Tunnel will replace viaduct, Seattle mayor says

SEATTLE – Two years after Seattle voters rejected the idea, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels says he has reached an agreement with state and local officials to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel.

“My goal has been to open up the waterfront,” Nickels told the Seattle Times on Monday, “and this will do that.”

The agreement reached among the state, city, King County and the Port of Seattle calls for a four-lane tunnel that would start at Royal Brougham on the south end, travel under First Avenue and emerge near Thomas north of the Battery Street tunnel.

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office confirmed that an agreement had been reached, but said details would be shared at a news conference this morning.

“We believe we have a solution that serves all parties and is fiscally responsible,” said Pearse Edwards, a spokesman for Gregoire.

The state Legislature still has a role to play, particularly if more money is needed. And one of the Legislature’s most powerful members, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, was unaware of the reported deal on a tunnel, his spokeswoman said Monday afternoon.

The mile-long section of Highway 99 on the Seattle waterfront is 55 years old and carries about 100,000 vehicles a day. It was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.

Two years ago, Seattle voters rejected both a tunnel and a new viaduct.