She's absolutely right on this point. Repair, rebuild, tunnel, or bridge, we'll still need to maximize transit and surface.

The problem is that Gregoire's incoherence and lack of leadership on the viaduct replacement options and her over-reliance on WSDOT has done more than just about anything to obscure the common ground around transit and surface. Not that any other politician involved has done much better.

It's time for everyone to unite around a common plan: Repair, prepare with transit and surface, and then evaluate replacement options.

Over-reliance on DOT? Hello! What the hell is DOT FOR? What the hell are our taxes paying for? Who then should she listen to?
The Stranger editorial board?

In all fairness, she was talking even then about the need for transit to play a role in future projects, and how we need to change our auto-focused planning and development.

But when I asked her why we weren't doing that for this project, she dodged the question. She was clearly focused on vehicle capacity and not transit when talking about the AWV.

Still, her point was we need to do transit but only after replacing the existing capacity. And stated back then that she didn't believe a Surface+Transit option would work because it couldn't handle all the 110,000 vehicles currently there.

Apparently, she thinks that people currently driving in Seattle are incapable of using transit if properly planned, but all the new drivers and people who move to Seattle in the future will just magically be transit users and not continue to demand more road capacity.

WSDOT is a highway-building agency. Any comprehensive solution for the waterfront is going to be broader than simply building (or not building) a new highway. Transit and improvements to surface streets are central, as Gregoire now admits. There are also clear aspects of smart urban development, and environmental considerations related to the project. She should have been gathering information from all relevant sources, then making a clear decision, and then directing WSDOT to do its part once a decision was made.

Instead, Gregoire has allowed herself to be led by WSDOT, which is exactly backwards of a true leadership role. It reminds me of classic "Yes, Minister," with the clueless politician led around by the civil service and other entrenched interests.

you have a set of criteria you need to CHANGE.

what would Dino Rossi have done? i bet he'd have cheaped out & gone for the surface solution, then shunted the money to 520. no? well, i can dream. i can't believe that i'm pining for a fucking republican governor...

WSDOT does all kinds of things related to all modes of transportation in this state.

Don't just make stuff up because you don't like what you're hearing from them.

About 11% of WSDOT's budget (both revenue and spending side) is not for highways and ferries (which are legally highways) and related administration. 3 of that 11% goes to trains--mostly freight trains, though some funding goes to support federal (Amtrak) and local (e.g. streetcars in Seattle) rail projects. The other 8% basically goes to supplement funding for local bus service.

These are all transit services planned and implemented by local and regional agencies. When it comes to transit, WSDOT is acting as a parasite agency that takes in local dollars and then redistributes them, on a very small scale, without adding value. For all intents and purposes, WSDOT plans and implements highways, and that's all they do.