4
March 10,2009
#
3
Dear President and Commissioners of the Port of Seattle:
Concerns for Seattle's
4.5
Billion dollar Deep Bored Tunnel:
Port
c om mission
wd
pzdD?amq
1
1.
70% of Seattle voters opposed a "Surface/Tunnel Hybrid
"
replacement in the 2007 election. The
Voters of Seattle have said no to a tunnel replacement for the Viaduct. All state taxpayers will be
forced to pay the Tunnel cost overruns.
2.
The lack of access from the tunnel exit to the Magnolia and the Ballard Industrial area and the loss
of
2
lanes on Nickerson Street for bike tramc will have a devastating effect on the annual
2
billion
dollar maritime, fishing industries and
working family jobs located here.
3.
The bored tunnel will only have two
-
thirds the vehicle capacity as the existing Viaduct. The
6%
tunnel grades will slow traffic in the uphill grade, increasing congestion, accidents and green house
gases.
4.
With the added 35,000 vehicles and freight the Viaduct now carries from Ballard to SODOIWest
Seattle in this north
-
south corridor through the Western and Elliott connections, the additional
stoplights on waterfront Alaskan Way will increase congestion and gridlock
5.
The Port of Seattle Cruise Ship Terminal is north of downtown Seattle at T
-
91 and over 800,000
passengers will load and unload annually.
Up to 5,000 daily vehicle trips will travel fiom Sea
-
Tac
Airport to T
-
91 on 1-5 to a 1 lane Mercer Place Street and will increase 1-5 and 15~ Ave. congestion.
6.
The risk to the citizens
in
the tunnel over the Seattle Fault is being ignored by WSDOT.
A Bored Tunnel will increase the safety/cost risk due to the multiple geologic Hazards encountered.
(a) The bored tunnel will be built directly over the Seattle Fault Rupture Zone
"
northern portion of the
zone appears to be the most recently active and capable of rupturing the ground surface, resulting
in
several
feet of vertical offset.
(AWV
DEIS
2004)
(b) Southern entrance of the bored tunnel will be
in
a Mapped Tsunami Inundation and
lahars area and
in
the event of an Earthquake on the Seattle Fault the tunnel could be
flooded.
(c) Because the bored tunnel will be built over active Seattle fault with known
4
-
6
Meters
Uplift, it will have a higher Risk to rupture, injury to the public and could double the cost.
(2007 Seattle Fault Zone Map
-
attached)
(d) The Claremont Tunnel, located
in
the Hayward California fault zone, required
20
engineered breaking points and specially reinforcement, to withstand the
8.5
ft offset during
an earthquake.
(Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
-
attached)
7. The majority of Seattle citizens support a solution that promotes safety, mobility while relieving
congestion, air pollution and unnecessary expense. The Tunnel could cost Seattle and King County
taxpayers an additional
2
Billion dollars and will greatly increase congestion through out the region.
8. Because these cost and Safety issues the Elevated highway should be moved forward in the
EIS
as
the AWV stakeholder team recommended.
Request Port of Seattle Commissioners not financially fund any part of this tunnel project until these
above issues have been resolved.
Sincerely,
Arterial
State Highway
Interstate
Seattle Fault
Z(
aterbodies
No warranties of any sort,
including accuracy,
fitness, or merchantability
accompany this product.
Copyright 2007,
All
Rights
Reserved, City of Seattle
Prepared by DPD
January 19,2007
Seattle Fault Zone
Seisrno
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December
118,2008
The
Clarenont
Tunnel through the Berkeley
Hills
is
a
major
aftery
of
the
East
Bay
Municipal
'IJtility
District's
water
supply
system
(EBMUD).
It
delivers
drinking
water
to
more
than
80f),000
people
living
in
East
Bay
communities
from
Oakland
to
Richmond. Damage
to
the
tunnel
by
a
major
earthquake
on
the
northern section of the Ha~ward
Fault
would
caw
more
than
''jjust"
economic
losses
of
$1.9
bitlion
f
see
bl
oe
Decem
her
1
5,2008
1.
A
study commissioned
by
EBm
more
than
1
0
yesus
ago
concluded
that
a
quake
would disrupt
water
delivery
for
weeks, reduce fire
fighting
capab'iities,
and
lead
to
severe
Rtater
rationing
for
up
to
six
months
during
tunnel
repairs.
To
avoid service disruptions,
EBW,
the
tunnel's
owner,
decided
to
make
the
tunnel
safe
and
keep
water
flowing
even
if
an
earthquake
of
magnitude
7
hits
the
area.
Unheknoxvnst
to
most
of
us, miners and
engineers
have
been
digging
through
the
Berkeley
EfiIis
near
the
landmark
Claremont
Hotel
for
the
past
two
years.
In
June
2006,
they
started
the
project
with
a
430
ft
long
access
tunnel
into
the
fault
zane.
When
that
was
complete,
they
added
a
bypass
tunnel
pamilel
to
the
old
tunncI.
This
1600
ft
long
bypass
is
10
fi
amss
except
in
the
100
ft
long section where
it
crosses the fault zone. There
it
is
17
ft
in
diameter.
This
section
is
also
specially
reinforced It
has
a
concrete
Iiner
more
than
2
ft
thick,
and
more
than
20
engineered
breaking
point.
along
the
turnel
which
are
designed to
break
and
shift
during
a
major
earthquake.
Here
the
water
is
carried
through
an
85
ft
long
steel
pipe
wi'&
a
diameter
of
6
ft
and
a
wall
thickness
of
3
inches.
It
rests
on
pipe
guides.
(See
"
before
"
picture.)
In
constructing
the bypass tunnel,
the
engineers
assumed
the
maximurn
offset
during
the
earthquake
rvodd
be
85
ft
or less.
If
the
tunneI
lining
and
the
pipe
guides
shift
that
much
during
the
quake,
the
pipe
will
stay
intact
(see
"
&er
n
picture).
It rvill
continue
to
deliver
up
to
130
million
gallons
of pure
drinking
water
to
users.
Above
ground,
meanwhile,
the
quake
might
have
Meaked
havoc.
EBA/IUD
finished
the
project
this summer and
its
customers west of
the
Berkeley
%ils now
have
a
reliable
water
supply.
Another
water
agency,
San
Francisco
Public Utility
Commission
(SFPUC),
which
srrppIies
drinking
water
to
the
city
from
Hetch
Hetchy
Reservoir, will also
engage
in
a
major upgrade project.
Having
completed
many
smaller improvements
to
their
system,
they will open
bids
next
spring
for
a
new,
5
mile
long
water
tunnel under the
bay
near
the
Dumbarton
Bridge.
(hraO24)
Yiie
riesigtt
of
tle
ilerv
EBMiZl
Ci'aremont
Tunnel
in the
fimdFm&
zone.
(Piclure
cDwtesy
of
D.
he,
EBdMUD.1
.
. .
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