A group of powerful progressive organizations are storming City Hall, saying Seattle lawmakers have failed to protect city interests from being steamrolled by the state plan to build a deep-bore tunnel under downtown. This week, they're talking to city council members to drive their point home.

The group fired its first shot on March 24, when the Sierra Club, Transportation Choices Coalition, the People's Waterfront Coalition, and eight other civic, professional, and environmental organizations presented a letter to Mayor Mike McGinn and City Council Members calling for an expert review panel to closely monitor the Washington Department of Transportation's proposed tunnel project and protect Seattle's interests.

"The state has not lived up to its promises so far," says Bill Laborde, director of Transportation Choices.

Laborde is referring to a 2009 promise from Governor Christine Gregoire to help pass legislation allowing King County Metro to raise vehicle license fees. The revenue stream was supposed to pay for increased transit options during tunnel construction and after its completion (as there will be no tunnel on and off ramps downtown). Instead, when the package hit her desk, Gregoire vetoed it.

This year city interests fared no better in Olympia. Seattle legislatures failed to get any bills introduced, let alone passed, that would protect Seattle taxpayers from the burden of potential cost overruns associated with the tunnel.

Transit issues and cost overruns aren't the only concerns the organizations have, but they illustrate the need for such a a review panel. Their letter states, "We are counting on you, as leaders of Seattle, to provide intelligent oversight and a dedicated defense of the city's interests. Our shared goal is to ensure this investment is aligned with Seattle's long-term future, which will require well-informed decisions every step of the way."

Leaders from these organizations say such dedicated defense would include monitoring the design of portal neighborhoods around the tunnel, the structural integrity of buildings near the deep bore site, transit and transportation alternatives for a tunnel that will have no downtown on ramps or exits, and the likely reality of cost overruns, including what they mean for Seattle taxpayers.

More after the jump.

It all comes down to an issue of scope—the state's scope for this project is huge, and the city's issues are very small in comparison.

"This is a megaproject," explains Laborde, and with megaprojects, costs tend to jump.
He says WSDOT has already seen pressure to cut corners, and costs, because "the state's interest is keeping the project on time, under budget, and structurally sound."

The problem is, the elements that serve Seattle's local interests are budgeted separately from the core tunnel contract. Without proper oversight, the organizations warn, WASDOT could make cuts at the expense of the city in order to keep the tunnel on budget.

"WSDOT's main tool for protecting the tunnel project is cutting scope," adds Cary Moon, director of the People's Waterfront Coalition. For example, "they have $290 million earmarked for waterfront development, but the risk is that if they consider it a buffer, this is where they’re going to cut if they need the money."

The organizations warn that WSDOT cuts could turn Pioneer Square into a 13-lane freeway on-ramp. Ballard, West Seattle, and Magnolia residents might not have efficient transit options for getting downtown. Traffic downtown could be a nightmare of congestion. And the waterfront planning project could turn into another dream the city can't pay for on its own.

That's why the letter co-signers are calling on an expert review panel to ensure that "protects budgets for the elements of the project that are important to Seattle if tunnel costs should escalate," according to the letter.

So is this just another tactic to get the tunnel killed? Laborde says no. "We’re saying, if you're going to build this, make sure it’s done right. If it’s done right, no tunnel critic will be saying, 'I told you so.'”