SEATTLE – Voters turned up their noses Tuesday at both a tunnel and a new elevated replacement for the quake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct, complicating an already messy struggle between city and state leaders.
The stage shifted back to Olympia, where city and county officials planned to huddle with Gov. Chris Gregoire and top state lawmakers before declaring their next move.
Tuesday’s citywide advisory ballot asked voters for separate yes-or-no verdicts on both a tunnel and an elevated rebuild to replace the viaduct.
In early returns, they said ‘no’ twice.
The tunnel option backed by Mayor Greg Nickels was the clearest loser, turned down by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent with about half the expected ballots counted Tuesday night.
The rebuild proposal, backed by Gregoire, was losing by about 55 percent to 45 percent. The vote count for the mail-in advisory ballot was scheduled to continue Wednesday.
The results are not legally binding, and many observers were expecting the double-barreled no vote. But the results still caused some leaders to call for a pause.
”We need to take a moment, take a deep breath and think about this,” said Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, the state House transportation chairwoman.
Supporters of a third option — replacing the viaduct with beefed-up surface streets and bus service — found an opening to press for their less-studied idea.
Some also predicted more political gridlock rather than a quick decision about the aging double-decker highway that cuts across Seattle’s waterfront.
”The reality is that I don’t think the majority of the people of Seattle support any option,” City Council President Nick Licata said.
Indecision, however, could prompt a raid in the Legislature on the nearly $3 billion lawmakers have set aside for the viaduct. Other looming mega-projects, including the State Highway 520 bridge across Lake Washington, could use the money.
Gregoire and House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, declined to comment Tuesday night. Both have supported a rebuilt viaduct.
Nickels, a tunnel supporter who has said he would abide by the voters’ decision, said he wanted to work with other leaders to forge a solution.
”We need to get together and find common ground,” Nickels said Tuesday night.
The 50-year-old viaduct was seriously damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. Its towering concrete decks could come tumbling down in the next big quake.
The tunnel’s price tag is at least $3.4 billion. The Legislature has said it will not cover more than the estimated $2.8 billion cost of the rebuild.
The surface and transit option has not seen as much scrutiny as the tunnel or rebuild. But it has been mentioned as a potential fallback option by Nickels, the City Council and Chopp.
King County Executive Ron Sims, a supporter of the surface-street option, was expected to meet with Gregoire, Nickels and key legislators Wednesday.
”It’s time to move on,” said City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, another surface-street supporter.
Leading statehouse Democrats were far from unified Tuesday night. State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, was among the lawmakers looking to Gregoire for a signal.
”I want a solution with more political consensus then we have right now,” Brown said.
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