Council President Richard Conlin’s office responded to this post, about the council freezing funding for the mayor’s transportation plan, by forwarding The Stranger a letter Conlin sent the mayor on July 7 (.pdf). In the letter, Conlin goes over the council’s rational. Among his comments—explaining that a predetermined favor for light rail over other transit improvements was unacceptable—was this criticism: “As with any intellectually honest exercise, it would be inappropriate to identify the specific transit mode investment before having considered a range of alternatives and options based on evaluative criteria,” Conlin wrote.
The irony here is too much. Conlin is the leader of the deep-bore tunnel charge, a project that has not even produced a draft version of the state’s environmental impact statement, which compares the tunnel option to the other alternatives studied by the state. That’s not due out in draft form for public comment until this fall, and the final statement isn’t due out until next year. But the council intends to choose the project this summer. So you gotta wonder if “it would be inappropriate to identify the specific transit mode investment before having considered a range of alternatives and options based on evaluative criteria.”
god. i just want to punch him in the face. stop pissing on our heads and telling us it’s raining.
There is no logic to the tunnel. It is a tax, plain and simple, on the back of taxpayers…not just in Seattle, but in all King County.
Examine the facts.
1) The Viaduct is deemed “Unsafe”.
2) The City Council rather than removing it, uses it as a weapon to force money to be spent in an “emergency”.
3) The rush to tax and build a boondoggle, is coupled to keeping this “unsafe” Viaduct up and running for years!
Logic would say:
1. Unsafe Viaduct? Tear it down now!
2. Have a “trial year or two” where we simply reroute traffic to the current surface street, Alaska.
3. See how it works. Experiment rather than analyze. Try rather than “architect”.
4. Then and only then, plan something more grandiose!
This logic applies to the 520 bridge as well. It’s unsafe. So close it. Now.
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
No Vote for Seattle Citizens == RIOTS and EX-councilmembers.
@1 ftw.
Dominic- rational vs. rationale.
Seriously, forget the tunnel, just a book on a textbook, comical example of dysfunctional politics. This is pure comedy. You could call it “Our Pet Goat,” since that’s how relevant our Council and it’s President is slipping toward.
Richard Conlin is a coward and a liar.
I can not wait to vote against Conlin.
Right… It’s not like Conlin has been on the Council for a decade or anything. And I’m sure he’s never seen any studies about technologies to use in these transit corridors. After all, no one else here has ever heard of proposals to run rapid transit to West Seattle or Ballard, right? This is completely new information! Crazy Mayor McGinn…