On Thursday, March 31, I and other Councilmembers joined Governor Gregoire, King County Executive Constantine, Port Commission Chair Bryant, and representatives of the legislature in a news conference reaffirming the state and regional commitment to proceeding with the necessary work to implement the plan for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement program. The program includes replacing [...]
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February 28, 2011January 6, 2023Councilmember Bagshaw
A Look Back at Events I Do Not Want to Repeat
History repeats itself, so the saying goes. But, we can also be smart and learn from history. On this day, the 10th anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some national and local events that have happened this past decade that we do not want to repeat. 2001 – [...]
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February 25, 2011January 6, 2023Councilmember O'Brien
Monday’s Special Committee: the deep-bore tunnel project
At 9:30am on Monday, at a special full council meeting of the Seattle City Council will be voting on whether to overturn the Mayor’s veto on C.B. 117101, which would authorize the City to execute the agreements with the Washington State Department of Transportation, allowing them to proceed with the deep-bore tunnel project. I believe [...]
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February 16, 2011January 6, 2023News Releases
Carbon Neutral Seattle, Blog Post 10: How to Adapt
The climate is already changing and will keep changing no matter how rapidly we are able to turn around greenhouse gas accumulation. So we will need a strategy of adaptation to the expected impacts, which were reviewed in the previous post. Here is what Seattle is doing. The outstanding example of the City’s work to [...]
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February 9, 2011January 6, 2023Councilmember Licata
UP #306 Bored Tunnel Agreement Vote
21 days before the 10 year anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake that significantly damaged the Alaska Way Viaduct, the Seattle City Council voted 8-1 (O'Brien voting 'no') to approve a series of agreements with the State regarding the tunnel and a variety of related projects.
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January 24, 2011January 6, 2023Councilmember Licata
UP #305 The State Legislature and Surface Solution for Alaska Way Viaduct
While the debate will rage on about whether the state will pay for any cost overruns on the deep bore tunnel, the flip side of the issue is whether Seattle would keep the money already allocated to this project for a surface road alternative, as the Mayor prefers.
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November 30, 2010January 6, 2023Councilmember Licata
UP #303 The Deep Bore Tunnel Controversy
First, the Sierra Club and Real Change are considering a city initiative to stop the deep bore tunnel from being built unless certain conditions are met. Under the name Move Seattle Smarter, they are trying to craft an initiative that would protect Seattle taxpayers from any potential cost overruns before construction could begin. They would need to collect about 25,000 signatures to assure placing the initiative on the ballot in late summer or fall of next year, although it still could face a legal challenge for overreaching the intended authority granted to citizens through the initiative process.