The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) officials are scheduled to sign a contract with Seattle Tunnel Partners to design and build the much debated Alaskan Way Viaduct (SR 99) deep bored tunnel at 3 p.m. today at the Port of Seattle Atrium, located at 2711 Alaskan Way, moving forward with the controversial Viaduct and Seawall replacement project.
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You can watch the signing streaming live here, courtesy of the Seattle Channel.
If you haven’t been following the Viaduct replacement project news as of late, here’s a quick update. Last month of the companies bidding for a contract to construct the project, WSDOT identified Seattle Tunnel Partners as the best value—with a proposed price of nearly $1.09 billion. From WDOT:
Total cost of the proposed bored tunnel is estimated to be $1.96 billion. This includes design, right-of-way acquisition, construction management, and more than $200 million set aside for risk. Also included in the $1.96 billion are separate, future construction contracts for roadway connections at the north and south ends of the tunnel.
The total cost of the Viaduct replacement project, however, is estimated at a much higher price: $3.1 billion.
Despite the contract signing, the project is no more popular. In a press release sent out today Move Seattle Smarter, a coalition of local organizations working to bring “honesty, transparency and accountability to the funding of this state transportation project,” and protect “Seattle’s priorities from cost overruns,” took a stand against the project.
The group is currently collecting signatures for the “Seattle Taxpayer Protection Initiative,” going before Seattle voters later this year.
“The State and Seattle City Council have made it clear that they intend to blindly plow forward no matter the cost,” Move Seattle Smarter spokesperson Drew Paxton said in the statement. “Our elected officials are displaying a blatant disregard for the potentially devastating financial implications of this project. Given the devastating budget cuts that have already occurred at the state level, and the $4.6 billion deficit facing our state in 2011-2013, this is beyond irresponsible, it’s immoral.”
“It’s ironic that WSDOT will sign these contracts at the Port of Seattle Headquarters when the Port still has not presented a plan for how they will fulfill their $300 million commitment to the project. What taxes will they raise? What programs will they cut? It’s astonishing that during these challenging economic times our elected leaders refuse to have an honest and open conversation about something as basic as how they plan to pay for a project with so much risk.”
While Mayor Mike McGinn is admittedly not a fan of the tunnel plan, he maintains that the city is committed to the project, and as the mayor he will work to execute it in the best way possible for the city.
Watch an interactive video on the project here. Follow the project progress at WSDOT’s Viaduct project website.