Editorials / Opinion

Last week, state Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson unabashedly reported that $959 million of the $1.44 billion contract has been spent on the tunnel project, suggesting that the completion date and overall costs are indeterminable [“Stalled Bertha’s tunnel project 70% done?” Local News, Dec. 27]. As a consequence, the entire tunnel project and the tax dollars of…

Those with some years and who still have memory will remember the nuclear power fiasco during Gov. Dan Evans’ reign, which came to be known as “Whoops,” a morph of the acronym for Washington Public Power Supply System. That resulted in the abandonment of half-built nuclear power plants around the state at great expense to…

The Alaskan Way Viaduct with CenturyLink Field and Mount Rainier in the background (Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times).

I recommend that the reality of the situation be accepted and addressed before the downtown sinks any further [“WSDOT explains the settling, liability and safety of the Highway 99 tunnel project,” Opinion, Dec. 15]. It is well known that Seattle sits on unstable ground, and tunneling has now disturbed it.

Stop pumping. Leave Bertha where it is and give it a decent burial service. Get on with a workable solution — either a new viaduct or

In The Seattle Times editorial “Digging out from the tunnel mess” [Opinion, Dec. 10], the editorial board stated, “The lack of a clear path forward is emboldening the doomsday prognosticators demanding that the plug be pulled on the tunnel. With $1 billion of the $1.44 billion contract already spent, that would be grievous…

Let’s pretend we all want the tunnel and act like we want it to succeed [“Is Bertha’s pit affecting Pioneer Square buildings?” Local News, Dec. 9]. Close the viaduct. Fix Bertha. Or, better yet, make Hitachi Koki fix Bertha, at their cost. But get this thing going. Yes, I’m sure closing the viaduct would make…

BERTHA’S BROKEN SEALS: The $80 million tunnel-boring machine is suffering from damage to the seals that are supposed to protect its $5 million main bearing. But before it even got to Seattle, the same seals were a problem. Workers in Japan discovered damage and ended up taking Bertha apart for repairs. (Mark Nowlin / The Seattle Times).

While the tunnel to replace the viaduct may have appeared to be a bright idea, it now is appearing to be more of a folly [“Bertha’s big troubles started in Japan,” Local News, Feb. 25]. Plagued by problems from the start — seals failed during initial testing in Japan — it has only managed to travel 1,025 feet of the 1.7 miles needed for the tunnel.

In one respect, the Seattle Tunnel Partners may be fortunate it broke down where it did because they have access to be able to dig a pit to remove the cutting head to repair the seals.

As a retired public works official with the City of Bellevue, I have followed with great interest the conundrum surrounding Bertha, the stuck tunnel boring machine [“Rock was just the right size to get stuck in Bertha,” The Today File, Jan. 22]. In my experience, one of the chief responsibilities of a lead agency,…

Cut out unions Those in charge of the tunnel project should simply hire nonunion workers to deal with the removal of the excavated material from the boring project. [“Bertha stuck, needs help to get out of this muck,” NW Wednesday, Sept. 11.] Since neither union group is willing to make a compromise, the simple solution would…

A picket line that needs to be crossed I do not understand the longshoremen’s union’s position on the removal of dirt from the tunnel project. [“Tunnel work grinds to a halt over union dispute,” page one, Sept. 7.] They apparently agreed to arbitration but dislike the July ruling. They were offered a reasonable split of the…

Waste of time and money Do you really think the taxpaying public really cares who moves the dirt? [“Tunnel work grinds to a halt over union dispute,” page one, Sept. 7.] Holding up a project of this magnitude and cost for eight jobs is absolutely ludicrous. In the meantime, there are 250 construction workers twiddling…