to Aloha. It accurately depicts traffic lanes, sidewalks, curb extensions. The drawing depicts light signal intersections (with signalized Left-turns) on Fairview, Westlake and 9th. Boren and Terry are signal intersections 'without' Left turn signals. ...

Posted Mon, Sep 21, 8:45 p.m.

Reno 911 may be in the running for the title of funniest show in TV history, but the Keystone Cops song and dance on Link LRT is less a laughing matter. Sound Transit drew the line on where fare evasion would not be tolerated in the DSTT. It's another of ...

Posted Mon, Sep 21, 10:58 a.m.

Now I see why Crunican was given the job at SDOT - as a saleswoman. She doesn't go into the gritty details and only presents this project as all flowers and light, all a pretty picture of a wonderful transformation. The study finding that suggests reducing Mercer from 4- to ...

Posted Sun, Sep 20, 10:52 a.m.

Joe Mallahan is the heir apparent at a time when a clean sweep of City Hall, especially SDOT, is needed. I have to agree that McGinn's proposal for light rail to the areas of town affected by a decommissioned SR-99 AWV makes sense. Sound Transit has also considered light rail ...

Posted Sat, Sep 19, 1:14 a.m.

Dollar for dollar, the top priority light rail extension should be to Federal Way, followed by a spur to Southcenter, then the I-90 Bellevue line. These are regional extensions that will do the most to reduce rush hour traffic congestion and direct the most development to further reduce the need ...

Posted Fri, Sep 18, 11:47 p.m.

Just stop with the "fresh-at-this" condescension. And what is this "Good ship Nickels" nonsense? Cigar boat more like. Sound Transit has considered light rail to these neighborhoods, so McGinn isn't out of line. Monorail is more appropriate, run along the Waterfront. SMP seemingly rigged the studies to produce a route ...

Posted Fri, Sep 18, 9:17 a.m.

I don't like the Amazon building much. Buildings that border bodies of water should not block views from buildings further away. The Amazon building is ego-centric and inconsiderate by design. I wonder does it reflect the personal character of Amazon directors? Ahh, Amazon painted a huge sign, like 6 billboards ...

Posted Sun, Sep 13, 12:01 p.m.

Mr Baker, your understanding of mass transit design is at least 6 decades obsolete, and you're still trying to make it work. It hasn't worked. It won't work. My inner-city monorail proposal is high-capacity rapid transit where it's needed most, the central city, where hilly topography makes its low-impact single-track ...

Posted Sun, Sep 13, 11:43 a.m.

McGinn takes the more comprehensive perspective on transportation and urban planning. Sometimes, that means he'll take the risk of telling people truths they find hard to accept. Mayor Nickels kept pertinent information from the public and stepped aside as controversy and bitter opposition from all sides ensued. The SDOT projects ...

Posted Thu, Sep 10, 7:03 p.m.

Not even close, allieger. Mercer West still looks plenty questionable, as does Mercer East. Thanks for trying though. It makes sense that an SDOT employee can't explain things and answer questions. John Fox's article states Roy is to become an underpass. You say Mercer is to become a 6-lane underpass. ...

Posted Thu, Sep 10, 5:20 p.m.

From WsDOT website drawings, the intersection of Roy/Aurora looks more like a 'roundabout' than Roy becoming an underpass. As for cutting Aurora beneath Thomas, Harrison and John Streets, this is more to reconnect the grid and influence development than traffic management. The 1st phase directs westbound traffic onto Broad, which ...

Posted Thu, Sep 10, 11:32 a.m.

An interesting thing about The Commons proposal was that it put Mercer below grade and capped between Boren and 9th where it connected to the Broad Street tunnel. I'm not saying The Commons was the best land-use for the area, but a street grid could've been laid out, Valley Street ...

Posted Wed, Sep 9, 10:15 a.m.

Hey, I must've been channelling Yoda -- "The turn could to 4th be.."

Posted Wed, Sep 9, 10:14 a.m.

Large transit systems cannot work optimally without transfers. Snap. The designs for Seattle Center were approved by egocentric elitists who are more interested in form than function. Most of all, these elitists cater to automobile-related business interests and the sacred cash cow of the 20th Century, vast herds of rotting ...

Posted Tue, Sep 8, 7:50 p.m.

Hacknflack. I chose 4th Ave rather than 2nd Ave because the loop could return from the Arenas along the Waterfront, and/or, go up Marion/Jefferson to First Hill and return on Broadway, Pine and Olive Way. The 4th Ave route allows for more transit coverage of downtown. 4th Ave has more ...

Posted Tue, Sep 8, 7:26 p.m.

The candidates should put the Seattle Center Master Plan into action by shelving it. Put the Memorial Stadium portion on hold. The Center House rebuild is preposterous. Concentrate on the low-cost Fun Center areas and a new video games hall.

Posted Tue, Sep 8, 3:41 p.m.

Mr Baker, the electric car paired with rooftop solar photovoltiac panels is the right direction. But cars alone, electric or otherwise, are a severe impediment to walking, bicyling and mass transit, which are more energy efficient than even an electric car, and more fundamental to local economies. Having an electric ...

Posted Tue, Sep 8, 10:19 a.m.

Seattle City Council is unduly influenced by Seattle's elite with the finest PR lobbiest offer and public money buy. As I said, the first and most expensive alteration to Seattle Center is the 'vast' parking garage; nothing to improve transit access. Is City Council clueless or working for powerful interests ...

Posted Mon, Sep 7, 8:44 p.m.

President Obama is still our agent of change. Republican and supposedly independent Libertarian Parties have nothing to offer but more of the same old tried and found lacking ways of the past. Change don't come easy. It's sure is fun watching conservative leaders go into freakazoid meltdown.

Posted Mon, Sep 7, 8:05 p.m.

Routing a single-track monorail (ala the example above) under the Thomas roadway, 'connects' the amusement ride areas so they're no longer 'divided' by the existing monorail station. New stations would operate like standard mass transit. Instead of reversing train direction, they come to a stop and leave within 30 seconds, ...

Posted Mon, Sep 7, 12:02 p.m.

I've come to some conclusions about the differences between McGinn's and Mallahan's perspectives on these big transportation projects. Mallahan is more closely aligned with WsDOT and SDOT 'ideology' or whatever passes for principles which 'suggest' bigger is better. The Deep-bore 'seems' to have more capacity, and, the Mercer rebuild 'seems' ...

Posted Mon, Sep 7, 11:18 a.m.

Seattle Center needs some serious upgrading. The carnival ride areas are chintzy; the carousel and other rides are 'plopped' down on the asphalt with little thought given to landscape placement, seating, shelter from weather, etc. The squat building that houses video games and such should be removed and replaced with ...

Posted Sat, Sep 5, 8:47 p.m.

Bicyclists should be concerned about the new Alaskan Way designs. Wait, more than concerned -- the number of traffic lanes (will it be 4 or 6?) and painted bike lanes should be regarded with suspicion. I liked the early design for a 2-lane frontage road on the east side with ...

Posted Thu, Sep 3, 11:05 a.m.

The Mercer Street project is associated with the AWV replacement and both major projects are complicated with cost overruns and design inadequacies. No matter how disappointing the lengthy planning process may be, these projects must be designed to the highest standards and result in the best predictable outcome. The process ...

Posted Tue, Sep 1, 12:47 a.m.

Seattle had better recalibrate its compass today as it hopes to steer a course into the future where it can look back upon a legacy Mayor Nickels leaves behind with admiration. Mayor Nickels' prominent historical legacies are (and will be) Link light rail, streetcar lines, and the AWV replacement. These ...

Posted Fri, Aug 28, 9:22 p.m.

Isaquah Highlands is a travesty. Its proponents may call it high-density, but it affords only one mode of access - automobile. It's high hillside setting completely discourages walking and bicycling. Mass transit? Forget it. It's all housing. The State of Washington encourages real estate development high on hillsides. It's just ...

Posted Fri, Aug 28, 10:27 a.m.

Rednecker has been told by his 'authority sources' that planners intend to move everyone into urban centers like NYC and San Francisco. He's told his choice is being removed. Rather, he's being offered more choice, not less. Rednecker should learn how he and like-minded conservatives/libertarians are being lied to by ...

Posted Thu, Aug 27, 7:14 p.m.

Here are a few of my dusty complaints about Seattle's regional planningk. The Southcenter District should NOT have been bypassed by Link LRT. There were a few route options through the district, but discarded by PSRC, ST and other agencies, some "boasting" about saving a whopping 3 minutes travel time ...

Posted Thu, Aug 27, 10:42 a.m.

Thanks, bjohn. I've become a frustrated wreck trying to explain principles of New Urbanism and its next step, Regionalism. The mixed-use 'balance' of elements that make an NU district economically diverse apply differently 'between' the many districts within metropolitan areas per Regionalism. Light rail system examples, I believe, are the ...

Posted Wed, Aug 26, 5:12 p.m.

The term 'density' really doesn't make a useful tool for measuring urban/suburban development. It's like the debate over global warming - it's useless, because the pertinent debate on that issue is what to do about it. The longer we debate whether global warming should be addressed, the longer we delay ...

Posted Wed, Aug 26, 1:05 p.m.

My impression of Hizzoner was first built upon an encounter at a conference in San Francisco December 2001. I happened to sit two empty seats on the same aisle away from him. At this time, he was mayor incognito awaiting is first days in office. At the plenary end, he ...

Posted Tue, Aug 25, 11:06 a.m.

When digging a hole in the ground and suddenly realizing you're unable to climb out, the first thing to do is stop digging. Grand monuments to industry and history -- sports arenas, towering skyscrapers, luxury air travel -- serve upper-class whims while leaving the basic needs of most people unfilled. ...

Posted Fri, Aug 21, 11:36 p.m.

Mudbaby & jmrolls, The Deep-bore isn't the best tunnel option because it directs too much traffic onto the new Alaskan Way -- 40,000 daily or 2500 per hour (plus or minus depending on the time of day) which now access SR-99 at Elliott and Western. Don't forget the 13 sidestreets ...

Posted Wed, Aug 19, 10:11 a.m.

The reason Nickels was selected to lead the nation in 'green' stuff, is because the nation's real leader, Portland wasn't in the running because its Mayor Tom Potter was beginning to sour on the job and wasn't interested. The next closest choice (in proximity only) was Seattle, though as Portland's ...

Posted Tue, Aug 18, 2:55 p.m.

Health care/insurance reform does not top the list of issues I feel must be addressed in order to ultimately make health care affordable and available for those who can least afford it. For example: US auto industry leaders may list health care costs as a principle reason for their current ...

Posted Wed, Aug 5, 10:37 p.m.

"...city government badly in need of shaking up... need independent new leadership..." Joe Mallahan was not being independent when he decided to NOT 'shake up' the systems' decision to go with the Deep-bore tunnel. "...in the current environment, our public budgets are overstretched." The Deep-bore tunnel is far from the ...

Posted Mon, Aug 3, 7:54 p.m.

Because the Deep-bore doesn't provide access to Ballard-bound traffic, about 40,000 vehicles daily or 2500 per hour are directed onto the new Alaskan Way with 15-20 stoplights. What's so frickin hard to understand? Only an idiot will accept the Deep-bore as an environmentally sound solution. The "4-lane" Cut-n-Cover proposal that ...

Posted Mon, Aug 3, 9:37 a.m.

Thanks for the feedback,jm. One determining outcome of the vote was the percentage of NO votes against the tunnel - about 70% compared to about 56% opposing the elevated replacement. More people opposed 'primarily' the disruption of normal traffic flow on SR-99 AWV and 'secondarily' opposed the disruption of Waterfront ...

Posted Sun, Aug 2, 12:26 p.m.

The best thing to come from the March 2007 voter rejection of both AWV replacement options then on the table -- a 6-lane elevated replacement monstrosity and 6-lane Cut-n-Cover tunnel construction mess -- was forcing WsDOT and SDOT honchos to use a comprehensive approach that included transit, land-use and development, ...

Posted Thu, Jul 23, 7:40 p.m.

Legitamate reasons all, but corruption within automobile-related business interests is probably the #1 reason light rail took so long to return to Seattle and did so with a woefully underperforming initial line and expansion plans that don't seem to be appropriate improvements. Southcenter should not have been left off the ...

Posted Wed, Jul 22, 7:57 p.m.

If Seattlers were realistic leaders toward a visionary future, they would recognize that inner-city Seattle is only the central hub of a growing metropolitan area whose traffic miasma is due to a lack of sensible planning far outside central city. Light rail offers obvious and invaluable lessons for guiding regional ...

Posted Tue, Jun 23, 11:29 a.m.

My first personal impression of Greg Nickels came in a December 2001 conference in San Francisco, where I happened to sit 3 empty seats away from him on the same row listening to someone talk about how that city's Embarcadero Freeway was dismantled after earthquake damage. At the question period, ...

Posted Sat, Jun 13, 8:17 p.m.

Just say NO to the Deep-bore Tunnel. Here's why: Without access to Ballard-bound traffic, it puts about 40,000 vehicles daily onto the new Alaskan Way. That's about 2500 "per hour" bumper-to-bumber through the 15-20 stoplights. This amount of traffic is too much for even the 6 lane option for Alaskan ...

Posted Sat, Jan 31, 5:43 p.m.

Replacing the viaduct would be a disgrace. The Deep-Bore would handle only the Aurora-bound traffic, about 63,000 vehicles a day. The Ballard-bound traffic would have to go through the stoplight arrangement of some surface boulevard redesign. I figure the Western/Alaskan Way Couplet is a particularly bad design: It removes all ...

Posted Sat, Jan 31, 11:39 a.m.

WxMan doesn't know beans about Portland planning. The Mt Hood Freeway would have demolished 1700 homes in a fully developed SE Portland neighborhood and left thousands more on the edge of the freeway cut. Instead, Portland reconfigured the Banfield Freeway wider and straighter(for safety) and added MAX light rail. A ...

Posted Mon, Jan 26, 7:02 p.m.

After the Nisqually struck in 2001, WsDOT leaders essentially revealed their intention to ONLY build a replacement viaduct by promoting the most expensive tunnel they could imagine, roughly $15 Billion, knowing it would be rejected. Over the next year and some arm-twisting, they grudgingly brought that cost down, in steps ...

Posted Mon, Jan 19, 9:49 a.m.

note: There were two grammarical errors in my earlier post, corrected in parenthesis below: The argument that any tunnel costs too much, or too much more (than a) replacement viaduct is false. The value of the Waterfront property in taxes and revenue generating potential cannot (be) reached with another viaduct. ...

Posted Sun, Jan 18, 9:43 a.m.

The argument that 'any' tunnel costs too much, or too much more replacement viaduct is false. The value of the Waterfront property in taxes and revenue generating potential cannot reached with another viaduct. Any cost savings result in far more losses. The argument about insufficient capacity with the Deep-Bore tunnel ...