McGinn and the Viaduct

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

I very much doubt Mike McGinn will halt the SR-99 tunnel/viaduct replacement.

The Governor has made it clear that the tunnel is the answer. It’s the State’s highway, and as far as she’s concerned she’s appeased Seattle once already by not giving them another elevated structure. End of story. From what I understand, the business community lobbied her hard not to make traffic worse on I-5. And if there’s one constituency that the Governor has done everything to please, it’s the business community.

This comment thread has lots of suggestions for tactics (such as holding up permits) that McGinn can try if he wants to go 10 rounds with her on this, and that’s all fine, but the Governor will make his life miserable if he tries. She’s got the bigger budget, she’s more experienced, and she can do all sorts of things — cut funds to the city or otherwise gum up the works — that will all but guarantee he’ll be an unpopular, one-term mayor.

McGinn’s bold, and I like that about him. But being bold and being successful are two very different things.

I’m happy to be proven wrong on this, but I don’t think I am.