Agreement on viaduct issue: It's a mess

There is little agreement about how to replace the ailing Alaskan Way Viaduct, but speakers at a Thursday night debate agreed on one point: Everything is a big mess.

"We're headed for a major train wreck," said former Seattle Mayor Charles Royer, who supports replacing the viaduct with a trimmed four-lane tunnel. He asserted the debate "could end political careers."

City Council President Nick Licata, who supports rebuilding the viaduct as an elevated structure, agreed.

"This is a soap opera," he said. "Think monorail," he added, referring to the plan, eventually abandoned by voters, to build a monorail between Ballard and West Seattle.

Phil Talmadge, a former state Supreme Court justice and legislator, said he was "tired of all the political egos. We need to cut through all the nonsense."

And Jessyn Farrell, executive director of the Transportation Choices Coalition, who opposes rebuilding the viaduct, asked the audience of several hundred people: "Why are we in this dysfunctional political soup?"

Little new ground was broken in the debate, but all the speakers expressed frustration at the politics that dominate the issue.

Voters will face two measures on the March 13 ballot and can choose yes or no votes on each. They will be asked whether they want to replace the viaduct with a four-lane tunnel and whether they want to rebuild it as another elevated structure. The vote is advisory only; to Gov. Christine Gregoire and state lawmakers who want to build another elevated viaduct, the vote may be meaningless.

Farrell drew the loudest laughs when she talked about how ugly she believes a replaced viaduct would be. "How do you put lipstick on a pig? It's still a pig," she said.

The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Washington and The Seattle Times.

In other developments Thursday, Seattle Transportation Department director Grace Crunican sent a letter to Doug MacDonald, head of the state Department of Transportation, complaining about an unreleased report done for the state that said the city's tunnel plan could handle the expected traffic.

"As a result, the governor, the Legislature and the voters of the city of Seattle have been badly misinformed," she said.

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