Editor's Note: This letter was sent to Gov. Christine Gregoire with a copy to this newspaper.

We represent businesses in Seattle that will be most directly affected by any replacement project for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. We understand that current plans call for you to make a decision concerning the viaduct by the end of December and that a sense of urgency surrounds this issue. However, we strongly urge that you avail yourself of a comprehensive review of all of the options before going forward, even if that means extending the deadline.

We have become extremely concerned about the process that narrowed the options to only two: the tunnel along the waterfront and the replacement elevated structure.

Our concerns lie in the fact that these options were selected before all their costs and consequences were known. For example, when they were chosen their projected construction cost was $1 billion - $3 billion less than the Expert Review Panel's most recent estimates, which were turned in well after the choices had been narrowed down.

Even more serious to those of us who care about the business and industrial climate in Puget Sound is the economic cost of fully or partially closing the Viaduct during construction. According to (Washington State Department of Transportation's latest schedules, State Route 99 in downtown Seattle would be fully or partially closed for between three-and-a-half and seven years. A recent independent study by Hebert Research reveals a cost to Seattle businesses in the core impact area of $2 billion - $3.4 billion annually and the elimination of between 19,000 and 33,000 jobs.

Yet to be addressed in any study is the severe impact this closure would have on West Seattle (which contains approximately 20 percent of the city's population) not only economically, but in terms of access to and from the city, access to emergency medical services and other essential services.

Some Seattle city administrators have disputed the study's findings, claiming that the economic impacts of full/partial closure will be mitigated by rearranging roads and adding transit. However, we have not been made aware of any existing mitigation proposals. Existing or future mitigation plans must be considered publicly before viaduct-related decisions are made. The continued economic vitality of the region depends on their efficacy.

However, looked at from our point of view as manufacturers and businesses located along Seattle's prime commercial corridor - from the Duwamish to Ballard-Interbay _ it is self-evident that, regardless of the city's efforts to mitigate the impacts, closure of the main north-south thoroughfare for truck traffic going to Port facilities and other businesses will cause delay, raise costs, and reduce competitiveness. Similarly, downtown and waterfront business as well as the business community of West Seattle will find access for customers and visitors much reduced or, in many cases, cut off. Whether the economy of the Seattle core can fully recover after a number of years with these impacts is in doubt.

Given the drastic increase in cost estimates for the two current viaduct solutions, the newly recognized economic costs of closure during construction, and the lack of any mitigation plan to address these economic costs, we believe an independent review of all options is necessary - including options previously discarded by Washington State Department of Transportation. A number of these options had the potential to be less costly and disruptive.

We recognize that this will take time. But this is one of the most important decisions to be made about the future of our city and its economy. A decision made in haste among poor alternatives will come back to haunt us for generations.

Therefore, we encourage you to take the time needed. Even under the most aggressive plans being considered the viaduct would not be replaced until 2013. Doesn't it make sense to take a few months to make the right choice? We think so.

Sue Camou-Arrant

President

West Seattle Chamber

of Commerce

Eugene C. Wasserman

President

North Seattle

Industrial Association

Faye Garneau

Executive Director

Aurora Avenue

Merchants Association

John Odland

Co-Chairman

Manufacturing

Industrial Council

Peter Phillips

President

Seattle Marine

Business Coalition

Rob Adamson

Co-Chairman

Manufacturing

Industrial Council

John Blackmon

President

Seattle Historic

Waterfront Assn.