Alaskan Way Viaduct

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McGinn: "City rushing to assume unprecedented financial risk"

Mike McGinn, in response to the City Council's proposed ordinance formally adopting the tunnel and committing Seattle financial resources to the project, issued the following statement:

SEATTLE -- Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn today urged the Seattle City Council to change cost overrun provisions before committing to the tunnel mega-project.

This morning, the City Council started expedited consideration of a memorandum of agreement  to try and lock in the deep-bore tunnel plan before November's general election.

"State law puts Seattle property owners on the hook for 100% of tunnel cost overruns," said McGinn. "These overruns could easily run into the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars."

"The cost overrun law makes the tunnel the biggest financial risk the City has ever taken," said McGinn. "If there are major overruns, Seattle taxpayers could be financially drained for years, if not decades."

"Seattle is the only city in Washington state that has ever been held responsible for cost overruns on a state highway project," said McGinn. "It's ridiculous for the state to say that Seattle taxpayers should have to pay all of the cost overruns even though Seattle has virtually no say over the project.  It's even worse that the City Council is going along with it."

"The State has made it clear that they will pay no more than $2.8 billion," said McGinn. "Seattle and King County taxpayers are already on the hook for an additional $1.4 billion and that could rise dramatically if there are cost overruns."

"At the same time we're dealing with massive service cuts caused by large city, county and state deficits, we're rushing to build the most expensive viaduct alternative put forward," said McGinn.  "We can barely afford a Saturn and we're trying to buy a Cadillac...without even knowing what it will actually cost."

"And for those who promise there will be no cost overruns or delays, I'd suggest they check out Brightwater," said McGinn. "That tunneling project is already six months and a billion dollars over budget, with broken-down tunneling machines submerged in water deep underground."

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City Council Wants to Ram Tunnel Through Seattle, Regardless of Voter Sentiment

An ordinance adopting the tunnel as the city's "preferred solution" and commiting the city to finance a portion of the tunnel was introduced on Monday in the Seattle City Council's Transportation Committee. The sponsors are Richard Conlin and Jan Drago.

The ordinance declares that, among other things,"[i]t is the City's policy that the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawal Replacement (AWVSR) Program Bored Tunnel Alternative . . . is the preferred solution for replacing the existing Alaskan Way Viaduct."

The ordinance also contains a Memorandum of Agreement with the State, and the agreement acknowledges that the State's funding contribution will be consistent with the tunnel law that the Legislature passed in March---Engrossed Senate Substitute Bill 5768 (pdf). That law says that Seattle taxpayers are on the hook for cost overruns: "Any costs in excess of two billion eight hundred million dollars shall be borne by property owners in the Seattle area who benefit from replacement of the existing viaduct with the deep bore tunnel."

And that law's funding rules are accepted in the City Council's proposed Memorandum of Agreement. The agreement does not repudiate it.

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Nickels Down Again, But Even if He Loses, the Battle of the Tunnel Still Continues (Seattle Weekly)

Friends of Seattle is in the news.

Laura Onsot, "Nickels Down Again, But Even if He Loses, the Battle of the Tunnel Still Continues," Seattle Weekly(August 21, 2009)

McGinn's tunnel attacks pretty specifically targeted the Mayor in the primary, but Mallahan supports the plan for an underground tunnel too. So even if Nickels is knocked out, that fight lives on. As to the controversy over cost overruns, Mallahan says it won't be an issue thanks to his history of business management. He had this to say in response to a questionnaire from Friends of Seattle: "I have years of experience managing projects and working with contractors to bring projects in on time and on budget. Through rigorous oversight and constant communication, I do not anticipate cost overruns to be charged to the people or businesses in Seattle."

Read the whole thing.

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WSDOT Says Tunnel Is Actually $6.14 Billion (and Counting), But Only $2.4 Billion in Funding Has Been Identified

 A Washington State Department of Transportation official affirms that the cost will be at least $6.14 billion---and probably far more than that---to build a deep-bore tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

The previous estimate of $4.24 billion was only for construction costs and did not include financing costs. Amy Arnis, the Chief Financial Officer of WSDOT, told the Seattle Weekly earlier this week that it would cost $1.9 billion to pay off the interest on the construction bonds---and that was only for the $2.4 billion portion of the state’s pledge, not for the bonds financed with tolls or by the city, county, or the Port of Seattle. So the total financing package is likely to be far more than $6.14 billion, and that’s before cost overruns.

The majority of that $6.14 billion is still a hope and a dream. Only $2.4 billion in firm funding has been identified. The Legislature’s tunnel bill said the state would contribute another $400 million to the project costs from tolls, but a 2002 WSDOT study (.pdf file) has already concluded tolls could finance no more than $95 million of a Viaduct replacement.

The rest will materialize only if several conditions are met: the Port of Seattle Commission votes to contribute $300 million, the Seattle City Council votes to raise taxes and fees by nearly $1 billion, and the Legislature grants---and the King County Council uses---the authority to impose a motor vehicle excise tax on automobiles in the county.

Against this background, here are some questions about the tunnel’s financing that state and local leaders still have not answered:

  • How much will the interest be on the bonds financed by the city, county, and Port of Seattle, and what taxes will be used to pay that interest?
  • How realistic is it for tolls to finance $400 million in construction costs when the State’s own 2002 study found that tolls could finance only $35-$95 million of a Viaduct replacement?
  • Will the Port of Seattle’s $300 million contribution require the Port to levy a property tax on King County property owners?
  • Which taxes and fees does the City of Seattle intend to raise for its share?
  • A Seattle ordinance prohibits a “local improvement district” from being formed without the consent of affected property owners, so what will the city do if downtown property owners refuse to pay a share of the costs?

2007 Viaduct Special Election

 

March Advisory Vote on Alaskan Way Viaduct

 

Friends of Seattle Calls for a “NO” and “NO” Vote on Proposed Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacements

Friends of Seattle recommends to its members that they vote NO on Measure 1 to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel and NO on Measure 2 for an elevated replacement.

As an alternative, Friends of Seattle is working with allied community groups and local, county, and state officials to develop a surface/transit option, a multi-modal, cost-effective solution which promotes density, environmental sustainability, and downtown livability, core goals of a 21st century metropolis. At a time of global warming, regional population growth, and rising housing costs, replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct is more than a mere transportation problem.

Friends of Seattle strongly opposes the construction of any elevated replacement roadway. An elevated highway would steal the waterfront from the people of Seattle, and blight downtown with noise and pollution. At a time when our region faces a substantial shortfall in transportation funding, spending billions of dollars on an elevated shortcut around downtown is a misallocation of scarce resources better spent on other projects.

Friends of Seattle also opposes the construction of an expensive tunnel, a proposal which was hastily produced and inadequately vetted. The construction of a tunnel could cause severe environmental damage to the Puget Sound intertidal zone. The tunnel proposal has encountered unequivocal opposition in Olympia and supporters have not responded with fiscally-responsible funding mechanisms. And with a smaller lid, the tunnel design has been cheapened and scaled back to such a degree that its urban design benefits have been reduced.

After the state’s two intolerable choices are voted down by the voters, our political leaders, at all levels, must work to find a solution that accounts for the goals and values of a livable and sustainable urban community. Friends of Seattle urges the city to work with the county and state to develop a real solution that: (1) replaces the Viaduct with a pedestrian-friendly Alaskan Way surface boulevard; (2) expands bus, vanpool, carpool, and water taxi services; (3) accommodates the movement of freight; (4) preserves city-owned land on the waterfront for public use as a park; (5) minimizes the environmental impacts of major construction on Puget Sound; and (6) accords with City and County commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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