Thank you for Tim St. Clair's excellent, in-depth coverage of Alaskan Way Viaduct proposals. What a wonderful gift the citizens of Seattle will give to downtown property owners if we opt for a tunnel.

The average citizen, who may not live in a home with a view, drives the Viaduct now and is treated to a magnificent scene of water and ferries and mountains. That public view will be lost with a tunnel.

With Viaduct obstructions removed, the value of downtown condos will soar beyond their current height already on par with London and Paris. The mayor now says he wants these downtown property owners to fork over money for the tunnel, the most expensive of Viaduct options. You can bet that the rest of us will get stuck with a fat bill anyway.

We average citizens will get stuck in a two-story tube that plows through fill dirt from the Denny Regrade and doubles as the seawall against Elliot Bay. Who wants to be in that tunnel when an earthquake strikes?

The tunnel takes the longest to build of all options and so sticks us with the longest disruption to business and traffic.

The tunnel option is a giveaway for downtown property owners at the expense of neighborhoods in terms of cost, business and traffic disruption, safety - and loss of our precious public view. Retrofit is the better fit.

S. B. Bergstrand

Admiral