Oy, vey.

OK, so for anyone who stumbles on my blatherings who is not from the Seattle area, we have this structure downtown, an elevated, double-decker highway that runs along the waterfront known as "The Viaduct." It's old. It's not particularly attractive. And it may not be seismically safe.

But it allows well over one hundred thousand people a day to get from the south to the north, and vice-versa, without having to travel through downtown Seattle on surface streets, or to brave I5. Also, since it runs along the waterfront, it carries quite a lot of commercial traffic.

In typical Seattle fashion, we (it's a state highway, so "we" means anyone in the state of Washington AC) have been debating a replacement. "Typical Seattle fashion" means that everyone has their own favorite idea, which they proclaim at the top of their voices, while sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting "LA, LA LA" whenever anyone else talks.

Grossly simplified, the contenders are three: A replacement viaduct, a tunnel, and a "surface streets" "solution." (Occasionally, someone will suggest a bridge across Elliot Bay.)

A new viaduct will be a bit pricey, but promises to do the job of providing speedy, efficient access to the waterfront for a decent price.

The surface streets option will cost the less, unless you start figuring the costs incurred by all the hours of being stuck in traffic...

And the tunnel promises to cost the most. It would bypass Seattle altogether, with little or no access to or egress from the tunnel in the city. With Seattle's relatively high water table, it would be susceptible to flooding,. and, of course, Seattle is on a seismically unstable area...

After several attempts to describe the childish whining and temper tantrums displayed by all sides, including the efforts to sweet-talk the state or Fed to get involved, I decided to spare you.

Suffice to say that the newly elected governor and mayor McCheese of Seattle have decided that we will have a tunnel.

Read more at Northwest Freethinker and Sound Politics.

Apparently references to Boston's Big Dig completely elude elected officials in this state.