My name is Bob Fleming, and I am very interested in seeing a greatly improved transportation system for Seattle and the surrounding region.

Current System

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and many others are pushing for major improvements to Mercer Street in the South Lake Union area just north of downtown Seattle. However I feel strongly that tbe current plans are fairly expensive and the results will be mostly cosmetic and will not solve the so-called “Mercer Mess” and will do nothing to provide a good link between the new bored tunnel and Elliott Avenue West.

The Mercer Mess is a local term for the infamous traffic jams that occur on Mercer Street as a major connection to Interstate Highway 5 (I-5). Traffic is one way on Mercer Street eastbound onto I-5 and one way westbound on Valley Street, a block north of Mercer, and some other streets on a winding westerly route from I-5 to Queen Anne Avenue North, a distance of roughly a mile. Both streets are crossed by several north-south streets, with traffic signals. The result is slow-moving traffic during most of the day, especially on Mercer Street.

Most of this congestion is just south of Lake Union, known as the South Lake Union neighborhood. During the past few years there has been major development of South Lake Union, with biotech and other companies moving into new, several-story-high buildings and people moving into new condos and apartments. With the influx of jobs and population, there are now a number of new shops and eateries. A new streetcar line serves the area. And amidst all this new, modern upscale community is pot-holed and congested Mercer Street.

So the mayor and others, including property owners in South Lake Union, want Mercer Street improved. The plan proposed by the mayor is to turn Mercer Street into an attractive wider, two way street to fit into the upscale nature of the neighborhood.

Unortunately, the new plans will do little to improve the flow of traffic through the neighborhood. As far as I can tell, the Mercer Mess will still be there, just in more pleasant surroundings!

Another major disappointment for me is that the proposed new deep-bore tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct disrupts a vital connection to Elliott Avenue West and the neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Magnolia, Interbay, and Ballard. The north end of the Viaduct is on the waterfront and connects with Elliott Avenue and Western Avenue, which are direct connections to Elliott Avenue West. The north end of the tunnel will be on Aurora Avenue North, about a mile east of Elliott Avenue West. The connections between the tunnel and Elliott would be by smaller neighborhood streets.

My opinion is that more money needs to be spent to turn this into a real problem-solving project.

For one thing, there needs to me a Mercer Street Expressway that will avoid the intersections and traffic lights on the surface. My solution is a cut-and-cover tunnel, similar to the existing Battery Street Tunnel, but perhaps with three lanes in each direction instead of two. Then the surface, the lid of the Expressway, would be the improved, attractive Mercer Street sought by the Mayor, but without all the through traffic.

For another thing, the underground Expressway would go all the way west to Elliott Avenue West. A major interchange at Aurora Avenue North would connect not only to Aurora itself, but also to the north end of the new tunnel that will go underneath downtown Seattle to connect to state route 99 along the waterfront south of downtown. Although people still won’t have the good connection they have now with the Viaduct, at least the Mercer Street Expressway connecting with the bored tunnel will make a pretty simple route.

I think that the Mercer Street Expressway should be made part of the bored tunnel project to compensate for the loss of the connection between the Viaduct and Elliott. The state should pick up the cost of the Mercer Street Expressway, but the City of Seattle should use money already designated for the Mercer Street improvements to build the surface improvements and, if possible, contribute any excess toward the underground expressway.