This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
Sims, Nickels, and Gregoire are now all singing from the same hymnal. This is big:
The agreement directs the three transportation departments — the Washington State Department of Transportation, King County and Seattle Department of Transportation — to consider the entire system of streets, transit service, and freeways from Lake Washington to Elliott Bay, and from Northeast 85th Street to South Spokane Street in evaluating solutions that keep people, goods and services moving.
“The Alaskan Way Viaduct needs to be taken down on Seattle’s central waterfront for safety’s sake,” Gregoire said. “The question we need to answer is how we move people and goods to keep this region thriving in the long run when we no longer have the viaduct.”
They haven’t come to a decision, mind you… they’re just coming to an agreement on principles for making a decision. That said, everything in this press release seems to indicate that they’re open to new solutions, including potentially a surface-street replacement. Phrases like “fiscal responsibility” and “environmental stewardship” leap out as thinly-veiled code words for “not another viaduct.”
Update: (Via CIS) the Seattle Times fills in some more details this morning.