While West Seattleites worry about commuting and meeting appointments downtown, Seattle's maritime and commercial fishing industries have their own concerns about the upcoming replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Much of the fuel that runs commercial ships and fishing boats at Fishermen's Terminal comes from oil refineries on Harbor Island. Tanker trucks use the viaduct to get from Ballard to Harbor Island, a trip that normally takes 15 to 20 minutes, said Warren Aakervik, owner of Ballard Oil Co. If trucks have to use surface streets instead of the viaduct to get to and from Harbor Island, it will triple the round-trip travel time, he said.

Aakervik and several other panelists participated in a May 10 forum about the Alaskan Way Viaduct sponsored by the 34th District Democrats at the Hall at Fauntleroy.

"It will be faster for us to drive to Anacortes (the next nearest oil refinery) than to Harbor Island," Aakervik said.

Grace Crunican, director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, said there are about 103,000 trips a day on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. About 4,000 of those are medium- to heavy-duty trucks. Approximately 80 trips a day are made by trucks hauling flammable material, which would not be allowed to use a tunnel, Crunican said.

The Washington and Seattle departments of transportation participated in the forum as did representatives of other viewpoints on the viaduct replacement project.

Sally Bagshaw, from the organization Allied Arts, acknowledged the Alaskan Way Viaduct moves a lot of freight, but the area around the viaduct is "barren," she said.

Currently some of the best views of Puget Sound from Pike Place Market are reserved for parked cars, Bagshaw said.

Allied Arts envisions a "green promenade" from Pioneer Square to Myrtle Edwards Park, including places where pedestrians could clamber down to the water level of Elliott Bay, she said.

Cary Moon from the People's Waterfront Coalition argued in favor of not replacing the viaduct. Spend money improving nearby streets and encourage viaduct traffic to spread out and use arterial streets to get through downtown. West Seattleites could rely on three or four driving routes into downtown, Moon said.

People could use transit more frequently and more waterborne transit could take better advantage of Puget Sound as a conveyance.

Truck-only lanes could move freight on designated surface streets.

There are $30 billion worth of unfinanced transportation projects in the region, Moon said. What happens to those needs if billions are spent on the Alaskan Way Viaduct, she asked.

"People find other ways to get around," Moon said.

A man said he is concerned about earthquakes and the total cost of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

"I've got a bad case of monorail-it is," he said.

Paananen said whatever is eventually built will be able to withstand the worst earthquake likely to hit Seattle in any give 2,500-year time period.

There were the usual questions for the panel about how come the existing viaduct can't be welded back together.

Ron Paananen of the Washington State Department of Transportation replied that retrofitting the old viaduct is possible, but unfeasible. It would cost about 90 percent as much as total replacement and the state would wind up with a structure that was still 50 years old, he said.

Crunican pointed out that earlier schemes for the viaduct included a new interchange that would have enabled West Seattle drivers to get on southbound SR 99 from the Spokane Street Viaduct. The idea was scrubbed to save money, she said.

Making cost the most important criterion left some people cold.

"Nothing is more expensive than the cheapest option," warned a man in the audience.

Seattle City Councilwoman Jan Drago told the Democrats the Washington Legislature ordained the Seattle City Council to hold public hearings on the future of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and then vote on a preferred option for replacing it. The City Council must vote by Sept. 18 to get the issue on the general election ballot for an advisory vote by the public, she said.

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