ALLIED ARTS :: WATERFRONT COMMITTEE

January 8, 2006

Governor Christine Gregoire
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Dear Governor Gregoire:
RE: Seattle's Waterfront For All

Allied Arts is a fifty-year-old organization in Seattle known for its history of creating great urban architecture and civic spaces. This organization works closely with professional architects, engineers, business organizations, environmental groups and community leaders. We are on the board and write this on behalf of Allied Arts.

We concur with you that the Alaskan Way Viaduct corridor is a critical piece in our transportation system and that jobs and safety are serious concerns; we agree that the leadership in our region must act now to fix the aging seawall and viaduct. We also believe firmly that Washington State Department of Transportation and the Seattle City Council made the right decision last January when they endorsed the tunnel option for the Alaskan Way/Seawall replacement project. We ask you to help us build the tunnel and thereby create a Waterfront for all.

Stay the Course: Build the Tunnel
Last January, the Seattle City Council and Mayor Nickels agreed with WSDOT that the tunnel was the preferred option. In addition to meeting our freight and mobility needs, the tunnel offers many other benefits important to our region including:

The Tunnel Is Cost Effective and Affordable We have the financial resources in this region to build the tunnel, and as Initiative 912 demonstrated we have the political will to raise money when the public sees a benefit. Seattle voted 78% against I-912-many of us voters did so because of the opportunity to create a great Waterfront. Recent, validated estimates from WSDOT and the City show that we are less than $310 million away from reaching the financial goal to build the tunnel. (Please see funding source sheet attached). We ask that you support us to find the necessary funding to build the tunnel and create a great Waterfront.

Compare the Costs and Benefits of a Viaduct to a Tunnel Granted, building the preferred option -- the tunnel and the core waterfront project-- is estimated to be 15% to 25% more than rebuilding a viaduct, but making a decision based solely on the basis of a low bid is fiscally and socially short sighted. If we rebuild the viaduct, we'll spend $3 billion dollars and get nothing more than a transportation corridor for our money. To meet required new safety standards, the new structure would be substantially bigger than the existing viaduct, leaving us with even less space for people on the Waterfront. By contrast, if we build the Waterfront as envisioned by Allied Arts, we will get space for people, a new regional economic engine, and great transportation.

In 2001, the Nisqually Earthquake damaged the viaduct so severely that engineers conclude it must come down. Because the viaduct is essentially out of the equation, we invite you to consider the Waterfront as a blank canvas. The days of constructing a new freeway through an urban neighborhood are long since past. We would not dream of erecting a new double-decked freeway on Alki, Shilshole or Lake Washington Boulevard, and we strongly object to rebuilding the viaduct on the downtown waterfront now.

Allied Arts agrees that keeping freight and people moving smoothly across our region is critical; at the same time this is a once in a lifetime chance to leverage funds from a transportation project for regional good. By building the tunnel, we have the opportunity to reconnect neighborhoods to the Waterfront, create new open and green space, increase habitat for marine life, and expand available land area for new housing and businesses. Building a tunnel will maintain the traffic capacity required by the Legislature and meet the Seattle City Council's 2005 guiding principles.

This past summer, Allied Arts conducted a Waterfront Collaborative with over 30 architects preparing illustrations for what the Waterfront could look like and what environmental and economic benefits will occur with the viaduct removed. In the near future Allied Arts will introduce our region to some exciting new architectural designs, including an extension of Pike Place Market from the Waterfront to Battery Street, as well as the possibility of a new park and additional housing and business space near the stadia. These visions, as well as other goals, are increasingly supported by key community leaders and organizations in our region, including the Downtown Seattle Association, People for Puget Sound, Transportation Choices Coalition, Discovery Institute-Cascadia Center, Downtown Seattle Residents Council, Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau and various neighborhood groups including Pioneer Square and Belltown to name just a few. When the life cycle costs and benefits are considered the tunnel is the clear choice for us.

Because we are passionate about creating a great Waterfront, Allied Arts members and our colleagues have provided resources and political backing for the supporters of the tunnel option and will continue to do so. In the past year as Governor, as well as the years as Attorney General before that, you have demonstrated your vision, leadership and wisdom for this state. We ask for your support now. You can help us do much more than just maintain the flow of traffic-we call upon you to support our regional goals on the Alaskan Way/Seawall project. Together we can create both a legacy and a Waterfront for all generations to come.

Yours very truly,

Sally Bagshaw, Chair, Allied Arts Waterfront Committee
Laine Ross,President, Allied Arts Of Seattle