It's not going to pass, of course, but it's a nice gesture.

Seattle City Council member Mike O'Brien has posted a draft resolution he intends to introduce on Monday that would put the deep-bore tunnel contracts on the August ballot, instead of letting the council approve them outright. In a blog post that notes voters overwhelmingly rejected a tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2007, O'Brien writes, "If this project has cost overruns, the people of Seattle will be paying those cost overruns one way or another. We owe it to our city to give the people a say—are they willing to bear this risk or not?"

And for the wonky details: Monday's special meeting, where eight of the nine council members are expected to override the mayor's tunnel veto, begins at 9:30 a.m. But O'Brien can't introduce his bill at that morning meeting, says council spokeswoman Laura Lockard, because "the public notice and the agenda have already been sent out." Instead the bill would have to be "walked on" at the full council meeting at 2:00 p.m., after the veto override is complete.

Regardless of which meeting the subject comes up, the 8-1 pro-tunnel council is unlikely to allow voters—which polls have shown want to vote on a tunnel referendum and want to address cost overruns financing before contracts are approved—any chance to shoot down the $4.2 billion project.