West Seattle residents had their opportunity to voice our comments on the importance of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The main topics included:

- Support the viaduct being strengthened or rebuilt.

- Oppose all north-north traffic being dispersed onto Interstate 5 and downtown surface streets, which are already to capacity.

- Oppose the elimination of a viaduct which will increase pedestrian and bicycle fatalities; eliminate Seattle's working waterfront, and will result in enormous backups and delays on the West Seattle, Ballard, University, Fremont and Mountlake bridges.

This meeting was not a typical Washington State Department of Transportation type of meeting, seeing there were no options presented for discussion. All the comments were against the surface street plan and were in favor of a retrofit or a replacement of the present structure or rebuilding a new viaduct. In all, the comments were against the powers to be and voiced strong opposition and a total disapproval in the way the Washington State Department of Transportation is conducting the entire Viaduct Seawall Replacement Project.

My comments are:

- Should the viaduct be rebuilt? Yes, it should be a streamlined, new, elevated State Route 99 roadway with service street options at both the north and south ends.

- Should all the viaduct traffic be dispersed onto I-5? No, other comments have stated that the I-5 is already at its capacity.

- Should the traffic be dispersed onto downtowns surface streets? No, as the surface street option is unacceptable to fulfill the mobility of our transportation needs.

The Viaduct is critical to regional mobility and is a crucial link in our transportation system. In case of a disaster, it is imperative that we have more than one avenue of moving traffic on both the east and west sides of the city.

Guy Gallipeau

Seattle