Mayor Greg Nickels: Federal stimulus bill will fund Mercer Street rebuild

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels predicted Friday that money was on the way to help the city pay for the long-delayed Mercer Street rebuild.

The mayor announced he now has full funding for both Mercer and a widening of South Spokane Street — thanks to an expected stimulus plan from President-elect Obama, as published by U.S. House Democrats this week.

However, a national bill is far from final, and a Senate version has yet to be proposed. After that, the cash must flow through Washington state government before trickling down to Seattle and its two high-profile projects.

The $200 million Mercer redevelopment would convert the existing eastbound street into a two-way boulevard with trees and sidewalks.

Overall, car travel times would not improve, a study has found. The project would simplify driving for people going west toward Seattle Center from Interstate 5, where they now make two turns to reach nearby Valley Street. Bike lanes also would be added.

Nickels needed to declare "full funding" to meet a Jan. 15 deadline set by the City Council, or risk delaying construction at Mercer, to be completed by 2011. He submitted materials to the council Thursday to make the deadline.

The stimulus amount would be $50 million for Mercer and $25 million for the $167 million Spokane Street Viaduct expansion, to add to other city funds, the Mayor's Office said.

In actuality, the stimulus bill by Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wis., doesn't name which projects would receive the $30 billion for roads and bridges, and $10 billion for transit, out of a total $825 billion.

Washington state expects to divvy up about $515 million for highways, or about 1.7 percent of the national pie, based on our state's size, said Kathleen Davis, director of highways and local programs for the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

As of Friday, she hadn't heard any directives from Gov. Chris Gregoire to set aside money for Mercer and Spokane streets. "We haven't decided yet on how to allocate the $515 million," she said.

Competition will be tough — local agencies in the state have made $3.4 billion worth of suggestions, more than six times the available money, before counting DOT's own wish list, Davis said.

But plenty of evidence exists that Seattle will get the money, said Alex Fryer, the mayor's spokesman.

In a statement signed this week, Gregoire, Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims agreed "to support" the use of $80 million in stimulus funds for Mercer and Spokane — as part of their broader agreement to build a new Highway 99 tunnel.

The city is "fired up" to break ground at Mercer this year, Fryer said. At Spokane Street, linking I-5 and West Seattle, utility relocation began last year.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com