It appears Seattle will finally have the
money to fix the Mercer Mess.
On Wednesday, Sen. Patty Murray’s office announced a $30 million
stimulus grant to the Mercer Corridor Project. That just about covers
the project’s remaining tab so Seattle can move forward on the
long-debated plan to convert one-way Mercer Street into a two-way
boulevard through South Lake Union.
“This funding is a critical piece of the puzzle for a project that is
central to the economy of our state and the Puget Sound region,” Murray
said in a statement. “Rebuilding the Mercer Corridor is going to create
direct construction jobs, improve port and highway access and reduce
commute times in an area that contains some our most vital employers.”
Murray said she was informed of the decision Tuesday by U.S.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The first phase of the Mercer
project, known as Mercer East, is priced at $190 million. It also
would reduce Valley Street to two lanes in both directions, with wider
sidewalks and bike lanes. The reconfigured Mercer corridor would serve
as north portal to the deep-bore tunnel that the state Transportation
Department plans as a replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
The money was awarded through the Transportation Investments
Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, which Murray fought
to include in the stimulus bill as chair of the senate’s transportation
appropriations committee. About $56 billion in applications from around
the country competed for $1.5 billion available. The only other Washington state project to benefit
was a highway corridor project in Spokane — out of about $1.6 billion
in applications from this state.
The Mercer Project beat out two other significant local projects,
including the South Park Bridge and the State Route 520 bridge
replacement plan. The South Park Bridge, a major freight connection in
South Seattle, is falling apart. Owned by King County, officials had
applied for $99 million to build a new bridge. Without it, officials say
they may need to close the bridge this year for safety reasons.
Both projects could possibly benefit from a $600 million grant
program included in the 2010 federal transportation spending bill.
A year ago, state lawmakers doling out federal transportation dollars
snubbed Seattle and then-Mayor Greg Nickels, who was counting on
federal help for a $50 million shortfall in the Mercer financing plan.
Without the money, the City Council voted to approve preparations for
the Mercer project, but delayed construction until all the financing was
in place. With the grant, and bids coming in low in the
recession-affected construction market, financing the first phase should
no longer be a question.
City officials say fixing the “Mercer Mess,” a circuitous routing of
traffic through South Lake Union that clogs with 80,000 vehicles per
day, is critical to the city’s future transportation needs. Skeptics,
however, deride the plan as a handout to Vulcan, the company owned by
Paul Allen and the primary developer in South Lake Union. Vulcan
contributed about $36 million. Still, critics huff at the costs and
point to studies that show congestion may not improve. A second phase,
known as Mercer West, would transform Mercer all the way west to the
waterfront and would add another $100 million.
The grant program was aimed at ready-to-go projects that would
improve congestion, safety and sustainability; generate jobs; and be
substantially completed by 2012. It was geared more toward large
projects with complex financing plans.
Murray is expected to join Gov. Chris Gregoire during a public event
Thursday to discuss the award.
“After decades of studies and reports, we are finally solving the
Mercer Mess,” Gregoire said in a statement. “This project will improve a
critical freight corridor and help people get to their jobs in a
neighborhood that is expected to add thousands of new jobs over the next
few years. With the Mercer corridor project underway, we are taking a
major step forward in our efforts to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.”
– Seattle PI
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