In this guest column, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and King County Executive Ron Sims argue that Seattle needs to find a creative solution to the problem posed by its aging inner-city freeway.
"It might surprise some to learn that crews are busy working on the Alaskan Way Viaduct right now. Yes, the center span - the 'riddle in the middle' - gets the attention, but construction is now under way on sections of the route that need to be fixed no matter how the riddle is solved. Indeed, this first-phase effort will replace 40 percent of the Alaskan Way Viaduct."
"After completing repair work on two columns, the state, King County and the city of Seattle are moving ahead on both the south and north ends of the Highway 99 corridor. This work, which begins with electrical-line relocation this fall, is the first step toward tremendous long-term benefits for our region."
"In addition, more buses will travel downtown, and construction projects to create a wider Spokane Street Viaduct and stadium-area ramps to Interstate 5 and Interstate 90 will begin this fall."
"But we know the mile in the middle is the real challenge."
FULL STORY: Solve the Alaskan Way riddle with multidimensional thinking
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Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont