Last week at a Seattle City Council briefing and the following day before the city council's Transportation Committee, the city's Department of Transportation Director Grace Crunican presented a new budget for their two-way Mercer Corridor Plan, indicating a pricetag now exceeding $290 million up from $190 million six months ago.

Click here for a powerpoint they presented at that council meeting.  As can be seen when you scroll down to that budget, the transportation department has added $100 million due to the fact that they've now activated a long dormant plan to add a second phase to their two-way Mercer plan.

Phase I covers so called "improvements" from the freeway west to Dexter.  The Phase II plan would extend those "improvements" west of Dexter all the way past the Seattle Center and down the hill to the waterfront.  Most of the cost however of Phase II covers the cost to sinking Aurora and "reconnecting the grid" at Thomas and Harrison and then tunneling under 99 at Roy Street.

Their 100 million estimate for this second phase is just -- that "an estimate" - a "five percent engineering estimate" meaning a very, very rough estimate.  (Remember in 2004, Phase I was estimated roughly at $56 to $70 million and that's now up to $190 million).

According to the Mercer powerpoint presented last week, bonds will finance 75 million of Phase I's $190 million pricetag.  Those clearly monies from the Bridging the Gap program voters approved in 2006. 

There were three sources approved then, including 365 million voter approved levy and the rest coming from a business tax and parking tax.  Bridging the Gap funds for Mercer, we are told, come from the parking and business tax portions.  In addition, the city realized a savings they say of $15 million from the Spokane Street Bridge Project (funded in part with Bridging the Gap funds).

The city intends to redirect all those savings into Mercer Phase I ($7.5 million) and Phase II ($7.5 million). Plus, there is a financing gap in Phase II of over $40 million according to their powerpoint (actually more because none of their other sources for this 2nd phase are "committed sources"). 

I think we can conclude from all this that there is at least $75 million of Bridging the Gap funding alreadycommitted to Mercer with the likely prospect that much more of Bridging the Gap will also be committed - anywhere from $15 million to at least $40 million more.  In terms of the amount already appropriated and actually spent for Mercer, we know that the council in 2008 released $44 million for planning, design, and land acquisition ($15 million released May 2008 and the rest in Nov. 2008 during the budget process).

The rest of the Bridging the Gap and other city funds already committed have been frozen by a council proviso barring actual construction (only planning, design and site acquisition may proceed until full funding is found). Of that amount release, there is information on the Bridging the Gap city Web site indicating that in 2007, the city spent about $1 million of Bridging the Gap funds and in 2008 they spend about $6 million (of the 16 million budgeted carrying the rest over to 2009).

Since they are planning to drop the Business Tax (that's failed to raise as much as predicted anyway) and a chunk of this $52 million was to go for Mercer, that leaves only the Commercial Parking Tax explicitly earmarked as a Bridging the Gap funding source for Mercer. That tax is expected to raise in nine years about 128 million. 

In effect, all of it must be dedicated for Mercer or alternatively, they'd have to begin tapping funds from the $365 million voter approved portion of BTG at some point to fill the gap.  They'd have no choice.

I Remember back in 2006, we were told by Jan Drago and other council members (and I'll have to check the record on this for her exact words and those of other cheerleader colleagues that only $30 million from Bridging the Gap would be required). Monies were earmarked for Mercer from the county-wide roads and rail package in 2007 to make up the difference but when that failed - that's when they decided to raid still more dollars from Bridging the Gap sources. 

Last year, in response to our concerns Drago assured everyone that none of the voter approved portion of Bridging the Gap would be used for Mercer but I doubt the council will be able to keep that promise after eliminating the business tax as a source and now that they've made it clear they intend to proceed with a phase II.  In the end, it will mean over one-fifth of the $540 million will be drained away for Mercer.

They also will be seeking millions more from the Puget Sound Regional Council and other finite federal sources. Little or none from these sources is left over to meet our neighborhood backlog of neighborhood needs including about a half billion dollars in bridge street and sidewalk improvements (including 33 ailing bridges)

Remember this is a project that three city studies concluded would not improve traffic congestion one iota and in the eastbound direction actually make it worse! Click here to review one of those studies.

To oppose this project call the council members, and the mayoral and council candidates today! (Right now David Bloom, Nick Licata, and Joe Mallahan are known to be opposing to this boondoggle.  McGinn, Isreal, and Bagshaw support it.)