Genius!

Nice riff on this. You might have had to be alive and sentient in the late 60's/early 70's to get it though.

It's a cute graphic, but they should have paid more attention to the copy.

it's mildly amusing and rather lazily derivative of the old VW ad, but it doesn't actually explain anything...

I'm puzzled why the anti tunnel gang is so gleeful at the current setbacks. It's like the republicans in congress wanting Obama to fail. Immature and shortsighted. The course was chosen, it wasn't the course you wanted, that's democracy. Now that it's happening you should be rooting for best result. This will sort out, the tunnel will be completed. Most large projects run late and overbudget, especially if they're out near the limits of a technology. The tunnel isn't the best solution, but it was a reasonable solution among the choices and now that it's coming I want to see it work out.

@4 - It's still possible to stop the fucking tunnel already. And knowing how much time and money will be required is a big part of knowing when to cut your losses, but I guess the people in charge of knowing that don't want to answer questions about how the project is going.

@4 Derivative? That's the whole point you mook, it's a parody!

I likes it! Strange Daze these, when Dori Monson and The Stranger actually agree on something :)

@4: Nailed it. No, there won't be a cancellation. And while we're at it, McGinn lied and lost.

Someone has been watching Mad Men. Donald Draper is pissed. Or Peggy. Roger could give two shits...

@MacCrocodile: that don't want to answer questions about how the project is going.

Sure they do.

I'm confused, so the tunneling machine is good?

Clicking emsmallens, not embiggens.

@4, you will see it work out but not how you want it to work out.

I'm puzzled why the anti tunnel gang is so gleeful at the current setbacks.

I can't speak for all anti-tunnel folk, but I think this is good news because it increases the chances of the project getting killed before we waste billions more. It was a boondoggle from the beginning; I've always maintained there was enough uncertainty about technology, process, and funding that the chances of a completed tunnel were never much greater than 50/50. Now, they're obviously lower. At some point, hopefully, local politicians will swallow their pride, demonstrate an understanding of sunk costs, and start directing energy toward workable solutions. Or, alternatively, representatives from the rest of the state will wake up to the costs to their own districts of letting this lemon bleed WSDOT dry, leaving nothing for their own district's projects. Anything that makes that more likely sooner is good news for the region and the environment, and well worth cheering.

@14 the tunnel will not be killed. It will just cost more.

My problem with the copy is it implies that a million tunnel machines are made a year and we got a bad one. That misses whatever irony there is in the situation completely. We had the largest tunnel machine in the world built and it is broken. They should be attacking hubris rather than assembly line manufacturing.

@4: "I'm puzzled why the anti tunnel gang is so gleeful at the current setbacks. It's like the republicans in congress wanting Obama to fail."

What a terribly dumb analogy.

We WANT a road replacement. We knew that this method was over-cost and unnecessary. The Republicans don't want any of Obama's plans, no matter the method.

@16 You guys are still cheering on failure, that's pretty fucked up.

Wasn't the Lemon the Monorail. 125 million pissed away?

@11: since Dom seems unable to get any info, read the Seattle times. Fixing is expected to take 6 to 7 months. Fixing costs would be covered by the contractor although unclear if there'll be other costs. Not good news, obviously, but no one is considering abandoning the project.

@17 We're not cheering failure. We're saying, "I told you so," and hoping that you listen to us in the future. We're seeing that canceling the project now could save the city hundreds of millions of dollars. We know that even if it's finished, the city might still lose money each year on its maintenance costs.

I'm sure the next six months will really prove crucial.

Are the videos of what happens to the viaduct in an earthquake still up on SDOT's site? I got so goddamn paranoid after being barraged with their propaganda...though I see they aren't so intetested in reminding us now that we have the absolutely slowest replacement option dead in the ground.

I do think the tunnel is a terrible idea, but we collectively decided we needed to do something, and soon, since the viaduct is unsafe. Apparently this wasn't exactly the most efficient solution however.

It's impossible to take anything Dom says seriously at this point. Congrats, man. With these wildly misleading narratives, you've earned the position of the left wing's Matt Drudge.

In this scenario, all costs are taken by the contractor. The city is out nothing.

I appreciate your skepticism on this matter. I hope you will continue to review this project to make sure this is the case. But stop acting like a damn child.

@20 Nice finish there. :)

I do think the tunnel is a terrible idea, but we collectively decided we needed to do something, and soon, since the viaduct is unsafe.

If we'd gone with the roads and transit plan, the viaduct would already be gone. Among the many ways the tunnel option is completely insane, it's the one that leaves the viaduct up the longest.

@19 "Not good news, obviously, but no one is considering abandoning the project."
Just exactly who is this "no one?