The megaproject to repair the delayed downtown highway megaproject has been delayed. Again.

The tunnel project team had their shot to build the tunnel before the viaduct was torn down. They blew it, and now the viaduct is sinking beyond previously-stated safe limits.

We can no longer wait for the tunnel. State and city leaders need to start work on tearing down the viaduct, shoring up the seawall and building the planned surface boulevard the region needs to keep people and goods moving.

We do not need the tunnel highway. It was an appealing idea to many that the tunnel be in operation before the viaduct is demolished, but it no longer seems wise to tie viaduct teardown work to the endlessly delayed tunnel schedule. We’ve run out of time. The viaduct must be torn down or it is going to come down on its own.

“The Council’s top priority is the safety of the public,” Councilmember Jean Godden said Monday during a meeting about the Alaskan Way Viaduct Project. Godden is chair of the special committee on the project. WSDOT’s Tim Moore ballparked his confidence in the viaduct structure at 95 percent. That other 5 percent? Earthquake fears. But this gamble is less like rolling dice and more like Russian Roulette: The best way to win is to stop playing.

The Bertha saga gets worse and worse, and it seems ever more likely that the highway tunnel will never be completed. And it definitely will not be completed without millions or maybe billions more taxpayer dollars, and no governing body is eager to step up and volunteer the money.

But worse, as the project continues to sit stalled underground, the Alaskan Way Viaduct and some nearby buildings are sinking. The waterfront double-decker highway was already one tremor away from collapsing, possibly taking dozens of lives with it and damaging historic buildings and vital parts of the city’s working waterfront. Now it seems work to repair Bertha could potentially do the same thing. (more…)