Still Standing
Ten years ago at 10:54 in the morning, the Nisqually earthquake shook Pugetopia for 45 seconds, knocking stuff off off walls, me completely out of my seat, and the after effects are still felt years later, at least metaphorically. The Alaskan Way Viaduct sustained damage, as did the seawall, and not letting a good crisis go to waste, those in charge leapt into action trying to get a replacement for the double-decker arterial.
It is now ten years later, and the Viaduct is still there. People are still driving over it. It did not collapse like a bunch of matchsticks. It didn't pancake like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Ten years later, we now have a plan to replace the viaduct, but politics has gotten in the way of progress. Even to this day, the Mayor and the nine-person City Council disagree on what should be done.
(For those of you who aren't in this area, the following blog post will be complete local inside baseball and not terribly interesting to outsiders. Come back tomorrow, maybe I'll have something of wider interest)
After the earthquake, there were meetings and proposals, and from seventy-six different ideas, the two finalists in Viaduct Idol were a cut-and-cover tunnel, and a complete rebuild of the viaduct. A political stalemate led to 2007 where two ballot questions were put to the people of Seattle, and true to form the citizens picked "no" both times. The problem is that "none of the above" really isn't an option here.
Minneapolis got a bridge 414 days after the Mississippi River bridge collapse, but we get reams of paper on Social Discipline. We get a mayor and governor who aren't on speaking terms, apparently. Everyone wants to toss the hot potato of "who will pay for the (inevitable) cost overruns, Seattle or the state?" I've used the viaduct all of once, I'm not keen on paying for that. I also know that the Viaduct represents over a hundred thousand daily car trips, and those can't just disappear. Something has to exist, because those people can't just vanish onto the surface streets of Seattle, no matter how much the Mayor and all of his bike riding chums would love to send the area into permanent gridlock.
Here's a wacky idea that would never fly in this area: what if you just retrofit the Viaduct every so often, and put a sign at each entry way: "When these lights are flashing, there's earthquake danger. You assume all risk driving on this road. Exit 1/4 mile." Allow grown-ups to make grown-up choices. If they want to get where they're going, they can white knuckle it until their exit. If not, it'll take longer to go 'round. Nobody would be there to hold your hand, you'd have to pick for yourself. There's no overruns, no need for committees , and the whole thing could be done with a minimum of fuss or muss. Sadly, that's exactly why my cunning plan would never be done, there isn't enough fuss or muss to be spread around.
It is now ten years later, and the Viaduct is still there. People are still driving over it. It did not collapse like a bunch of matchsticks. It didn't pancake like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Ten years later, we now have a plan to replace the viaduct, but politics has gotten in the way of progress. Even to this day, the Mayor and the nine-person City Council disagree on what should be done.
(For those of you who aren't in this area, the following blog post will be complete local inside baseball and not terribly interesting to outsiders. Come back tomorrow, maybe I'll have something of wider interest)
After the earthquake, there were meetings and proposals, and from seventy-six different ideas, the two finalists in Viaduct Idol were a cut-and-cover tunnel, and a complete rebuild of the viaduct. A political stalemate led to 2007 where two ballot questions were put to the people of Seattle, and true to form the citizens picked "no" both times. The problem is that "none of the above" really isn't an option here.
Minneapolis got a bridge 414 days after the Mississippi River bridge collapse, but we get reams of paper on Social Discipline. We get a mayor and governor who aren't on speaking terms, apparently. Everyone wants to toss the hot potato of "who will pay for the (inevitable) cost overruns, Seattle or the state?" I've used the viaduct all of once, I'm not keen on paying for that. I also know that the Viaduct represents over a hundred thousand daily car trips, and those can't just disappear. Something has to exist, because those people can't just vanish onto the surface streets of Seattle, no matter how much the Mayor and all of his bike riding chums would love to send the area into permanent gridlock.
Here's a wacky idea that would never fly in this area: what if you just retrofit the Viaduct every so often, and put a sign at each entry way: "When these lights are flashing, there's earthquake danger. You assume all risk driving on this road. Exit 1/4 mile." Allow grown-ups to make grown-up choices. If they want to get where they're going, they can white knuckle it until their exit. If not, it'll take longer to go 'round. Nobody would be there to hold your hand, you'd have to pick for yourself. There's no overruns, no need for committees , and the whole thing could be done with a minimum of fuss or muss. Sadly, that's exactly why my cunning plan would never be done, there isn't enough fuss or muss to be spread around.