It’s official. Governor Gregoire has signed the Bored Tunnel bill (SB 5768) into law; The Alaskan Way Viaduct will be replaced by a deep bored tunnel under downtown Seattle.
According to Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s Tayloe Washburn,
“I and many of my colleagues on the Chamber Board were fortunate to witness and celebrate this great event that brings to a close a difficult saga for our region and state, and leaves the risk of further delay and political deadlock behind us.”
The Chamber has long been an active supporter and negotiator in the process that led to the Bored Tunnel compromise.
In a recent letter to Chamber members, Washburn said, “Every stakeholder gave something up to support the solution, but in the end stakeholders reached something not achieved during the eight years since the Viaduct was shaken by the Nisqually quake: a broad-based consensus about a positive path forward.”
Washington State Route 99 has always been an important thoroughfare, and the Bored Tunnel will preserve this vital route.
“The Bored Tunnel also avoids the enormous potential negative impact of Viaduct-related construction activity on our regional economy,” says Washburn, “and allows us in future years to take down the Viaduct and create a world-class open waterfront that we can take pride in, and which will serve as a magnificent setting to attract citizens, visitors and businesses to our city and region for decades to come.”
What to do about the Viaduct has been a hotly-debated subject often deemed insoluble, but legislators and businesses seem to have finally arrived at a viable, achievable solution that makes financial sense, offers the greatest value and will help keep the economy moving on one of the state's most important transportation arteries.
The entire Bored Tunnel Hybrid package includes completion of the Mercer Corridor project, efficient access for communities north and south of the tunnel, increased transit, and improvements to surface streets and I-5.
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