While the Washington Dept. of Transportation won’t open the detailed bids for downtown Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project until mid-December, Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) nudged the long-awaited 56-ft-dia, 2-mi-long bored tunnel one step closer to reality, when she announced on Oct. 29 that both teams submitting bids that day were at or below WSDOT’s estimate of $1.09 billion.
The viaduct, which runs along Elliott Bay on State Route 99 in downtown Seattle, is nearly 60 years old. Recent earthquakes pointed to the road’s seismic vulnerability. WSDOT spent $14.5 million in emergency repairs but decided to push for a tunnel option after detecting subsidence.