The City of Seattle says it is being excluded from newly re-started review of the tunnel-lite proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels. Last week, Gov. Christine Gregoire asked the state Department of Transportation to do a quick review of what's called the hybrid surface/tunnel option. An expert review panel was asked to review only cost estimates based on work DOT would do.

Today the city learned its experts who have been working on the viaduct for more than five years will not be allowed to participate in the review, according to a letter sent to the state DOT today by Grace Crunican, director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. She wrote:

I can only conclude from this action, and reports in today's Seattle Times, that you are closing the process to anyone outside the employment of WDOT with the intention of biasing the outcome of the analysis against the tunnel.

We're waiting for a response from state transportation officials.

Gregoire's letter last week said she and legislative leaders wanted Seattle voters to get "reliable and objective information" on the viaduct options. Crunican wrote:

But how can those voters have any confidence in the answers to these and other questions if the City of Seattle is excluded from this review?

The Seattle Department of Transportation will not accept the product of this review of there is not full participation by City of Seattle staff and the Expert Review Panel.

UPDATE The state says that if Seattle transportation officials are involved in the review people will think it is biased. State Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald said if Seattle is "sitting elbow to elbow" with the state engineers "others will see the possibility of influence in the answers which will throw into question the objectivity of WSDOT." He said if the city is there the review will devolve into political debate rather than engineering analysis.