Last stand for the Alaskan Way Viaduct

As the process to replace or remove Seattle's elevated waterfront freeway grinds on, a last-ditch pitch is being made to keep it standing.

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A cure for congestion that's simple and cheap (and doomed)

Most cures for congestion come in billion-dollar packages, since it's easier for politicians to evade hard choices by instead throwing lots of money at the problem. An example of a simple, cheap (but politically radioactive) cure for congestion is to start replacing curbside parking with lanes for buses, bikes, and pedestrians. A pithy case for doing just that, as New York is trying to do, is "No Parking, Ever'" by Hope Cohen, deputy director of Manahattan Institute's Center for Rethinking Development. It's full of common sense.

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Sausage Links, Uncle Ted's excellent indictment edition

Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly sounds off on the latest bad apple ousted from the Department of Justice, as well as Ted "series of tubes" Stevens' federal indictment in a corruption scandal. Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman takes a look at what Uncle Ted's indictment means for his chances at re-election, while U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., joins the parade of GOP members promising to rid themselves of Stevens' campaign donations. ...

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Fixing our big flat tire

Sound Transit, the Viaduct, 520, the Mercer Mess — everywhere you turn, there's a Puget Sound transportation problem awaiting solution. It's time for citizens to demand leadership from leaders and to push for reform of agencies and even government.

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Sausage Links, blame-game edition

David Goldstein at Horse's Ass says everyone has missed the boat about the latest mess surrounding the "top-two" primary. The Seattle Times blamed the parties. The parties blamed the state. Others blamed the lawyers. Goldstein, however, says the person to blame for what could be the "most monumental legal fuck up in state history — one which puts the legitimacy of our entire 2008 election in jeopardy" — is state Attorney General Rob McKenna.

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The Sonics decision that wasn't

The last-minute settlement over the Seattle SuperSonics is sadly typical of politics around here. Why settle something when you can drag it on for years to come? Maybe we should call the new team, in the unlikely event it ever arrives here, the Seattle Viaducts.

Settling in a firm way a heated public debate like this one is risky for politicians, which is why they look for face-saving irresolution. Once something is settled, the losing side goes into permanent opposition, rather than holding out hope and courting favor with all the parties. The plan is to hold out a win-win solution, sometime in the hazy beyond.

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Seven premonitions you can take to the bank

Predictions at mid-year regarding sweet deals for developers, a Sonics boon, the precarious viaduct, a Boeing handout, Sound Transit, Pat Davis, and cleaning up Puget Sound.

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Sausage Links, attack-ad edition

Gov. Chris Gregoire unleashes her latest "hit" campaign on GOP challenger Dino Rossi today, primarily attacking Rossi's state Senate record. Now, of all outlets that would come to the defense of a Republican, the first place not to look would be a local left-leaning blog like Horse's Ass. But after yesterday's political circus surrounding Gregoire's previous ad, backhandedly comparing Rossi to TV mob boss Tony Soprano, Horse's Ass blogger David Goldstein rushes to Rossi's defense. ...

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Getting ready for the Big One

The images of the quake aftermath in China raise the question: What would the wake of a major quake look like in Seattle? Fortunately, we have the answer. Or at least a pretty good guess.

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Greg Nickels' rebel yell

Seattle's mayor waves the flag of secession. In so doing, he may have waved goodbye to a future in state politics.

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Psst! Wanna see the Viaduct disappear?

The debate about Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct used to be a very public, contact sport, but as many local politicians were carted off the field, the controversy moved to a 30-person stakeholders group, who meet very quietly. Meanwhile, the politicians edge back onto the playing field and hint at solutions.

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Sound Transit did not hear us

Prop. 1 was soundly defeated, but the leadership of Sound Transit plans to deliver Son of Prop. 1 to the voters this fall. The agency better get used to rejection.

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Is Dino Rossi a moderate?

I wouldn't call him that, but the Republican candidate for governor has no need to run to the right to beat Christine Gregoire. Just as he did in the election cliffhanger of 2004, he can present himself as a comparatively moderate candidate, one in touch with the state's mainstream aspirations. He's starting to do that.

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Chopp, Chopp! The method in the speaker's maddening ways

How Frank Chopp rules Olympia, and why he left the Sonic saviors sputtering. He's become a classic political boss, but he also remains true to the values of helping the poor.

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More evidence that Washington infrastructure collapse is over-hyped

Okay, classify this as a pet peeve, but it bugs me when politicians, including Christine Gregoire, wave the bloody shirt of the Minnesota bridge collapse as an all-purpose rationale to boost infrastructure spending. Gregoire has done this often. She raised the specter of the Minnesota disaster as an argument in favor of Proposition 1 last fall; she raised it again to argue for a new toll bridge across the Columbia River, and yet again at a national governor's meeting in February. I have no quarrel with repairing or inspecting roads and bridges--please, let's do that. But the fact is, we still don't have the final word on what happened in Minnesota, so the lesson there is unclear.

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When government swings the wrecking ball

Plans for Seattle Center, the University of Washington and the Capitol Campus in Olympia suggest that public agencies, like private developers, are willing to flatten historic buildings if they get in the way. What kind of historic preservation message is that?

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At City Hall, a showdown over historic preservation

Trouble is brewing as critics and defenders of Seattle's landmarks process prepare to face off at a public meeting. Meanwhile, a lawsuit over the recent designation of a Ballard diner hangs over the debate.

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Traffic's so bad, we might actually be willing to pay a toll

Puget Sound policy-makers have been taking the public pulse. Their surveys reveal that people are generally pessimistic about the future, frustrated with traffic, and willing to pay to cross Lake Washington in a car — as long as it's really cheap.

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New cure for collapsing bridges: state and union pension funds?

With Washington facing mounting costs for roads, transit, and bridges, might the answer lie in tapping union pension funds? It certainly doesn't look like taxpayers are going to do much more. The Legislature is getting more tax averse and Eyman-minded. Bucking the costs down to a regional level, as in the defeated Proposition 1, doesn't seem to work either, as the local politicians load up any proposals with Christmas tree goodies. So if self-discipline won't tame the problem of too many claimants on too little money, maybe an infusion of money will do the trick? Enter America's second-biggest union federation, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), as well as an idea from super-dense Hong Kong.

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Tear down a viaduct, and then the wars really begin

We sometimes think that Seattle alone has "the Seattle malaise," meaning long-drawn-out disputes over development that often end in stalemate or ugly compromises. We are not alone. Consider this story from San Francsisco's Octavia Boulevard, as reported by John King of the San Francisco Chronicle. It's a cautionary tale for Seattle because it involves development of an area where once loomed an elevated freeway. Tear it down and you get, well, a street fight.

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