David, some have said that we have no problem in regard to the Viaduct but not the governor. In fact, despite the fractured "vision" for the fix from the city and all of the obstructive games that have been played by the city, the project remains on schedule, with work progressing every day.
The real question is:
While the preliminary work is being done and the construction path progresses up to that point where final design must be agreed upon, are city leaders using the time efficiently to achieve the agreed scope, design and funding needed so future delays will not put people at avoidable risk?

And what about the gas tax increse that was supposed to pay for this? I recall the DOT ads saying it would collapse at any moment and we needed the gas tax to fix it.

Hey voters..YOU ARE SUCKERS!!!!

They'll be at your pockets again real soom too. I suspect that is why they won't fix the thing, because they need a prop for their 5 year shakedown of the taxpayer.

DO you know what the very first project the DOT did with the gas tax money? A bike trail in Moses Lake.

SUCKERS!

Agreed Taxman, and one year after that gas tax was implemented, the DOT said the construction costs had risen over 25%, no problem, we all got more than 25% raises....RIGHT!

Taxman and Bothsides, you guys sound just like Dino.
Ho offers no ideas only says he would "leave that one for the engeneers"
As for delay and its effect on cost, well the gov did not cause any delay and has structured the project to avoid delay while allowing the Seattle "decision process" to reach a consensus that serves the interests of the state.
And above all, nothing changes the fact, only supported by this story and ranking, that the viaduct should be a very high priority.
You two seem to be suggesting that the project should not be a priority at all since the old viaduct has not come crashing down.
My only request is that you please do not run for public office.

Partial Man -

Do you get paid by Gregoire to run cover for her? You sound like on of her cronies.

Gregoire is directly responsible for this situation. She had a chance to show leadership. Instead she hemmed and hawed and put it to a vote. SHE is the one who treated it like it wasn't a priority. SHE is the one who abandoned her role as a leadr instead throwing it back for voters because she was too cawardly to make a decision.

Anyone with a brain knows that if you leave things to the "Seattle decision process" nothing will happen except lots of money wasted and nothing to show for it. For rerefence, see the monorail debacle.

In defending Gregoire in such a mindles knee jerk way, you seem to be saying that fixing the viaduct is not a priority and the delays are just fine. There is no sense of prioriy with either you or Gregoire. Four years, FOUR YEARS she had with it and she hasn't even decided what it is that will be done.

All she has done in 4 years is get us a budget defiicit of $2.4 billion with no viaduct or even plans for a viaduct replacement. These huge projects don't go up overnight. She hasn't even done the advance work. Construciton could have started already but instead she delayed and offers excuses much like she did when she lost the state $10 million for failing to file her paperwork on time as AG.

So long as out of control bureaucracies and fat cat labor unions control Seattle, any plan to fix the viaduct problem will result in massive cost overruns or will never get off the ground. And when people die as a result of the tragedy that WILL come, our brain dead government reps will posture themselves to throw the mightiest of stones at each others houses in a theater of outrage while nothing gets solved.

As usual.

Good GOD it has been 7 YEAR since the 2001 Nisqually quake that damaged the viaduct. DEMOCRATS have had 7 YEAR to at least come up with a plan. They STILL have no idea how they are going to fix that damn thing.

Time for CHANGE.

Here's the political fact of the matter: If Queen Chrissy the Worthless had managed to get the "it's-gonna-fall-down-any-second" viaduct replaced, rebuilt or whatever, we'd never hear the end of it.

That SHE failed... and she DID fail... is a legitimate campaign issue. That the PM's of the world don't care about these blatant and obvious weaknesses in their candidates goes to their over-arching hatred of anyone with a "R" after their name... such as those who would vote for a McDermott or a Burnout.

No matter who they may sound like, the observations concerning our government wasting the money on a Moses Lake bike trail and out and out lying to us about the now whacked-by-31%-project-list-they-promised-us if we voted for the gas tax increase are completely accurate.

Failing to condemn Queen Chrissy's lack of guts on this issue is a function of partisan bias... much like moronically supporting Obama for anything besides dog catcher.

My concern is that I'm not altogether convinced that Sen. Rossi would have done, or would do, anything better. When he drank the Kool Aid on a taxpayer subsidy for the Sonics, it ended his teetering chances anyway.

Hmmmm now lets see we have a order for a new fleet of faires, anew toll to lake wa bridge, a toll on I5 comuters lane ,a toll raise in Tacoma narrows bridge Who sez that the Demos arent doing anything.
As inflation speeds up all of the WA residents are going to be financialy stretched to their limits not to mention food and fuel What we need now is a complete flushing of all of the politicos that means both partyies as they have just about ruined the State and nation.
Old saying The thief the banker the politican play the same game wheather they steal by the pen or the sword their craft erodes the tangiable wealth of a productive society

Partial Man (I like that!),

Of course the Viaduct concerns me, but the city, county and state leaders (led by the Demos) only plan is to extract more dollars from everyone's wallet. Isn't it time for decisions and action, at least if I vote for Dino, something might happen, cuz it sure ain't right now. Where did the 9 cents go? where does all the gas tax revenue go? They can't even fix potholes and maintain what we have with all that money, WE need a different leader!

Look -- the damage to the Seattle viaduct was discovered immediately after the quake.
It has since been one of the most continuously inspected and evaluated pieces of infrastructure in the country (all such structures should be so lucky).
It's been reinforced and is in no imminent danger of falling down - unless "the big one" hits, in which case it will share plenty of company.
An eventual solution pits competing interests of transportation and aesthetics on the signature waterfront skyline of what's arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the country.
A rush to simply throw something up, or under, or just knock it down... would be the worst thing the governor could do -- even if she had the power to impose her vision on Seattle, which she obviously does not.
the truth is - we may end up maintaining that viaduct for another couple decades (wondering why Hinton and Bothsides aren't promoting this cheap solution?) which would be time well spent if it results in an practical consensus. Too bad the monorail wasn't similarly delayed by such vigorous debate.
In the meantime, rest assured that Popular Mechanics simply picked the examples they could make the most of, and grossly misrepresented the relative safety of the viaduct as it now stands. I can't believe some of you suckers fell for it...no I take that back... you DO know better, but are happy to employ Rossi's disingenuous representation of just about anything to falsely discredit Gregoire.
And that's why you, your candidate and your party are virtually irrelevent right now.
Too many lies and too much stupidity.

Gregoire didn't put the viaduct to a vote. The City of Seattle did. Gregoire had nothing to do with it.

Have costs gone up on roads projects? Yes, and some of that is outside DOT's control. Part of the reason for that is the increase in the cost of steel. Another part is the increase in land costs. Another part is the fact that many projects had to be delayed until I-912 was defeated, because DOT wasn't sure if they'd actually have the funding to build them. Of course, those of you now complaining about increased costs no doubt supported that initiative.

Anybody can go look at the current DOT project list here:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/

Their completed project list is here:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/completed.htm

It's worth remembering Gary Locke wanted a gas tax increase 10 years ago, but the GOP said no dice. Those projects would probably be about done by now. The GOP then backed spending the MVET on roads. A year later, they endorsed the de-funding of their own plan. Only now are we building the projects that we could have started 10 years ago, thanks to the GOP. So if you're gonna complain about Democrats and road construction, you'd better complain about the GOP even more. The projects that are getting done are happening because of the Democrats. We'd still be getting nowhere if it was up to the GOP.

Sorry, Bax... Queen Chrissy the Worthless had EVERYTHING to do with it. Spinning like a top does absolutely nothing to change the fact that SHE punted on the issue, when something approaching something resembling actual LEADERSHIP could have made a difference. Had she made a decision... ANY decision, even if wrong, this issue would be much closer to resolution.

But her Gutlessness was concerned she might piss off the King County base. If she pushed the wrong one of the three or so solutions, she thought it would hurt her chances for re-election... so she punted... and now, the lie that this thing was ever an "imminent danger" is, in the words of a famous anti-American, racist bigot, "coming home to roost."

Don't talk to me about "increased costs." We were sold a bill of goods, and if my fricking state government can't keep it's word, then they should have removed the gas tax and re-referred it with the MUCH smaller project list.

But no, that sort of thing, known as "integrity" and "character" are unknown virtues by the leftist ilk running this state. They knew damned well BEFORE the election that they were lying about the project list, yet they said nothing.

And for that, Bax, there is no spin, no excuse, no reason, no nothing that can get Queenie off the hook.

She wants all the credit for anything with even a passing resemblance to success; it's utterly typical but nevertheless hypocritical of her to avoid responsibility for the legion of failures her administration represents.

And the viaduct is no exception.

Could Gregoire have done more on the viaduct? Probably. But if you're going to blame her for that, you also have to give her credit for what's happening with other transportation projects in this state that were approved under her watch. And again, if you are going to complain about inaction, then you should blame the GOP just as much, if not more.

And Hinton, spare us all the lecture about integrity.

http://www.newshoax.umd.edu/casestudies/idfraud/IDMcCluedLB.html

The city and state governments are courting disaster by ignoring this problem for so long... if a quake or other disaster brings that roadway down, there will be a class action lawsuit against both of them that will be devastating. And you know what? they'll have no defense to stand on. It's tragic. The reality is, someone is going to lose their life over this someday because Greg Nichols pouted over his tunnel he couldn't get.....

Bax,

As much as I appreciate your personal attack, something of the last refuge of a scoundrel, the facts posted remain unrefuted... by you, or anyone else.

The issue of integrity and character transcend me by a mile. You see, *I* am not running for anything. *I* did not promise the people of this state a thing, and knowingly lie about it.

*I* have not cost the taxpayers of this state a dime. Those who knowingly lie to the electorate of this state are the ones costing us billions. And your blind, partisan hatred that excuses any action Gregoire takes because she's got the right letter after her name... your ability to give her and those on her side who swindled us into voting for a massive gas tax increase while we're paying the most for gasoline in our history... tends to speak for itself.

Your link to an article, a factually incorrect article, that accuses me of doing the very same thing YOU are doing RIGHT NOW, which is posting under a fake name; screams to your utter, rank hypocrisy.

Unless your name is "Bax," then you've got no corner on the integrity market. I, at least, am posting by my real name here.

You, at least, are left committing base hypocrisy because your positions are so weak in defending the Queen.

Giving Queen Chrissy the Worthless credit for anything while attempting to smear the GOP, who has controlled nothing in government since Queenie scammed the election, again is nothing more then a weak attempt to deflect... to excuse... to enable. And that attempt is based entirely on partisan politics... and your hatred of the "R".

I've already stated that I don't know that Sen. Rossi could do any better. But I seriously doubt he could do any worse.

Queenie forgot one of the main axioms of life, much like you've forgotten the basis for the rank hypocrisy you've engaged in here:

It's always better to do something than it is to do nothing, even when it might be wrong.

Queenie had the ability to do something... and she did nothing. And, once again, no amount of spin on your part can change that.

I look forward to your response using YOUR real name. But why do I doubt we'll see it?

Apparently Mr Postman, like Joel Connelly over at the PI, like to surf the Slog and get his new from the war monger Dan Savage. Don't believe Savage is a war monger. Search Say yes to war on iraq at the website of The Stranger. He outdoes John McCain in his enthusiasm for the Iraq war. You can do better Postman. Try Bill Kristol at the NY times.

Why not tout the Popular Mechanics ranking?

The dangers of the Viaduct have been well known for about 15 years. Gary Locke punted. So did the the GOP when Dino Rossi was serbing in the Senate.

In 2005, Gregoire finally took ownership and led to fund a solution.

The fixes to the Viaduct are underway. You can see them every day if you bother to look. Thanks to Gregoire, and many others, there is adequate funding to repair what's needed.

The stupid fight within the City of Seattle and the State was set up by Doug MacDoanld and Paul Schell, who controlled a ridiculous - and extremely expensive - process that initially recommended a jaw dropping big freeway project on Seattle's waterfront that cost something like $13 billion. How stupid was that?

I don't blame Gregoire. I credit her with stepping up,

All Rossi has said is that he'd leave it up to the engineers. That's just what MacDonald did in the Locke Administration. That's how we got a $13 billion boondoggle.

The Gregoire administration has made sense out a lousy thing she inherited. Rossi has zero credibility on this subject,

Actually, Hinton, Samuel Johnson said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," something the GOP has been specializing in of late.

You complain of "personal attacks" yet you continually refer to Governor Gregiore as "Queen Chrissie the Worthless." I don't see where you have any right to complain. You have consistently been one of the worst offenders when it comes to personal attacks.

And as for the issue of pseudonyms on the Internet, that is far different than continually submitting letters to a newspaper using a false name. I expect to see pseudonyms on the Internet, but the standard for letters to the editor is much different. That's why they ask for a phone number. Had they been doing due diligence, you would have been found out much earlier.

You accuse others of hypocrisy, but it looks more like a case of projection to me.