Thursday, Jan. 6, at 3:00 pm at the Port of Seattle Headquarters, the Secretary of Transportation, Paula Hammond, signed a $1.09 billion contract with Seattle Tunneling Partners to build the deep bore tunnel. According to Hammond and other officials present, this makes the tunnel project a done deal with work to begin next week by the Seattle Tunnel Partners and construction workers building the tunnel. They will start boring the 58-foot diameter hole "when we get the Environmental Impact Statement this summer," Hammond said. She suggested this was a formality and that all funding was in place and workers were ready to start immediately.

To clear misperceptions, Hammond and a union representative did say that there is no going back and the project is final, and at least three speakers including Hammond, WSDOT's Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program Administrator Ron Paananen and a Tunneling Partner at this event stated that construction is about to start, both in a real sense, and in a symbolic sense, as the Tunneling Partners move into the Wells-Fargo building where the Alaska Viaduct Replacement Project offices are "as they are anxious to begin". That statement was repeated.

City Councilmember, Transportation Committee Chair, and West Seattle resident, Tom Rasmussen, a strong supporter of the project, told the West Seattle Herald that the public was initially skeptical when the lower and then upper bridge were constructed. This was in response to our question about Initiative-101 with over 21,000 signatures gathered.

Rasmussen also said he was very concerned about West Seattle commuters becoming inconvenienced with the construction which has begun just north of the West Seattle Bridge eastward from Elliott Bay and north towards the stadiums. He urges West Seattle residents to contact him at his office with specific problems and issues and said he is carefully watching out for area residents and their interests on this matter.

The West Seattle Herald asked Port CEO Tay Yashitani to assure our readers, and all area residents, that the $300 million in Port money identified for the project is in place. He said there was no need for concern and that the Port has been involved every step of the way. The Port's financial commitment comes toward the conclusion of the project.

The Herald asked him if the Port would then have the money promised for the Duwamish River Superfund Project. He said yes, and that they would take a look at their finances when an option was chosen by the EPA. (Options for clean-up of the river range from about $250 million to over $1 billion to be divided by the Port, City, County, and Boeing.)

According to a press release by Drew Paxton of the anti-tunnel group "Move Seattle Smarter" he writes that WSDOT and the State are moving ahead(...)

"(...) without resolving the troubling problems in the current funding plan, including the flawed $400 million tolling analysis in the SDIES and a mysteriously vague $300 million commitment from the Port itself. Similarly, the politicians still refuse to explain who will pay for the inevitable cost overruns on the project. With little more than $100 million left in the contingency fund, a source raided only months ago in order to keep the final two bidders in play, the questions continue piling up about how WSDOT can manage this risky and already poorly planned project.

“The State and Seattle City Council have made it clear that they intend to blindly plow forward no matter the cost,” said Move Seattle Smarter spokesperson Drew Paxton. “Our elected officials are displaying a blatant disregard for the potentially devastating financial implications of this project. Given the devastating budget cuts that have already occurred at the state level, and the $4.6 billion deficit facing our state in 2011-2013, this is beyond irresponsible, it’s immoral.”

Paxton added, “It’s ironic that WSDOT will sign these contracts at the Port of Seattle Headquarters when the Port still has not presented a plan for how they will fulfill their $300 million commitment to the project. What taxes will they raise? What programs will they cut? It’s astonishing that during these challenging economic times our elected leaders refuse to have an honest and open conversation about something as basic as how they plan to pay for a project with so much risk.”

Drew Paxton, Real Change News director Tim Harris, and United African Public Affairs Committee Chairman Yusuf Cabdi were in attendance at the event.

The West Seattle Herald will continue to update this story.

We reported on a meeting hosted in part by Drew Paxton here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/12/06/news/naysayers-city-hall-di…