An intereting piece of informatioin. A friend of mine sits on the chamber and tells me that the a tunnel would limit oil, gas, etc tankers to travel via this route. Therefore making them use I-5.

I heard my father in law talking about an idea to add a NEW freeway from Tumwater/Olympia to N Everett. I doubt that will ever happen, but wouldn’t that be interesting!

Chris-

Maybe pay for a new route by developing that vacated land? I know a stretch, but think of the value of that land.

As far as the similarity to the Big Dig… there really is no other comparison except the fact it is a tunnel and the gross overerages. I was using it as an example of an estimate gone wrong.

Shane-

Residence and ROI… what a great point and future topic. It takes money to make money. I agree 100% and again great support for a toll.

Think about the increase of clothing because of the cost of theft. Although no one directly can see what that cost is, if there was no theft… therefore no security guards, systems, etc… the general publics costs would be much lower. If everyone could actually see these expenses if you will… do you think there would be more social security guards???

In the same way, maybe if everyone could see the direct cost it would be for a city to take an actioin, maybe the fight would be black and white???

GREAT IDEA!!!

I am all for a toll… and I use 99 daily.

Mark (& everyone about the danger of the viaduct)-

I agree… the problem needs to be addressed. This post was almost as much as WHAT IS RIGHT than what should we do with the viaduct.

Craig-

I am surrpised how much the viaduct has been in the news compared to how little the biggest problem; 520 floating bridge.

Allen-

Your comment is very interesting and I believe makes my point. Those who would use the bridge a majority (My dad lives in Gig Harbor) voted no for the toll, because that would be a fee they would pay… where the non users who would be stuck with the tax voted FOR the toll. A perfect example of the vast majority saying pass that fee on to the users of whatever that may be.

In Ohio, the bridge is underway and the Rt 24 stuck in study limbo, in Michigan the Grand Rapids by pass is completed and the US 223 project stalled by a population resistant to change. All of these projects involved state money and resources to some degree or another. Being from this area the only impute that I can stress to the residents of Seattle is take care of your commerce. In Southeast Michigan we have seen all to well what will happen if you do not… it goes somewhere else. While I do not have an easy answer, and am not a city engineer, as a businessperson I can tell you that distribution is key my wanting to be somewhere, as far as a resident I hate grid lock because I would much rather be somewhere else then a traffic jam! It’s that simple and I think that it is that way with most people. If I know that a system is going to make my groceries or gas cheaper or get me to the hospital faster when I need to get there or provide jobs where the workers will need to in turn buy my services and goods then I would most likely support it even if it does not mean that I may use it every day. I wonder if residents think of ROI? Well good luck and I will be following your topic.

Can you please talk (blog, I guess it would be) about how the tunnel and Big Dig would be similar, other than the fact they both involved some form of tunnel? Maybe you can speak to the mileage of tunnel, type of excavation, cubic yards of dirt removed or number of cable-stayed suspension bridges built in each…thanks!

All told, including risk premiums, the tunnel costs $400 million more than the rebuild. Question is whether $400 million and, lets assume a 4-lane alignment rather than 4-6 lane, reduced capacity, worth it for a much, much better urban design. If the “prime” benefeciaries paid for the delta via a LID, would it be worth it?

I absolutely think so. The new waterfront could be remade into something uniquely seattle

Since going North and South on I-5 will never improve, and if you want the business of shipping and manufacturing to continue in Seattle, then Hwy 99 as part of the transportation system must be resolved. That is unless you can figure out how to use mass transit to move shipping containers, business trucks and equipment and people who do not stop in downtown Seattle but are only traveling through it. The rest of the State of Washington is putting up a large portion of the cost to fix this problem as they should, the idea of a toll is not outrageous, other Cities do this. But most important is that there are not alternatives to using Hwy 99, so the Big Dig idea is stupid. Can the City of Seattle or the State of Washington afford the reduced income through lost jobs and reduced shipping into the Port of Seattle that would occur by losing Hwy 99 as part of the road system over the five to seven years it would take to build a tunnel?

Its interesting you talk about the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. When there was a vote for the bridge the users of the bridge voted no. It was the none users that voted yes and now the people that didn’t want it are having to pay for it.