Seattle has a $500 million backlog of undone transportation projects - not counting the Alaskan Way Viaduct - and not enough money to do the work, so city officials asked West Seattle residents to list their most pressing street and bridge repair projects for inclusion in an election package for voters to approve or reject this fall.

City officials sponsored an open house in the commons at West Seattle High School last week but were only partly successful getting people to discuss Seattle's other streets and bridges because many of the approximately 100 people who attended were interested only in talking about the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Fliers criticizing the tunnel option recommended by state and city transportation departments were handed out at the courtyard gates to the school. People offered numerous comments and ideas about the Alaskan Way Viaduct in discussion groups held during the open house despite efforts by Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis and Grace Crunican, director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, to frame the evening's discussion around the city's other transportation problems.

"In the last 10 years, the city lost more than 60 percent of its dedicated transportation funds," Ceis told the assemblage. The Washington State Supreme Court rejected the city's street-utility tax, plus cities don't get much from the state gas tax.

Despite doubling the amount of money the city invests in its transportation system, Seattle's network of streets and bridges "has fallen dangerously behind," Crunican said.

People divided into discussion groups and tossed out ideas as Department of Transportation employees wrote them down. The suggestions will be reviewed and another public meeting is to be held in June. The ideas will then be forwarded to a citizens advisory committee that will put together a list of transportation projects for the Seattle City Council which will then refine the list for voter approval in the November general election.

Ideas at the open house were like roads, all over the map.

People asked the city to hurry its plans to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct and add new exit ramps. Work on the bottlenecks that slow traffic in and out of West Seattle, people said.

"I want mobility improvements in the designated urban villages and between them," someone wrote.

One person suggested using cameras to enforce traffic laws and collect more fines from drivers who don't yield to pedestrians.

A woman urged the city not to remove the Junction's crosswalks when it repaves California Avenue this summer.

"Speed bumps and traffic circles," asked another woman, "what's the point?"

A man urged that ferryboats from Southworth and Vashon bypass Fauntleroy and sail directly downtown.

There were calls for more transit now that the monorail project is dead.

Some recommended bringing light rail to West Seattle along with park-and-ride lots.

Others want more frequent Metro bus service with more than one bus every half hour. Some want lower fares too.

A woman complained there isn't enough money spent developing alternative forms of transit.

"We can't just drive everywhere," she said.

A few suggestions went in opposite directions. While some people called for parking restrictions, others argued for more parking at higher rates.

Although some other transportation issues were discussed at the open house, there was no ignoring the looming presence of what to do about the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is the lead agency on the Alaskan Way Viaduct because State Route 99 is a state highway. The state built the structure and maintains it. However the Seattle Department of Transportation is sharing the lead role with the Washington State Department of Transportation concerning replacement of the viaduct because it's such a vital part of the Seattle's internal transportation system.

The state and city previously studied the options for replacing the quake-damaged viaduct and both transportation departments recommended excavating a tunnel. But that didn't sit well with many people at the open house.

One man pointed out how the mayor wants to increase the downtown population with more high-rise residential buildings, yet the planned tunnel would add no more traffic capacity than the existing viaduct.

Another man asked why no exits from the tunnel are planned downtown.

A comment handwritten on an easel tablet read, "The tunnel is a massive subsidy to high-income housing."

Not everyone at the open house was against the tunnel.

"That (Alaskan Way Viaduct) is the ugliest thing I've ever seen," said a man claiming to be an architect. "Pay a toll. I don't care if the toll stays on for 50 years. Do it right."

Others were concerned about maintaining routes in and out of West Seattle during the years of construction expected whether the final solution is a tunnel, a new viaduct or surface streets. What are the specifics? Can the old viaduct remain open while a new highway is built?

"Dig the tunnel but don't strand us here in West Seattle," wrote someone else.

All of the ideas that percolated out of the discussion groups were written on large sheets of paper. Participants were given colored stickers to place next to the ideas they liked best. In the discussion group led by City Councilman David Della, the most stickers were affixed to the suggestion to forget a tunnel or other new waterfront structures and repair the existing viaduct.

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.