Where do I sign up for that gig?

Viewed in the abstract, the biggest losers in all this is anyone who devoted a nanosecond of processing time to caring about the issue, since it all seems to be a fait accompli.

More wealthy is the oblivious lunkhead, who takes a cheese sandwich to work and consumes it. Happily.

Only $2,000? Are you missing a 0?

@3, a fancy consulting firm can't really justify charging more than that to write "you're fucked", even using the good letterhead.

Well, even the WSDOT figures show a minimum of 4-5 minutes SLOWER commutes with the tunnel, and 8-10 minutes SLOWER for downtown streets.

What if they're lowballing those figures, and the impact due to the Gold Plated Tunnel $8 to $10 round trip commute fare cause times to worsen by 20 minutes AND slow transit time by a similar amount?

Trust. Then verify with a gun at your side.

Talk about a road diet...

@6 maybe, just maybe, if you stopped trying to create a new layer of education bureaucracy you might realize there's no money for a Deeply Boring Tunnel either.

Got Funding?

For a Downunder Beetle Tunnel, @9?

Of course not.

Feasible for a lid tunnel tho, if it's only recessed 20 feet, depending on the gradient and the pumps.

Totally feasible for a surface plus transit or a tear down or an elevated viaduct rebuild tho. All of which are ... wait for it ... cheaper. And have 50 percent extra capacity compared to an unsafe unfunded underground Deeply Budgetkilling Tunnel.

You need to get out more. I recommend the Burke-Gilman.

I got to say I'm with #3. $2,000 is a pittance compared to the scope of the project, and even compared to the scope of the EIS. That would buy what, about 15-hours of time to analyze existing data and generate some kind of report/presentation? Their review of the 520 documents came with a $75k price tag

So I'm guessing that's either a typo, or window dressing.

I don't know where unregistered/no exits is getting his information. The viaduct rebuild and cut-and-cover options both included the mid-town ramps; I saw the illustrations with my own eyes.

These ramps don't exist in the current deep tunnel option because of the cost and engineering challenges of getting the ramps to the surface in a safe and usable configuration.

@12 et al., Nelson/Nygaard already got paid $500K in 2007 and 2008 for developing the Surface/Transit option that didn't quite make the cut. So they've done the footwork already - this $2000 is probably what it will cost for them to do some cutting and pasting into a form suitable for the Council brown bag by the end of the month.

@14: Didn't know that. Makes much more sense now. Thanks.

@15, you bet. I didn't know either until I read your wondering about it, so thanks for getting me going on the Google train.