2-Way Mercer Update

You may have read in this recent Seattle Times article that Mayor Nickels said funding has been secured – via the Obama stimulus package – for the 2-way Mercer and Spokane Street Viaduct widening projects. This was actually just a lot of sausage being made as the City Council gave the mayor a January 15 deadline to secure funding in order to move these projects forward. While it is true that some federal money will find its way to Washington State and be spent on transportation projects if the bill goes through, no decisions have been made as to where this money will go, and in no way is the funding for 2-way Mercer "secured".

That said, 2-way Mercer has been bundled with the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement proposal and is included in the total cost estimate of $4.24B. So it would seem that the project has support from the state and county level.

If you assume the funding comes through and the political support remains, 2-way Mercer will get done in our lifetimes. However, after a deep-bore tunnel was chosen to replace the viaduct, the design for 2-way Mercer is at risk of back-tracking from a boulevard concept to a re-imagining of the failed 1972 "Bay Freeway" proposal to link I-5 and 99 (see HistoryLink.org for more).

How could this be? After cars enter the tunnel from the south by the stadiums, there will be no outlets to downtown, meaning all the northbound traffic will be dumped right on 2-way Mercer's doorstep. In addition, 2-Way Mercer will be the primary connector from I-5 for southbound tunnel trips. That is A LOT of cars.

This influx of autos led one SLUFAN boardmember to say at a recent meeting that the traffic time estimates in the Mercer Corridor Project Environmental Assessment may have to be thrown out completely. If you thought people got up in arms over traffic time estimates that did not show a marked improvement, think of how they'll react when traffic time estimates go through the roof! If the commuters are successful in their lobbying, concessions could be made to reduce trip times, possibly taking the form of more lanes and/or fewer pedestrian crossings.

To address these issues and more, the Mercer Corridor Project Stakeholders group will be reconvening in February. Hopefully they – along with the public's support – can come up with a solution that doesn't include a freeway running through our neighborhood.