Maybe we could just fill in the hole with those two hundred thousand dollar toilets we said wouldn't work.

And just where was Dominic on the evening of December 18th, 2013?

"The city" voted down the tunnel. The decision to build a tunnel ultimately came Gregoire's office in Olympia.

Too bad McGinn didn't stick to his guns.

It's too bad this didn't happen in Sept-Oct. McGinn would still be mayor. Being totally fucking right is small consolation now.

Look: We're not bragging about this. We're not happy to see the tunnel machine fail and fail again.

i didn't think that before, but now that you mention it [squint].. you-all do come off as rather braggy and schadenfreudey

"We're not bragging about this."

I think, in this scenario, a good ol' fashioned 'I told you so' would be just fine. After all, you told us so.

I'm happy to see the tunnel machine fail and fail again. This was a stupid idea rammed down the throat of the people of Seattle by local and state leaders, including everyone in the city council. That was the only thing that was fast and efficient about this project. The more it fails completely, the better off we'll be. Cut off our losses indeed. I'm channeling my inner Rush Limbaugh here. "I hope it fails!"

but it created jobs!

Abort this mission. Stop now before it's too late.

In the end, we'll figure something else out and save (yes, really) save money.

Yes, tunneling, something always goes wrong.

http://www.kaydonbearings.com/downloads/… Yeah, so these bearings are like a 10 ft diameter (or more) piece and you'll need something to hold all the weight of the cutter head while installing. I think you're better off replacing the bearings now vs repacking/replacing seals and having a problem as this machine is 100 ft down under 1st avenue.

If the city had listened to him (Holden) back then, we might not be in this mess right now.

I must have missed the part of that story where Dominic actually suggested a corrective action.

Remind me, did Murray and Chopp ever actually sponsor any of this legislation from Holden's article ?
" think there is support in the senate to reform that provision," says state senator Ed Murray. "I think the mayor has a valid point. The legislature needs to get that fixed. Seattle should be treated like any other jurisdiction, it should not be required to pay cost overruns on the state highway."

Murray says he would sponsor legislation to make the city and state share the burden of cost overruns equitably. The question is whether the state house would pass it. Speaker Frank Chopp says he can't speculate. The most powerful person in the house, Chopp represents the 43rd District—comprising the central city, the same district that Murray represents—and his Seattle constituents should press him for a deal that is fair to Seattle.

Really Every story must be about Dominic Holden ? Are the staff of The Stranger required to masturbate to pictures of him ?
Maybe The Stranger needs a new column: World Events Today in the context of Dominic Holden>
It could go nicely with your current series: Grave Injustices Committed Against Dominic Holden.
I think even you could turn it into a money-making opportunity: get Taco Bell or Burger King to print a series of Dominic Holden soda cups -collect them all !
So, Dominic predicted some things could go really wrong with Bertha -him and 200,000 other people.

I remember that original article. It was well-written and researched. It should've been heeded. So true.

...and now, I kinda wish y'all weren't so goddamned giddy that it's becoming the predicted boondoggle.

Show a little decorum, fuckers.

#5

McGinn is in fact, as much a progenitor of the mess as any one.

Not only did his disavow his mandate, the reason he was elected, no tunnel, but he worked with Gregoire to secure that cost over runs would be borne by the state not the city.

With tons of cash ready for the taking at the slightest stripped gear, the temptation for failure escalated.

I'll play the mediator here, there will be a fix for the machine. It will take awhile but with all the public pressure and the money already invested they cannot abandon the project. Look on the bright side, how would you like to be a project manager on this fiasco? All Govt. interference aside, the manufacturers of the machine won't be getting much sleep until this huge machine is running again.

http://www.kaydonbearings.com/downloads/…

Seals
The seals on the bearing should be visually inspected periodically to be sure they are intact. Many people overlook the importance of seals,but they aid considerably in preventing bearing raceway contamination.

#18

Cracked O-rings again. They'll never learn.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co…

IDK seems to me Seattle is stuck. One way or another Bertha is drilling her way out. What "out" means I'm not sure but Bertha will surface at some point in some manner.

"No tunnels! You know what that signifies!" - Agnes Skinner

The problem with "I told you so" is that it doesn't matter how right you are, or how often you're right -- the housing bubble, the Iraq war, Nate Silver's election polling -- it doesn't help, because people don't start listening to you in the future unless you're telling them what they want to hear.

Every time you're right it's treated as complete anomaly.

Oh deary me-- does this mean we will have to rely solely on the four to seven lane surface highway they are planning to build along the waterfront on top of the tunnel?

I hope that by the time they sort out Bertha's issues we'll be ready to re-purpose the tunnel and all its funding for light rail.

@23, probably not because we've spent half the money on the tunnel already and shutting the whole operation down now would probably result in enough unpaid bills that are being foisted as Seattle's responsibility that actually making that surface street would be outside any forseeable budget.

@24 We've spent half the money? Which is to say that we're only at 1st Ave, we've just started, and they're so screwed that half the money they expected to spend is already gone?

By all means, let's continue. Why, we have no other choice. Stopping this monster that's chewing up our future is beyond our power. Nothing we can do!

VORTEX has been opened, end world elements released in smokey mass---The Stranger, represented by Mr. Holden is now in alignment with Dori Monson.

The City Council has just brought in Dr. Quartermass, a pit expert from London, with a great deal of prior experience in these unfortunate situations.

...While digging a new subway line in London, a construction crew discovers first: a skeleton, then what they think is an old World War II German missle. Upon closer examination the "missle" appears to be not of this earth. An ancient Martian spaceship is unearthed in London, and proves to have powerful psychic effects...

#18.... I read that to save money, they stopped using real seals and switched to stuffed teddy bear like ones. Typical governement screw offs. Sheesh.

@26 Please do not associate anyone at the Stranger with dorky munson. If he had the money and the brains he would like to be another limbaugh. He has neither, so we must turn off KIRO from noon to three to keep our blood pressure down. There is no radio personality in the N.W. that deserves to be "let go" more than dorky munson. He used to be good at sports but he got it in his mind that he had a brain.......Maybe Dorothy could give him one.

I'm all for the tunnel and look forward to it's completion.Most projects of that magnitude do have some unexpected challenges. More locals and tourists will be able to enjoy the sounds of the waterfront, the seagulls and heir own conversations while spending money, including tax dollars without the constant roar of viaduct traffic. I find talking with most tunnel opponents they really don't understand the tunnel is meant to be a "by pass" which most urban areas have. It's a way to keep traffic flowing instead of having on and off ramps for downtown. The 1st Ave and 4th Ave ramps to the viaduct are added for local traffic. It helps to do some research before spouting off false information.

@30 Oh PLEASE!

Name me ONE city with a monstrosity of this magnitude for a bypass!

If the viaduct is so bad for tourism, WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL THOSE TOURISTS DOING THERE EVERY FRIGGIN' DAY OF SUMMER?

The way you increase traffic flow is by replacing the roadway with a SMALLER roadway?

The surface street wouldn't have done the same thing?

It's "some unexpected setback"? The damn multimillion-dollar machine can't even get started without breaking and may be done in for good, for all we know! And we can't agree on who's going to pay for the massive cost overruns. And the builders are hiding and obfuscating as much as possible.

"Oh, it's nothing. No big deal. It's just a flesh wound. We'll be fine. Nothing to see here."

#31
"WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL THOSE TOURISTS DOING THERE EVERY FRIGGIN' DAY OF SUMMER?"

Eating fried fish and potatoes and slurping clam chowder, licking ice-cream cones, munching frankfurter dogs, feeding seagulls, taking a million pics of those cute seals in the aquarium, riding the observation wheel, posing the kids at the squid sculpture, wondering aloud what the big empty pier is for, pointing to the ferry boats and whispering in disdain about the homeless people, then taking out one of those tourist maps and wondering how to get to the market.

such proletariat activities will be replaced by proper gentrification in the glorious future world of Seattle....

which is what this was all about, right? The rich get richer and all that...while the rest of us get a literal shaft, and not even one that works properly.

But, you knew that....