McGinn warns Gregoire not to make Seattle pay for any tunnel cost overruns

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has written a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire warning that his tepid support for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bore tunnel will evaporate if the state continues to insist that Seattle taxpayers pay for any cost overruns on the $2.4 billion project.

McGinn said the city will continue to work closely with the state Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the project. City and state planners have been meeting and are divvying up responsibilities, and the mayor pledged those efforts would move ahead.

But he warned the governor in a 3 ½-page letter that the Legislature's decision requiring Seattle residents to pay for what he believes will be inevitable cost overruns has to change.

If it doesn't, then McGinn says he will ask the Seattle City Council to take a vote — and, by extension, any political heat — over whether the project should proceed.

"As Mayor, I will not support an agreement that leaves Seattle taxpayers at risk for tunnel cost overruns," he wrote.

Initially, the city and state had agreed to split the costs of their respective portions of the project, but the Legislature had other ideas. It capped state spending for the project to $2.4 billion, and said another $400 million could be raised through tolls. If costs exceed $2.8 billion, the city has to pay, lawmakers said.

Viet Shelton, a spokesman for Gregoire, said the governor is pleased that McGinn is "reiterating his commitment to move forward to replace the viaduct with a tunnel."

And while acknowledging McGinn's concerns about overruns, and who pays for them, the governor's office said the issue is a nonstarter because "we intend to bring the project in on time and on budget," Shelton said.

Mark Matassa, McGinn's communications director, said the letter puts in one place all of the issues McGinn has raised "in bits and pieces" since taking office Jan. 1.

Matassa said the mayor has little faith that the project will come in on-budget and wants the issue resolved "before the state executes its design-build contract and before tunneling begins."

Promises that the state can bring the project in without additional costs ring hollow in light of the Legislature's action.

"If the risk is truly remote, there is no need for extraordinary provisions imposing the risk on Seattle-area property owners," the mayor wrote.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com