Sink bid for further delay
Published 2:37 pm Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Lying at the heart of the Puget Sound region, the flow of traffic in and out of Seattle affects travel and commerce throughout urban Snohomish County. Blockage of a major artery — such as I-5, the Alaskan Way viaduct or the Highway 520 bridge — can send the entire regional transportation system into cardiac arrest.
Keeping those arteries flowing is an economic imperative, here and across the state. While Seattle officials can influence how that traffic flows, they don’t have veto power over what is clearly a state responsibility. Some apparently wish they did.
State engineers have long warned that an earthquake or major windstorm could sink the 47-year-old Highway 520 bridge, which connects Seattle and the eastside across Lake Washington. A design for a new six-lane span, funded largely by tolls, was approved by the Legislature three years ago. Getting it built should be an urgent priority.
Now, though, a few elected officials from Seattle, including new Mayor Mike McGinn and House Speaker Frank Chopp (who voted for the current plan), are calling for a new design that reduces car traffic and accommodates a light-rail route that hasn’t even been planned.
The governor says that would cause an unacceptable delay in construction — as much as two years. It would also eliminate high-occupancy vehicle lanes on the bridge, discouraging carpools and vanpools — proven tools for reducing congestion and pollution. That’s ironic, considering the green sensitivities behind McGinn’s alternative, which for the foreseeable future would have two general-purpose lanes and a bus-only lane in each direction.
Eventually, somehow, billions of dollars would appear to add light rail. That’s in addition to the light-rail route across the I-90 floating bridge that voters approved just 15 months ago, which may already be under financial pressure because of falling sales tax revenue.
A replacement for the 520 bridge has been studied and argued about for years. Construction of pontoons is about to begin. The focus now should be on reaching a reasonable accord with residents of the Montlake neighborhood on the span’s western configuration, getting final funding in place and replacing the old bridge before it sinks. Fortunately, a majority of the Seattle City Council appears to agree.
The pain caused if this vital link is lost would radiate throughout the state’s economy. Lawmakers from Snohomish County must stand together with their eastside colleagues, and not let parochial Seattle politics change or delay the good plan that’s already in place.
