On the topic of everyone’s favorite Seattle Process nightmare and whether an earthquake will level it to a pile of rubble before a real decision is made, the Governor is going all Decider on the city. Last year, she asked us to outline our preferences by council ordinance or by election. When the kids at City Hall came back with a pricey choice (tunnel) with a stubborn fall-back (surface) that doesn’t line up with legislative opinions (our own, re-elected without opposition Frank Chopp’s among the viaduct lovers in Olympia), she’s clarifying: if you people really want this goddamn tunnel you’ll have to tell everyone in the city how unaffordable the project is and make them vote on it. Before April 22. Otherwise it’s shiny new viaduct time.

Yes, keen readers of newspapers and public statements with a familiarity with the legislative calendar knew all of this in December [mb]. But apparently, it’s coming as a big surprise to the city council, who didn’t connect the dots. So Gregoire had to issue a public ultimatum and send a letter to explain that she was talking about April 2007, not April of whenever it’s convenient to find a magical solution that makes everyone happy.

Meanwhile, Jan Drago is doodling pictures of elevated highways with pretty parks on top in her transportation chair’s notebook. [king]

Related posts:

1. On the Viaduct Replacement: Sally Clark
2. On the Viaduct Replacement: Jan Drago
3. On the Viaduct Replacement: Richard McIver
4. two votes to replace the viaduct.
5. On the Viaduct Replacement: Tom Rasmussen