eattle

istoric

aterfront

ssociation

January 7,2009

Governor Chris Gregoire

Office of the Governor

PO Box 40002

Olympia, WA 98504

0002

Port Commission

Meeting of

Cc: King County Executive Ron Sims, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels

Dear Governor Gregoire:

We are writing on behalf of the Seattle Historic

Waterfront

Association, which

consists of businesses, organizations and property owners on the piers and waterfi

ont

property north of Colman Dock, all located at ground zero of the impact zone for the

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project. We have been active on the Stakeholders

Advisory Group and other public forums, and have

carefilly studied the three alternatives

in final discussion, including potential mitigation scenarios for our businesses and homes.

After thousands of hours of meetings with the stakeholders and the project team, along

with

independent analysis of the options, our conclusion is that only the tunnel hybrid

option would allow our businesses to survive and our homes to remain livable, while

serving the urgent needs and best interests of our community and state.

By way of background, our group consists of the privately owned piers and the

businesses along the water including Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Argosy, Victoria Clipper,

Miner's Landing, Ivar's and the

gift shops, hotels, restaurants and professional service

firms

plus

number of condominium owners and the Seattle Aquarium Society, a non

profit that supports the Seattle Aquarium, a division of Seattle Parks on Piers 59 and 60.

Among us, we employ about 1,500 people and serve between 2.5 and

million visitors

per year. Our revenues are about $60 million annually. We are both the historic core of

Seattle's tourist industry and the most vulnerable businesses to the disruption caused

during construction of a new elevated viaduct and the congestion caused by the

surface-

only option.

Recently we have been gratified by reports that the deep bore tunnel)

surface/transit hybrid is back on the table after having earlier been eliminated by oficials.

There are many reasons for our concerns about the other two options and our support for

a plan that includes the deep bore tunnel to provide capacity for

traffic trying to bypass

downtown Seattle:

Pier

57,

1301

Alaskan

Way, Seattle WA,

981

01.

Tel.

206.623.8600

Gowrnor

Chris

Gregoire

January

7,2009

Page

The Elevated

Hybrid

Kills

Construction

The 5

7 years of construction, comprised of the demolition of the current

viaduct, utility relocation and reconstruction of a new structure (along with the resulting

traMic congestion), will virtually cut off our businesses from our customers, including

residents, employees, tourists and shoppers and make homes on the

Waterfiont

uninhabitable. It eliminates most of the parking our organizations tely on and there is no

mitigation plan for this disruption. Our careful analysis shows that our businesses will not

survive this process and our homes will

both

uninhabitable and unsalable.

The Surface/Transit

Option

Kills

Operation

Eliminating the conduit for

10,000 trips

day on

will result

considerable traffic congestion along the surface option's arterials

Western Avenue and

Alaskan Way, especially with

stoplights planned. Even with improvements to

1-5

and

transit, the Project Team's

traffic

model says

trucks

and other Wic will crowd the

waterfront and Western Avenue. By adding between 19,000 and

22,000

trips a day along

Alaskan Way

bringing the total to 30,000 vehicles each day

the surface/transit option

creates an

insurmountable barrier to our businesses for our customers. Our customers are

not (primarily) commuters, who can rely on transit for their routine trips to work. We rely

on family groups of customers being able to park and access our businesses. Like the

elevated option, the

surfacdtransit option, as it

now configured, eliminates most

downtown parking and, again, there is no mitigation plan.

The

Tunnel

Hybrid

Gives

Shot to Survive

This option least disrupts the waterfront and downtown during construction

and

provides the most capacity and quickest travel times for through traffic that needs to by

pass downtown. It gets the 55

80% of the viaduct's trafic that currently bypasses the city

off city streets, to make

urban

living easier and allow access to our businesses. That

true even during construction, because the tunnel can be built while

the

existing viaduct

is still

hnctioning.

In addition to allowing our businesses to survive and our homes to remain

habitable, this option has significant regional advantages. It allows industrial

traffic to

pass through the area unimpeded, supporting operations by the

Port

of Seattle, freight,

maritime, and aircraft industries. It also

fblfills the goal of reuniting the waterfront with

downtown, thus benefiting ow businesses and allowing the city to create a world-class

pedestrian environment on the Waterfront.

According to outside experts, the concerns over cost of the tunnel may be

exaggerated, given the improvements in tunneling technology. This is an issue that we

know the state and project team

are

investigating carefully and urgently. However, the

cost should be viewed in terms of tradeoffs.

you measure the capital cost of the tunnel

against the advantages of saving

waterfiont

and

downtown businesses, aiding industrial

truck users and the Port, and creating a unique urban space between the Market

and

the

Governor

Chris

Gregoire

January

7,2009

Page

waterfront, it is easy to see that this could

the best investment for the state, county and

city.

Finally, the tunnel could have the lowest lifetime costs

the nearest evidence

being the Great Northern Tunnel now in its second century of operation. And, a tunnel is

the safest option in a seismic zone.

We would

glad to meet with you at any time to share our findings and discuss

our concerns, and we stand ready to help make this hybrid solution work.

Sincerely,

John

Blackman

President

Seattle Historic

Waterfiont Association

Cc: The Hon. Lisa Brown, Majority Leader, Washington State Senate;

The

Hon. Bill

Bryant, Commissioner, Port of Seattle; The Hon. Tim Burgess, Seattle City

Councilmember; The Hon. Judy Clibbom, Washington State Representative; The Hon.

Dow Constantine, King County Councilmember; The

Hon, John Creighton,

Commissioner, Port of Seattle;

Ms.

Grace Crunican, Director, Seattle Department of

Transportation; The Hon. Jan Drago, Seattle City Councilmember; Mr. David Dye,

Deputy Director, Washington State Department of Transportation; Mr. Harold

Taniguchi, Director, King County Department of Transportation; The Hon, Gael

Tarleton, Commissioner, Port

Seattle;

Mr.

Tay Yoshitani, Port of Seattle

CEO

Seattle Historic Waterfront Association Members

Alaskan Sourdough Bakery

Argosy

Exclusively Washington

Fisherman's Restaurant

Ivar's

Martin Smith,

Inc.

Miner's Landing

Pier

Food Court, Carousel and Arcade

Pirate's Plunder

Seattle Aquarium Society

Victoria Clipper

Olde Curiosity Shop