Seattle business leaders pan Chopp's viaduct proposal

House Speaker Frank Chopp's plan for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct is "fundamentally flawed," says the Downtown Seattle Association, in a letter to top city, state and county officials.

Among the eight proposals for replacing the viaduct is Chopp's "Integrated Elevated" option. It would be a milelong building on the waterfront, just as high and twice as wide as the existing viaduct, with two levels of retail and office space; a four-lane road with wide shoulders (though Chopp says the wide shoulders constitute two additional lanes) would run above the retail space; and a park would be built on top of the structure.

"This alternative relies on an economic premise that we believe is fundamentally flawed — that there is a market for nearly a mile of new retail development under the highway structure," wrote nine of Seattle's developers and other business leaders in the letter.

The state estimates Chopp's idea would cost $2.2 billion just for the building shell, roadway and park.

Chopp says renting the space, along with other funding sources, would help pay for the project.

But the city has opposed his plan, and now the city's business leaders have joined in.

The letter detailed three major concerns:

• Retail viability: The economic assumptions do not seem practical or achievable, said the business leaders. The proposal would add 600,000 square feet of new retail, and there is no proof it would be successful. "A developer commented that this project would be too risky in a boom economy, out of the question in the current economy," said the letter.

• Engineering uncertainties: The business officials say the project could present costly engineering challenges, making it unfeasible.

• Construction risk and expense: Under Chopp's proposal, the project would be bordered by a narrow promenade on the west and a busy one-way street on the east, something that would complicate construction staging, the letter said. It [the construction] would have negative impacts on waterfront businesses and would not provide a reasonable return on the cost to build the project.

The letter went on to urge the officials to drop Chopp's plan from further analysis.

The three agencies plan to whittle the viaduct options to two or three this week and come up with a final proposal by the end of the year.