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1

Here is the letter the Sierra Club sent to Sound Transit:

Mr. Ilgenfritz,

We are writing to urge corrections to the mailing that Sound Transit is sending to all registered voters next week. The draft we received yesterday afternoon states the following:

"Vulnerable bridges would be replaced in the RTID plan,
including the SR 520 Bridge, the SR 9 Bridge over the
Snohomish River, and Seattle’s South Park Bridge."

And, under the heading of "What would Proposition 1 do?":

"Fix urgent bridge safety problems, including repairing and replacing vulnerable bridges—SR 520, South Spokane Street Viaduct, the South Park Bridge, and the SR 9 Bridge over the Snohomish River."

We agree that the RTID plan replaces the South Park Bridge, one of our region's most dangerous structures with a federal sufficiency rating of just 4%. However, it is not accurate to state that RTID funds replacement of the SR 520 and SR 9 bridges, or that it repairs or replaces SR 520, SR 9, or the South Spokane Street Viaduct.

RTID provides $1.1 billion toward SR 520 bridge replacement, but this is substantially less than the total needed. Even with funds from anticipated tolling and gas tax increases, the project will require $2.4 billion complete. RTID leaves the project $1.3 billion short.

The SR 9 bridge project is part of a corridor plan to widen the highway from two to five lanes. There is at present no plan to replace this bridge, nor does RTID fund full replacement. A likely outcome is a second span to carry northbound traffic, with the current bridge converted to southbound traffic only. The current bridge is not classified as vulnerable by DOT, nor has it been designated as a priority for replacement. Additional lanes over the Snohomish river are simply needed because of highway widening.

Similarly, the plan for the Spokane Street Viaduct is to build a new structure to carry westbound traffic, connected to the current viaduct which will be converted to eastbound use. The City of Seattle has posted a useful image here:

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/spokanestreetcontract4.htm

RTID funds are for the portion of the Spokane Street Viaduct maintained by the City of Seattle (west of Sixth Avenue South). The existing structure was seismically retrofitted in 1998-1999. With a federal sufficiency rating of 60.5% already, bracing from the new westbound structure will make the existing viaduct even safer. As a consequence, the only improvement planned for the current structure is repaving.

Unfortunately, conditions on the part of the Spokane Street Viaduct maintained by the state (east of Sixth Avenue South) are much worse. The 1,800 foot eastbound connection to I-5 carries 31,525 vehicles a day, and has a sufficiency rating of 32%. The 2,800 foot westbound connection goes over I-5 with 43,328 vehicles a day and a rating of 29.5%. RTID provides no funding, indirect bracing, or anything at all for these truly vulnerable sections.

Given the taxpayer-funded nature of this mailing, we urge you to correct these inaccuracies. You should also reconsider the large size of this full color document (33 by 11 inches) and the rhetoric in the text. A government document should never be confused with campaign literature.

Sincerely,

Michael O'Brien
Chair, Cascade Chapter, Sierra Club

Posted by Seattle_Chris | October 4, 2007 8:24 AM
2

Maybe the Sierra Club should file another lawsuit and have SoundTransit/RTID send out another mailer with corrections included?

Posted by Another lawsuit? | October 4, 2007 8:26 AM
3

That letter was boring.

Posted by Mr. Poe | October 4, 2007 8:27 AM
4


Did you know the State Department has a blog? Well our BFFs at Wonkette tipped me off and sweet jayzus, it’s a doozy. It’s called DIPNOTE, so of course like three seconds later everyone’s already calling it DIPSHIT.

Ever wanted to ask those low-life motherfuckers how they can sleep at night knowing they’ve helped ruin the lives of countless millions and turned the US into a hated and despised international pariah? Now you can!

Are you a shameless liar with no sense of right or wrong? Then check out the careers section!

The blog entries promise to be the same mindless Republican talking points about FREEDOM® cribbed off a Fox News teleprompter, but the comments are comedy gold. My faves so far:

“Great! Another Govt propaganda site… just what America needs… MORE LIES. Great job!” –Anonymous

Or Tom in USA who wisely writes:

“This blog is absurd. Please, the Department that brought us the Iraq war and allows Blackwater to run free drunkenly killing civilians is going to provide unbiased news? Get real.”

Thanks, Wonkette, for yet another reason to cheat on our taxes.

http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/welcome/

Posted by Original Andrew | October 4, 2007 8:30 AM
5

I know a lot of you don't like Sullivan much, but his "war crimes" piece up right now is as good a sound-bite summation of this criminal administration's legacy as you're likely to read, and has links to several of the most recent, and most damning, articles.

"There is no doubt [...] that these tactics are torture and subject to prosecution as war crimes [...] we know this because the very same techniques [...] and even the very same term 'enhanced interrogation techniques' [...] were once prosecuted by American forces as war crimes. The perpetrators were the Gestapo. The penalty was death."

Posted by Fnarf | October 4, 2007 8:36 AM
6

tl dr

Posted by zzz | October 4, 2007 8:37 AM
7

To lose a half dozen miners may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two thousand looks like carelessness.

Posted by elenchos | October 4, 2007 9:15 AM
8

Fortunately, elenchos, none of them were actually lost (although I appreciate the "Importance Of Being Earnest" ref).

Posted by COMTE | October 4, 2007 9:57 AM
9

Fnarf @ 5,

You're right, that is a great post. However, Sullivan asks at the end what we're going to do about the war criminals in the White House (and presumably at Justice and the CIA) when the answer is painfully obvious: Absolutely nothing.

Well, that's not exactly true. They'll go on to become lobbyists, get seven figure book deals and tenured positions in the liberal academia that they profess to hate, but we can bet they'll see no negative consequences for their actions because apparently, for a host of reasons, our "leaders" can now violate the Constitution, federal and international law with impunity. So long as they don't get caught with a dime bag of course -then they'd get locked up for life.

Reminds me of that letter Kevin Tillman wrote before the 2006 elections when he said that somehow our country has come to stand for everything it claims to be against.

This is what happens when a society goes insane, yeah?

Posted by Original Andrew | October 4, 2007 10:09 AM
10

THIS JUST IN:

Idaho Senator Larry "I'm not gay" Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea rejected:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134202/

Posted by COMTE | October 4, 2007 11:33 AM

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