We prefer to stay local but there are some rumblings in Seattle too strange to ignore.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is under scrutiny for an alarming video that shows a simulation of the Alaskan Way Viaduct collapsing in an earthquake. The video didn’t surface until Magnolia-neighborhood resident Elizabeth Campbell filed a public records request even though it wasn’t the one she asked for. Got it.

It’s scary stuff: People catch on fire, the waterfront is destroyed, and cars fall into Elliot Bay. On a very dramatic level, it expresses the frustrated sentiments of Seattle on how to fix this fading grey monolith. The viaduct issue is a focus for Mayor Greg Nickels’ replacement, a race between Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan. The latter candidate favors speedy construction of a tunnel and has criticized his opponent for delaying a solution. (Go HERE for the tunnel design.) Of course, released a week before the election, and completed in June 2007, the big question is why did this end up on YouTube now? The Stranger has some theories: So the state received a records request, told Campbell it could be up to eight months, decided to release the video in one month, and then—rather than simply release the video to the persons who requested it—decided to release a more detailed version publicly.

Campbell also thinks the timing is meant to influence the election since the state, and Governor Gregoire, who endorsed Mallahan, have advocated for a tunnel.

“I think they should have released it two years ago when they made it," said McGinn in The Stranger. "We all know the viaduct isn’t safe and needs to be taken down, and if they went through the expense of making a visual depiction of it, they should have shared it with the advisory group while they were deciding how to proceed." Read more about this convoluted mess HERE and check WSDOT’s interview with KING TV.

Watch the video HERE.

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