Mayor Greg Nickels came the few blocks from his home to our new office in the Admiral Junction to talk about the state of our city as he enters his second term as Seattle mayor. Along with the well known positions he has long taken, he did break some new ground.

The mayor immediately got a questioning look on his face when asked about the Seattle Department of Transportation plan to rid the Alaska Junction of its all-way pedestrian crosswalk, allowing left turns from California onto Alaska and doing away with the mid-block cross walks on California. "My folks are doing that?" Then he told a staff member with him to "check into that."

We told the mayor we were happy at the idea of a new surface on rutted California, but leave our Junction alone.

Mayor Nickels clings fiercely to the idea that a tunnel should replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. When asked if he had a deadline for getting the extra $4 billion-plus to build a tunnel, he responded by asking, "Did you ever play poker?"

He said he was firmly holding the view that the tunnel was the way to "open up the Seattle waterfront" and that rebuilding an above ground viaduct would never happen because of the lawsuits that would hamper any attempt.

With just about half of the money needed in hand, even the mayor's hopeful listing of places money can be found to build the tunnel, we have some serious doubts about the efficacy of the idea.

Then there is the problem of cost overruns. Across the nation, virtually none of such major projects come in anyway near the estimated cost. Imagine estimating years in advance the cost of a college education or an idyllic retirement .

We hope the mayor's plan works because there is little doubt a tunnel would be better for Seattle, that is if high rise office towers and condos don't replace the viaduct with another barrier to seeing the bay and Olympics.

Another good sign from his honor was he statement that the city would survive without the Sonics and their demanded new sports palace. They want millions of our taxes for the work.

We hope that he stays that course, but we still we ask if saving millions will be worth the billions necessary for a tunnel.

Good luck pulling that one off, your honor. We are holding our collective breaths.