This will get interesting:

A group of state lawmakers has endorsed building a wider Montlake interchange and a second north-south Montlake drawbridge as part of their plan to replace the old Highway 520 floating bridge.

But both House Speaker Frank Chopp and Rep. Jamie Pedersen—who represent the 43rd District—voted against the option, saying there state has more time to take input from neighbors to avoid a potential lawsuit. Here's WSDOT's video of the option selected:


Speaker Chopp is rumored to be a big supporter of a key element not included in the selected option: a tunnel under Montlake. Instead, the workgroup recommendation is a more traditional cloverleaf with a similar footprint to what's there now.

Martin Duke over at Seattle Transit Blog also isn't thrilled with the proposal:

This option is bad news for transit in two ways: it doesn’t provide a good connection from SR520 to the UW Light Rail station, and it’s underfunded by $2 billion.

I'm not sure if Option A is worse than the others. The Husky Stadium light rail station will be a brisk walk from SR-520 freeway bus stops no matter which option is chosen. (But wouldn't it be nice if the guys building our freeways were communicating with the guys building our mass transit system?) Also, the 520 bridge plan is at least $2 billion dollars in the hole regardless which plan is chosen. Option A is less expensive. I'm curious to see if Speaker Chopp throws a wild-card design option in there like he did with the viaduct. A 520 bridge with retail built in? I'd like to see that.