Mercer Street Costs Continue to Rise

Nickels' street projects plan hits roadblock
Questions on financing delay action in council

By LARRY LANGE
P-I REPORTER

Mayor Greg Nickels' new financing plan for the Mercer and South Spokane Street improvement projects raised a long list of questions Tuesday at City Hall, prompting members of a key City Council committee to postpone action for at least two weeks.

Members asked whether these are the right projects and what the likelihood is that the city could find more state and federal money to help pay for them.

City Councilwoman Jan Drago, chairwoman of the Transportation Committee, wouldn't predict whether the committee and the full council will approve the plan.

"It's a big 'ask,' " she said.

The mayor proposed a new plan to raise $274 million for the two projects after the failure of last fall's three-county transportation measure, Proposition 1. That measure included $373 million for Mercer and Spokane Street Viaduct widening work and for a new rail crossing on South Lander Street.

All are intended to improve cross-city traffic flow to downtown, particularly during construction work on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The city has since shelved the Lander Street project and focused on the Mercer and Spokane work, which Nickels has called critical to easing two traffic bottlenecks.

His new plan calls for using cash from a voter-approved 2006 city transportation levy and from recently enacted parking and employment taxes to raise $120.2 million in bonds for the two projects.

The plan would have city agencies pay $26 million in utility relocation costs for the Mercer project and would attempt to raise a $97.1 million from the federal and state governments.

An additional $36.2 million would be raised for the Mercer work from adjacent landowners, possibly in the form of development mitigation fees or construction easements.

Administration officials say this could be done without using money from other projects promised in the 2006 levy or from the city general fund. They say they have commitments for $87.8 million for the two projects.

But one committee member, Richard McIver, wondered whether the two projects would be enough to spread traffic through the city that's diverted from the Alaskan Way Viaduct once its replacement is being built. McIver said improvements may also be needed on the surface Alaskan Way to handle the construction traffic.

And, "we've got other neighborhoods that need (transportation) work," he said in an interview.

Gene Hoglund, a board member of the Magnolia Community Club, told the committee the club is urging the city to spend money to replace the earthquake-damaged Magnolia Bridge "before a slide or an earthquake takes it down."

A city study said the Mercer project would save drivers a few minutes heading west from Interstate 5 but actually lengthen the eastbound drive. Hoglund, speaking to the committee, argued, "It's not going to improve traffic flow."

City officials have disputed this, saying the Mercer widening would benefit all modes of travel. Responding to McIver's question about I-5, city Transportation Director Grace Crunican said the projects are designed to make cross-city travel as convenient as possible and "we're trying to get (traffic) out of the way of construction" on the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

But the council's staff has raised several other questions to explore. Among them is the risk of seeking other government grants. A council staff memo said the mayor's plan "indicates that the remaining external funding gap for Spokane and Mercer will not close prior to beginning scheduled construction."

Council staff members said they plan to analyze the city's past successes in receiving transportation grants, examine why the Mercer and Spokane projects were given high priority and identify other projects that might need money as well.

The committee will discuss the proposal again April 15.

The city plans to begin the Mercer widening work and most of the Spokane Street project by the second quarter of next year. Separately, it says it has the money for a new ramp to Fourth Avenue South from the Spokane Street Viaduct and plans to begin building the ramp this fall.

Costs of both projects have risen dramatically since last year, with the increases attributed by Crunican to generally escalating construction costs.

The Mercer project's estimated cost has increased by 40 percent, from $137.3 million last year to $192.9 million now. Spokane Street improvement costs have risen 9 percent, from an estimated $154.3 million last year to $168.5 million now.

The estimated price of the Lander Street crossing has more than doubled since last year, from $71.2 million to $152 million.

Dialling for Dollars in Seattle

Seattle eyes other sources to pay for big road project

By LARRY LANGE
P-I REPORTER

Left without $323 million in cash because a ballot measure failed, Seattle is looking to sources like private landowners to finance the widening of Mercer Street and the Spokane Street Viaduct.

The Nickels administration proposes to tap part of its recently enacted parking and employment taxes to help make up the shortfall.

Voters in November rejected the Proposition 1 roads and transit ballot measure, which included funding for the Mercer and Spokane projects and a railroad overpass on South Lander Street.

All three projects were justified as ways to improve street-level traffic flow during construction to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Looking for support, administration officials said Friday they're focusing on finding more money for the Spokane and Mercer projects, though Lander remains a priority.

Of the newly estimated $192.9 million cost of the Mercer widening, the city now hopes to raise $36.2 million from private sources in the neighborhood, possibly from mitigation fees or providing needed property or construction easements. Officials said they've not proposed a specific method yet.

Bob Powers, deputy director of the city Department of Transportation, said the plan is to raise another $70.6 million in bonds using money from the 2006 street-improvement tax levy and from city parking and employment taxes, which officials said are producing more cash than anticipated.

Another $26 million, for utility relocation and improvements, would come from city agencies, and the city will seek $51.7 million in additional state and federal grants. About $8.4 million already has been secured.

The Mercer cost estimate has increased $78 million since late last year, chiefly because of inflation and advanced design work that now includes property costs. The project would widen Mercer between Dexter Avenue and I-5 but not include reconnecting streets above Aurora Avenue.

Some $78.9 million has been secured for the Spokane widening, now estimated to cost $168.5 million, which includes $3.4 million from the Port of Seattle; new ramps would connect the Spokane Street Viaduct to the waterfront.

The new plan, subject to approval by City Council members, is to find another $40 million from state and federal sources and $49.6 million from the street-improvement, parking and employment levies. Inflation and advanced design have increased the estimated Spokane project cost by $16.2 million since the last quarter of 2007.

The $26 million in utility costs for the Mercer project would be paid for city-wide. Officials said that's normal practice. They also said the new plan wouldn't take money from other street work to be financed by the 2006 transportation levy.

A city study said the Mercer widening would decrease some travel times and increase others. Powers said it will improve transit service and "benefits all modes of transportation."

Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin and Transportation Committee Chairwoman Jan Drago both said they were pleased the administration had developed a plan. Conlin wouldn't predict approval before reviewing it. Drago said her committee will discuss the proposal April 1.

Street Car for two-way Mercer Street?

11/3/04 The transportation plans of Mayor Greg Nickels and billionaire Paul Allen for the South Lake Union neighborhood keep advancing, despite glaring flaws. On Monday, Nov. 1, the Seattle City Council authorized a study of the plan to turn Mercer Street into a two-way boulevard. In doing so, the council made clear that it doesn't matter that the $200 million plan will not improve traffic flow in the area. Rather, the council signed on to the fantasy that a two-way Mercer Street will help South Lake Union become a 24/7 biotech wonderland. On Oct. 28, the Puget Sound Regional Council became the latest government to fall under the spell of the biotech booster virus that is sweeping governments across the nation when it put up $4.3 million in federal transportation dollars toward the $45 million needed to build a 1.3-mile streetcar from downtown to South Lake Union, which Nickels and Allen are promoting. The Nickels administration has now identified $36.5 million of the streetcar's costs, the bulk of which would come from a special tax on South Lake Union property owners. The streetcar, like a two-way Mercer Street, has dubious transportation utility, but Allen and other developers lust after it as a way to make the neighborhood more attractive to new businesses. Being as how the city's transportation infrastructure has been neglected for years, citizens might hope the City Council would serve as a check on the raid of public transportation dollars for one developer's agenda. But such hopes are rapidly being dashed. GEORGE HOWLAND JR.