The majority of people in and around Seattle support replacing the SR99 Alaskan Way Viaduct with a bored tunnel, a survey has found. On learning key project details, 62 per cent of 1,000 registered voters supported a tunnel.
“This survey helped us understand how effective our outreach efforts have been so far,” said Paula Hammond, secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
Ron Paananean, WSDOT’s Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program administrator added, “Replacing the viaduct has long been a controversial project, but this survey shows that after learning information about the project, people think the proposed bored tunnel is the right solution. In addition to strong support for the bored tunnel, there was a significant majority that support maintaining or increasing capacity in the SR99 corridor.”
Meanwhile, Washington state governor Chris Gregoire announced that both bids submitted to design and build the SR99 bored tunnel were at or below the contract price limit; both were from two teams of national and international firms. Representatives from the WSDOT, Seattle Dept of Transportation, industry experts and the programme’s Strategic Technical Advisory Team will take part in proposal evaluation on a points credit system.The total cost of the tunnels and associated works is estimated at USD 1.96bn.
