Engineer brings plan to brace viaduct to marine coalition

Even though his idea has been roundly dismissed by the state Department of Transportation, engineer Victor Gray is not giving up his mission to fix, not replace, the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Gray, a retired structural and civil engineer, took his campaign Thursday to the Seattle Marine Business Coalition, asserting that the viaduct could be braced to withstand a 500-year earthquake at a cost of about $800 million, including replacing the Alaskan Way Seawall. That's a fraction of the $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion the state said replacing the viaduct, or putting it in a tunnel, would cost.

"I can't believe the state is pursuing [replacement] without considering a bracing system," Gray said.

Thursday's coalition program, titled "The Viaduct: Rebuild, Tunnel, Or?," was billed as a chance to hear engineers' recommendations for the future of the viaduct and to discuss issues surrounding viaduct replacement.

State officials said they studied the retrofit option, and in the 1990s that's what they planned to do with the viaduct. But after the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, officials learned the viaduct was in much worse shape than they thought, and needed to be replaced.

"We think the argument is over," said Ron Paananen, viaduct project manager with the DOT. He said a retrofitted viaduct would only increase its life 30 years, and the state now has enough money to replace it.

In disputing Gray's figures, Paananen said the cost of fixing the viaduct would be about 80 percent of the rebuild cost. "Does that make sense?" he asked.

"Absolutely," said one audience member. "It doesn't shut us down."

The issue of viaduct closure was chief on the minds of coalition members, worrying that projected viaduct closures of up to 3-½ years would be devastating to the marine businesses and freight companies that use the viaduct.

The state said that could be the closure time if the viaduct is replaced with a tunnel; a rebuilt viaduct would take longer to complete, but complete closures would be significantly shorter. The closure time would range from 18 months to 3-½ years, Paananen said.

The city is now completing a traffic analysis of what will happen to cars and trucks during viaduct construction. That is expected to be completed this summer.

Replacing the viaduct with a tunnel is projected to cost from $3.7 billion to $4.5 billion. Rebuilding the viaduct is estimated at $2.5 billion to $2.9 billion.

The state has $2.45 billion committed to the project.

Coalition members asked what would happen to land that would be opened up if the viaduct were torn down, and Bob Chandler, with the city's Department of Transportation, said little would be opened up for development because of all the underground utilities that would flank the tunnel. The city needs to leave the land undeveloped to have access to utilities, he said.

Other issues that surfaced at the coalition meeting:

• Chandler said if the viaduct is replaced with a tunnel, Alaskan Way will be moved east of its current location to where the viaduct is now. That could create more open space next to the waterfront. But replacing the viaduct with another above-ground structure could mean smaller sidewalks along Alaskan Way, the elimination of a proposed second track for the waterfront streetcar and the possible loss of the waterfront jogging trail. Because of shoulders and other safety items, a rebuilt viaduct would be 50 percent wider than the existing one.

• The city is counting on a $200 million contribution from the Port of Seattle. But newly elected Port Commissioner Lloyd Hara, who was at Thursday's meeting, said he isn't convinced it's a wise investment. "They have a lot of convincing to do to move me in that direction," he said. He wants several assurances from the city and state, including promises that there would be complete access to the Port's piers and docks during construction.

Material previously reported in The Seattle Times is included in this report.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com