The Viaduct should be almost finished ...

It was the morning of February 28, 2001 and I was working on the phones in a training center in Bothell. I was standing, as I prefer to do, and appear to have felt it just enough of a second prior to my fellow co-workers, hung up and started to head under the desk. The quake was a 6.8 magnitude quake that damaged significant portions of Pioneer Square in Seattle and brought to a head the need for a replacement to the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct. Six years later, they are still talking about what to do. The demolition and replacement of the Viaduct will take several years. If the State of Washington and City of Seattle had anything remotely resembling leadership the replacement would already be almost finished and would have cost much less than what voters are facing in the upcoming election.

Emperor Nickels was not even mayor at the time and is still dealing with this, but he wants the tunnel option so badly that he is willing to hold his breath until his face turns blue, or until he gets voted out of office, whichever comes first. The Seven Dwarves of the Seattle City Council are utterly incapable of deciding anything and will study something longer than grad students on a trust fund. Governor Gregoire has finally decided to just "git er done" and forced the hand of the Emperor and the Seven Dwarves. It is so far past pathetic that it has come to this I don't even want to get started.

The Viaduct was in need of replacement years prior to the Nisqually Earthquake. Yet, 6 years later they have not even started, when they could almost be finished had they dove into this at the time.