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WASHINGTON STATE Open Thread
This is a community series giving our Washington Kossacks a virtual meeting place to discuss issues of concern to our state and share what's happening in our lives. Share your activist efforts, plug for your favorite candidate, share a LTE you've gotten published or educate us on the issues you are passionate about. Tell us an interesting or funny story, ask for advice from the community or share a recipe. Tell us anything that has happened out there. Nothing is off topic. Let's connect, unite and act!
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Bertha - Drill Baby Drill! Largest drilling machine in the world.
Definition of a boondoggle: An unnecessary or wasteful project or activity.
Bertha is a 57 foot diameter tunnel boring machine built specifically to till the tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel.
Boondoggle One: I've previously written about Bertha, Seattle's Tunnel Project, which aims to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. It is now two years behind schedule, seriously over budget and the timeline for restarting drilling continues to be a moving target. It is not slated to begin drilling again until around Thanksgiving.
Alaskan Way Viaduct
Boondoggle Two: Right alongside Bertha is the Alaskan Way Seawall.
Friday it was announced that that project too is behind schedule and seriously over budget.
SEATTLE - The new Alaskan Way Seawall will not be done on time nor on budget.
That's the word from the Seattle Department of Transportation which, for months, had hailed the project as a shining example of how it can handle major projects. It was scheduled to be completed by 2016, on time and on budget, leaders said.
But, SDOT Director Scott Kubly admits the department underestimated the true cost and time needed to make the repair.
In 2012 voters approved a bond measure of $290 million to repair the seawall. Soon afterwards the budget for the project rose to $300 million. Quietly, that number rose to #330 million.
Now Kubly says it will take $409 million -- more than 33% over the original budget -- to complete. He also says it will take an additional year to build and won't be completed until 2017.
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Kubly admits it hasn't been the most efficient process and has cost time and money. He also says a decision on "water management" and stabilizing the soil on the east side of the project has also proved costly. SDOT went with a "soil freeze,” said Kubly. That process, which involves a labyrinth of pipes, freezes water below the surface and provides a buffer to prevent liquefaction and any erosion, especially in the event of a quake.
Oh, so "it hasn't been the most efficient process and it has cost time and money". It happens that my wife and I traveled adjacent to this project every day Monday thru Thursday on our way to teach our ESL classes. We made a game out of counting how many people were standing around instead of working. The rule of thumb we came up with was three people watching while one person operating a piece of heavy equipment. Day in and day out this is what we witnessed.
And then there was the literal parking lot of heavy equipment lined up along the construction site with barely enough room to maneuver. That game count was more along the lines of four pieces of heavy equipment sitting idle while one was in use.
So yes, I can certainly agree with the statement "it hasn't been the most efficient process and has cost time and money".
So how is this cost overrun going to be paid for? Here are the options currently on the table.
A commercial parking tax, which is part of a revenue stream which could go to future large capital projects, like streetcars and bridge replacements
A real estate excise tax, which is part of a fund dedicated to additional road maintenance and system enhancements
Waterfront parking revenue
A Waterway fund, which is from fee revenue generated from "waterway use permits"
Kolby was described as coy about the fallout from this cost overrun but it is just another example of a high profile project being delayed and over budget.
And the timing of this announcement is not opportune for another reason. Kubly and Mayor Murray are pitching a $930 million transportation levy to voters for a fall vote.
Remember that saying that these kinds of things happen in threes. Think about that before you vote for that transportation levy. I think we can assume that the projects the levy is meant to fund will run over budget. And it also behooves us all to examine closely where that money will be spent. It could be (and probably will be) boondoggle three!
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Update: Washington State wildfires:
It's been a sad and scary week for eastern Washington. I'll share a message we got on Friday from a close friend living in Twisp, WA. It's up close and personal for us!
Well, the wind is picking up. More fires are visible, approaching from all directions. I left my place but was stuck with some other people because they had closed off Twisp River Road. A structure was burning by the road and they did not let us through. Eventually we were able to take a detour via Poorman Creek Road to Twisp.
Regarding Joyce, The are now losing houses up Twisp River Road, West from my house. I don't know about Joyce's cabin. The last I heard was that Howard's house was burning.
Also, the pine cottage Community up Elbow Cooley is burning. The fire has reached Moccasin Lake Ranch and is heading over the hills towards Wolf Creek.
I had lost Internet connection and telephone connection at my house. I was sad leaving my house behind. I set 8 water sprinklers all around it, hopefully that will help.
Now I am driving towards Pateros. A lot of Valley folks are there camping out by the Columbia River, waiting out the situation. I may join them.
This is climate change happening today folks and it should be the ongoing #1 issue on everybody's political plate. As Naomi Klein says in the title of her latest book: "
This Changes Everything"
The most important book yet from the author of the international bestseller The Shock Doctrine, a brilliant explanation of why the climate crisis challenges us to abandon the core “free market” ideology of our time, restructure the global economy, and remake our political systems.
If you haven't yet read it do so!
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Update on last week's post: Washington State Open Thread - Initiative #732 - CarbonWA
Earlier today fellow Kossack Pacificshift posted this excellent article giving much more background and analysis. It is IMO a MUST READ!
Washington first state to price carbon by popular vote? The obstacle course
Here is an excerpt:
Washington state climate advocates are aiming at a political act never before achieved, enacting a state-level price on carbon pollution by popular vote. Carbon Washington is seeking to place a carbon tax on the November 2016 ballot. The Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Energy is exploring a cap-and-trade measure. Though drought and fires place the state on the climate chaos frontlines, passage of any measure will face a tsunami of fossil fuel opposition funding and voter skepticism. A fractious politics between the Alliance and CarbonWA creates additional hurdles. This post looks at the roots of the struggle, tracks its unfolding chronology, and seeks to analyze what it means for ballot box success.
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This is one of four weekly open threads for a state. The other three are North Carolina started by randalt , Michigan organized by peregrine kate and Colorado by Leftcandid.
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Washington: Sundays, 3:30 PM Pacific
Colorado: Wednesdays - 6:30PM Pacific
For those in other states, please join us as we strive to establish state open threads in all fifty. Please drop me a line if you are interested in hosting an open thread in your state. Keep in mind, you can create your own State Open Thread group and set up a system and schedule for rotating the weekly contribution.
We have started a State Open Thread group that you can follow to catch the weekly round ups. Scheduling is still in the works but we are striving for an advertised and promoted regular date and time for each of these so readers can depend on a schedule to check out their state's happenings. Please help support and contribute to this project. 4 down, 46 to go!