Dear City of Seattle,

[lithera]

Please come up with a Viaduct replacement plan that does not suck. We are not interested in spending billions of dollars for something that won't be completed until 2020.

Thanks,
-The Voters

Comments

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

Got any ideas?

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Nope.

Very thankful not to have that be my job, too.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

If the viaduct is dead (which I'm not convinced of... some of the tunnel supporters might prefer a viaduct to any at grade solution) - the best bet might be to take Alaskan Way, remove all of the lights, make an exit or two into downtown, and make a long collector lane for the ferries so it wouldn't back up into the road.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a solution to me...

[bayushiboy.livejournal.com]

Amen. I don't blame the city alone. I blame the voters. Fucking idiots. Nobody knows what they want ... $1 billion on monorail anyone?

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I wanted a monorail. I wanted it to be conjoined with the light rail, too. I voted for what I actually wanted.

[bayushiboy.livejournal.com]

I was pro monorail too. That's why I am so frustrated. I am for replacing the Viaduct with a tunnel. It would make Seattle a more beautiful city and would increase property values. Either way you cut it, no matter what change is proposed, traffic is going to be a mess while they work on it. There is no way around it. Seattle needs to deal.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

See I'm not convinced that the waterfront really could be integrated into downtown just because no one really lives there and the large hill between the office district and the water would prevent workers from going there on their lunch breaks. I think the net result would be that the homeless would move from that Pioneer Square park to the waterfront one.

[bayushiboy.livejournal.com]

I see what you are saying and I am not an expert on the migratory habits of the homeless in Seattle. I do believe that getting rid of the god awful viaduct would open up the area and encourage businesses to move into the area.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

If you were to make it less of a pain in the ass to get to the waterfront, more people would go there.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

I don't see how you can do that really. I used to work at the Columbia Tower and a round trip to and from 2nd would be enough to kill me.

I'm also not convinced having Aurora Ave or Lake City Way running by the park would get people more excited by it than having a viaduct. One cost of getting rid of the viaduct would be losing tons of parking...

I'd love to hear a solution if someone had one...

Sucks for people living in West Seattle who might have lost their mass transit option and now their only good driving option...

[lithera.livejournal.com]

We could have something. There are plenty of cities that have these hill options. And I was thinking further north than Columbia. At least there are streets here that go through. Further north, you don't even have that - and like one set of stairs.

Oh, and the Market, if you want to go through.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I just want a solution that doesn't cost a bajillion dollars and won't be done until 2020. That seems a long time to be stuck with traffic that completely blows. Light rail will be a delight to have in 2009.

[bayushiboy.livejournal.com]

*City of Seattle Waves Hand* There is no traffic problem here...

Seriously, I loves me the Sounder. I am waiting for them to add more trains. Originally, they were supposed to have 7 trains running in the morning and the afternoon. Currently, there are only 4. I'd love a 6:30 or 7pm train so I could attend after work activities.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Yes. I would also like a train that goes South in the morning.

This would be excellent.

[crowbarbob.livejournal.com]

Greg Nickels is a knucklehead.

That is all.

[littledrow.livejournal.com]

While I sympathize with you, I am very glad to not have to deal with Seattle and it's lack of ease of commute.

[m00t.livejournal.com]

Not only do we not want it completed in or after 2020. We want it completed with sufficient capacity to not need to be expanded before it is even finished.

[obake.livejournal.com]

I don't know what the solution is. I'm not a city planner. There are people who went to school, were trained to come up with ideas for this sort of thing, and who get paid much more than I do. Having said I'm not a city planner, I also think both options sucked. I'm all for something that isn't going to crumble or crack in a 5.0+ earthquake. Building or digging into fill and till right next to the water line isn't going to help that.

Whatever they decide, any amount of construction will shut down businesses in the area and that will be the saddest part.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Agreed on all counts.

[grymor.livejournal.com]

In my head, I see multilevel roadways over what are currently 1st and 2nd.

[grocible.livejournal.com]

I don't live in Seattle, so I don't have a vote.

But I would like to see a version of the viaduct remain, because I don't see how a tunnel would be financially possible. Plus, without the viaduct, property value will probably increase even more with all the new condos that would go up, and most people can't afford to live in the city now as it is.

But then again, since the voters can't decide either, another idea that was tossed around was to improve the existing surface streets. But is that even possible? It's not like you can widen them or anything.

Part of me is beginning to wonder if anything can even be done? It's been far too long up to this point, and each day longer makes it all that much more difficult. Same with the floating bridges - people have wasted too much time.

grah!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I say fuck the roads! This is the unpopular hard line that I share with the Strangler, which I realize makes me some kind of hipster, but: I wanted a monorail. I voted for a monorail several times. I hate the Viaduct and think people should take public transit. If there's no road there, I guess we will have to create some more transit, won't we?