Ballard residents and business owners are speaking out against state, city and county officials' plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bored tunnel.

"I don't think it's the best decision for the public in the long term," said Warren Aakervik, owner of Ballard Oil and member of the North Seattle Industrial Association Board. "The tunnel doesn't make it, it's a heck of a lot better than any surface solution but it gives us all the pollution and doesn't help the way it's been presented."

Additional details are being released, including a projected four to five year construction period for the project.

The plan calls for the tunnel to connect the stadium area with Aurora Avenue with exits near Royal Brougham Way South and north of the existing Battery Street Tunnel. Some traffic would be routed southbound onto Alaska Way and northbound onto Western Avenue.

The bored tunnel will be approximately two miles long and carry four lanes of traffic with 50 mile-per-hour speeds. Drivers will bypass downtown by entering the tunnel near the sports stadiums in the south and connect to State Route 99 north of the existing Battery Street Tunnel.

There are currently three lanes in each direction on the viaduct. The new plan does not include an exit, as it currently exits, from Western Avenue to access downtown, Interbay and Ballard.

"It's a short-term, narrow minded decision if they don't connect to (Ballard, Interbay)," said Aakervik, whose trucks use the viaduct and the exit to haul supplies in and out of Ballard daily.

"Whatever the solution, we must maintain viable connections to the Ballard area for our residents, as well as commercial and industrial businesses," Catherine Weatbrook, a member of the Crown Hill Business Association.

About $2.81 billion has been set-aside by the state in gas taxes and federal bridge funds to pay for the $4.24 billion project.

The state's committed funds will be used for the new State Rroute 99 corridor from the sports stadiums to South Lake Union in a bored tunnel and restoring land under the existing viaduct to a four-lane surface street.

The funding plan also includes a local investment district.

Craig Benjamin, a Ballard resident and member of Sustainable Ballard, said he is "disappointed" by the tunnel plan.

He said transportation is the biggest "energy decision" people make daily.

"Transportation emissions make up over 70 percent of our regional air pollution and over half of our regional greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention the devestating impact impervious surfaces have on puget sound and our rivers," said Benjamin.

"Spending billions of dollars to build a tunnel that's basically a freeway which promotes the use of personal petroleum transportation clearly does not help to reduce our dependence on foriegn oil or help alleviate our impact on climate change."

The state legislature will still need to approve the plan, which is supported by Gov. Chris Gregoire, King County Executive Ron Sims, Mayor Greg Nickels, and Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Seattle Tay Yoshitani.

The agreement is the result of a year-long study of solutions for replacing the central section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Gregoire announced the project would begin in 2011 and likely end in 2015 with the tunnel completed.

"Building a deep bored tunnel will support a strong economy today and in the future," Gregoire said. "This decision will improve public safety, help ensure Seattle is a 21st Century international city, and generate thousands of new family-wage jobs in the Puget Sound region."

The viaduct was damaged in the Feb. 28, 2001 Nisqually Earthquake and has been steadily sinking since. It carries roughly 110,000 vehicles a day.

Nickels has favored a tunnel option and the recent decision falls roughly in-line with his plans. However, a 2007 vote resulted in little support for a tunnel option to replace the damaged structure.

"There are pivotal moments when great cities make history," said Nickels in a statement. "Today, we come together with a plan that creates more transit. We ensure that our city remains economically competitive. And we reclaim our destiny as a true waterfront city, tearing down an elevated highway and re-connecting Seattle to Elliott Bay.

The project costs for the city are $930 million to replace the central seawall and construct a waterfront promenade, relocate utilities, build a streetcar on First Avenue, and improve east-west streets. The county will seek new motor vehicle excise tax authorization from the legislature to fund over $190 million in transit capital and $15 million annually in operating expenses.

Yoshitani will ask the Port Commission to consider a $300 million investment in the replacement of the south mile of the viaduct and a new east-west connection to the container terminals.

The agreement also includes federal funds toward the Spokane Street Viaduct and Mercer Street projects, which are critical to east-west connections for West Seattle neighborhoods.

At the news conference, the "No Tunnel Alliance" held a rally in opposition to the tunnel plan.

The Alliance is chaired by activists Gene Hoglund and John Fox who say a tunnel would result in a "lack of connections" and "have a devastating effect on Seattle?s maritime and industrial businesses that provide many family wage jobs."

They claim the tunnel is too expensive and will do harm to the environment because slow or idling traffic will increase green house gas emissions.

January 14, 2009

State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct, bored-tunnel rendering, north waterfront view. Image from Washington State Department of Transportation.