Months into the mediation process that was supposed to result in a
long-sought-after agreement on the western portion of a new SR 520
bridge, negotiators—
including house Speaker Frank Chopp,
Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, Governor Christine Gregoire, and representatives
from neighborhoods surrounding the Seattle side of 520—are
closing in on a new preferred alternative.
On Tuesday, February 19, the neighborhood groups formally introduced
their proposal to the mediation team. The new proposal, which the
governor’s office and Ceis say they support in principle, will have a
leg up over the two other options heading into the environmenal review
process. Mediation team member (and city council president) Richard
Conlin calls the new proposal “a halfway house” between the previous
alternatives.
The parkway proposal would replace previously considered
alternatives, including the “Montlake Interchange” to the west and the
once-popular “Pacific Interchange,” which would have included a bulky
bridge from Foster Island over Union Bay to Husky Stadium, where a new
light-rail station is planned. Arboretum supporters opposed the plan
because it would have destroyed a portion of the Arboretum. The new
proposal could get around this problem by digging a tunnel underneath
the Arboretum. It could also include a tunnel under the ship canal, a
smaller bridge across Portage Bay, lids on either side of Montlake
Boulevard,
and/or an “East Montlake Interchange” where the Museum
of History & Industry is now located. 