Mayor Greg Nickels thinks a tunnel could be built faster than a viaduct along the downtown waterfront because legal entanglements would trip-up plans for a new elevated structure.

The mayor thinks there ought to be a public vote on the project.

"I will guarantee you that if the state tries to build an elevated freeway along our waterfront, there will be lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit," Nickels said during an interview last week. Court action would be based on the claim a new viaduct would be ugly, he said.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct was damaged by earthquakes and structural engineers worry about its stability in future land movements. They recommend the structure be replaced. Nickels wants to take advantage of the situation by also remodeling Seattle's front porch.

Regarding other matters in a wide-ranging interview, Nickels reiterated his disapproval of a request from the Seattle Sonics and Seattle Storm for $200 million in taxpayers money to refurbish KeyArena. The city currently subsidizes the Sonics' home court with about $2 million a year, which Nickels said was not part of the city's deal with the team.

"Howard Schultz (team owner) went into that with his eyes wide open," the mayor said. "He did his due diligence. He knew what he was getting into."

Like the future of the downtown waterfront, the public ought to vote on whether or not to pay for altering KeyArena, Nickels said.

The mayor agrees with the Washington State Department of Transportation that a tunnel along and beneath the downtown waterfront could accommodate 110,000 vehicles a day. Getting Alaskan Way traffic underground would quiet the waterfront and open up the area between downtown buildings and Elliott Bay.

"The current viaduct is an abomination on the waterfront of one of the most beautiful cities in the world," said the mayor.

San Francisco, Portland, New York and even Milwaukee have all remodeled their areas where city meets water and Seattle should do the same, he said.

Nickels called the proposal to build a new viaduct "a nonstarter."

As is the case with so many large public projects, getting enough money to build them is a challenge. So far, cost projections still outpace dollars in hand.

Current projections put the cost of a full tunnel between $3.7 billion and $4.5 billion. A new viaduct would cost $2.5 billion to $2.9 billion.

With question marks over how to pay for either project, engineers produced scaled-back versions of each. A "core" tunnel would cost $3 billion to $3.6 billion. A "core" rebuild of the viaduct is estimated at from $2 billon to $2.4 billion.

Nickels remains optimistic about getting enough additional money to build the tunnel. The state of Washington, which owns and maintains State Route 99, budgeted $2.3 billion toward the project.

The Port of Seattle indicated it will contribute to the project in the name of maintaining freight mobility.

The federal government is expected to contribute some money through the Federal Highway Administration. The project could qualify for emergency funds because of the earthquake damage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can pitch in too by replacing the downtown seawall, which could double as the waterside wall of the tunnel.

Despite the budgetary shortages, Mayor Nickels is resolute about the tunnel and re-landscaping the downtown waterfront. When asked if he's set a deadline for securing enough money, he replied with a question.

"Have you ever played poker?" the mayor asked. "I'm not gonna give up on this."

The city will receive "mitigation" money from the state to compensate for the hassle of detours, delays and other inconveniences during the long construction process. Nickels wants to use some of that money to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct.

Interstate 5 is the recommended alternate route for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. I-5 will be more congested than it is now, so the new off ramps included in the Spokane Street Viaduct project would make it easier to get onto Fourth Avenue as an alternative to the freeway.

Nickels discussed other transportation-related matters too.

He was surprised to learn the Seattle Department of Transportation was again considering eliminating the two pedestrian crosswalks on California Avenue in the Junction. The mayor told a staffer to look into it.

West Seattle has good bus service, Nickels said. Improvements are needed in the way Metro bus service is distributed throughout King County, he said.

Currently the Eastside is allocated about 40 percent of all Metro bus service. Another 40 percent is reserved for southern parts of the county. That leaves the remaining 20 percent of bus service for Seattle, yet the big city contributes a larger portion of Metro's fare revenue than the Eastside or south King County.

"They get a disproportionate amount for roads," Nickels said. "We should get a disproportional amount for transit."

It will take the breakup of a political log jam at the county to rearrange the funding formula, he said.

As he begins his second term, Nickels recognizes it's difficult to tell whether he's made progress on the heavier goals of his administration.

There are more foreign-born residents in Seattle today than ever before, Nickels said. Besides seeing to it that potholes get fixed within 48 hours, the mayor ordered city departments to study the status of race and social injustice in Seattle. Numerous panel discussions, workshops and meetings later, he acknowledged it is hard to measure success beyond noticing "a general feel around the city," Nickels said.

Race and social justice are of keen interest in White Center, considered the most culturally diverse community in King County. Before being elected Seattle mayor, Nickels represented White Center, West Seattle and Burien on the King County Council.

He recalled getting three different tours of White Center: a tour of white-owned businesses by the Chamber of Commerce; a tour of Asian-owned businesses by Asian merchants, and a tour of Hispanic businesses by Latino business owners.

"We had three separate communities in the same geographic area," Nickels said.

The mayor still wants to annex all or part of North Highline. The city of Seattle is using what he called nontraditional methods to communicate with the various ethnic groups living in North Highline and explain the choices they will face.

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.