An update on our original story about the initiative to stop the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel. The head of the Magnolia Neighborhood Planning Council Elizabeth Campbell is circulating petitions in an attempt to gather enough signatures by mid summer to have the initiative approved by the City Council or put to a vote.
The coincidentally-named Initiative 99 was submitted right after Gov. Christine Gregoire, Mayor Greg Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims announced agreement to build the $4.2-billion tunnel. The petitions and a ballot title were approved this week.
The initiative, if approved, would prohibit use of public property for a tunnel. Campbell must collect at least 17,968 voter signatures by July. 20. Campbell expects to use paid signature gatherers as well as volunteers to circulate petitions to registered city voters.
Selection of the tunnel was promoted by a number of downtown and business interests as a way to remove the viaduct from the waterfront but maintain traffic flow through downtown. Campbell supports replacing the viaduct with a cable-stay bridge over Elliott Bay and calls the tunnel plan ”laughable…a toy tunnel”.
KING5 interview with Campbell here.
