Mallahan shifts gears on 'Mercer Mess'

For most of the election season, Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn grabbed headlines for his steadfast opposition to an expensive road project pushed by Mayor Greg Nickels — the multibillion-dollar waterfront tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

But McGinn's rival, Joe Mallahan, also had a favorite city road plan to bash: the push to turn Mercer Street into a two-way boulevard and fix the so-called "Mercer Mess" of weaving traffic in South Lake Union.

Before the primary, Mallahan loudly criticized the $191 million Mercer project as a giveaway by the Nickels administration to Vulcan, billionaire Paul Allen's company and South Lake Union's largest landowner.

Mallahan vowed to halt the project and redirect up to $70 million in city money it was "stealing" from other neighborhoods until Vulcan and other property owners agreed to pay more of the costs.

But with Nickels out of the way, Mallahan's tone has softened. He now emphasizes that he'd like to see the Mercer project move forward.

"I think the Mercer Street project is a very good neighborhood development project and it will do great things for South Lake Union," Mallahan said. "If it were properly financed, I would be in favor of it."

Mallahan said he'd explore creating a local-improvement district (LID), a taxing authority that would charge landowners higher taxes based on the projected increase in property values because of the project.

But he has been vague on details, such as how much money an LID should raise.

Some city officials question whether Mallahan really thought through his position or was just using Mercer as a convenient bludgeon against Nickels. They also say changing the funding formula now could delay the project significantly.

Even City Councilmember Nick Licata, frequently the sole critic of the Mercer project on the council, was skeptical of Mallahan's LID idea.

Property owners in the area already have been assessed for the South Lake Union streetcar. An LID also is planned to help pay for the waterfront tunnel.

"I don't see the property owners there going for another LID," Licata said.

The city has negotiated a private contribution of more than $30 million for Mercer, with almost all of that coming from Vulcan.

"I don't know where he (Mallahan) is going to get significantly more private money without risking the entire project," Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said.

Mallahan has started to pile up business endorsements, but his harsh words about Mercer have kept Vulcan away. The company, a major backer of Nickels, helped pay for phone calls during the primary depicting Mallahan as unqualified to be mayor.

Still, a Vulcan executive said the company has met with Mallahan since the primary and hopes he will come around.

"As he digs into the facts more, and begins to understand more of the history of the problem ... he will come to understand the importance of the project and come to be a supporter," said Lyn Tangen, Vulcan's director of government and community relations.

In any case, Nickels' office hopes to get the final piece of its Mercer funding plan locked in before he leaves office.

The city recently submitted its application for $50 million in federal economic-recovery money.

If approved, the city would be obligated to move swiftly on the Mercer project, Ceis said, because one of the criteria for the grants is that they go to projects that are shovel ready. An LID could take a year or more to create.

Asked about the possibility the federal grant could come through, Mallahan insisted "there is time to explore an LID process and keep the project on track" for its expected 2012 completion.

McGinn, meanwhile, hasn't talked as much about Mercer. He said he supports it but would like to find ways to bring down the cost.

McGinn has started to poke at his rival's position, arguing that Mallahan's support of the waterfront tunnel means he has to support the expensive Mercer project. Without the reconfiguration of Mercer, southbound traffic won't be able to use the new tunnel easily.

"He's used it for political purposes without making the connection to the fact that when you do the deep-bore tunnel, you have to do the two-way Mercer," McGinn said.

The Mercer plan aims to untangle a long-standing traffic mess between Interstate 5 and Seattle Center that has vexed the city for decades. Mercer, which now runs eastbound to I-5, would become a wider, two-way boulevard with roomier sidewalks. Nearby Valley Street would be reduced to two lanes, while adding bike lanes.

A second phase, in the early planning stages, would extend the Mercer upgrades westward under Aurora Avenue all the way to Elliott Avenue. Early estimates say that could cost an additional $100 million.

Like the South Lake Union Streetcar, Mercer is seen as a way to augment the ongoing redevelopment of South Lake Union, turning it into a dense and walkable urban neighborhood.

Some Mercer supporters question whether Mallahan, a newcomer to local politics, simply was looking for a populist issue to latch onto when he started bashing Mercer. Nickels' push for redevelopment of South Lake Union long has been fodder for critics who say the mayor is in the pocket of Vulcan and other developers.

Mallahan's Mercer stance won praise from John Fox, the longtime housing activist who has criticized Nickels' pro-development agenda in South Lake Union.

Fox said a new mayor "absolutely" can halt the project, especially the largely unfunded second phase.

Yet, the project has been repeatedly endorsed by the City Council and has been supported by business and labor groups as well as bike advocates and others who see it as a boon to the neighborhood.

City Council President Richard Conlin said opposition to the Mercer upgrade is seen by some as "a populist issue" because of its high price tag.

Conlin disagrees with the idea that the plan only benefits big developers.

"It is a way to advance goals the city has agreed to for a long time, that South Lake Union becomes connected to downtown and produces a lot of benefits for everybody," Conlin said.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com