INITIATIVE PETITION FOR SUBMISSION TO THE SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL

To the City Council of The City of Seattle: We, the undersigned registered voters of The City of Seattle, State of Washington, propose and ask for the enactment as an ordinance of the measure known as Initiative Measure No. _____ entitled: "City of Seattle Initiative Measure [Insert City Title Here:______________________________________________________________________________.",] a full, true and correct copy of which is included herein, and we petition the Council to enact said measure as an ordinance; and, if not enacted within forty-five (45) days from the time of receipt thereof by the City Council, then to be submitted to the qualified electors of the City of Seattle for approval or rejection at the next regular election or at a special election in accordance with Article IV, Section 1 of the City Charter; and each of us for himself or herself says: I am a legal voter of The City of Seattle, State of Washington. My residence address is correctly stated. I have personally signed this petition.

( * Only Registered Seattle Voters Can Sign This Petition* )

COMPLETE TEXT OF INITIATIVE NO. ____

AN ORDINANCE to prohibit the construction, operation, or use of City of Seattle rightof-way(s) or City-owned property, wherever situated, above or below the ground, for the construction of and/or operation of a tunnel, and/or tunnel for vehicular traffic, or for tunnel-related facilities that replace in whole or in part that portion of SR 99 commonly known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct;

WHEREAS, the City of Seattle, King County and Washington State executives have declared their intention to support and to take all necessary acts within their powers to cause a deep-bored tunnel to be built as a replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct (hereinafter "Viaduct"); and

WHEREAS, the proposed tunnel will likely cause a significant expenditure of the public's funds, double the amount for two alternative options selected through the Alaskan Way Stakeholders Advisory Committee process in December, 2008, the hybrid elevated alternative and the hybrid surface alternative ; and

WHEREAS, public transportation tunnel projects of all kinds invariably, and significantly exceed in dollars and time their original estimates and budgets; and

WHEREAS, the proposed tunnel project, if it is built, will likely cause significant inconvenience and loss, in time and money to thousands of present and future Viaduct users, over several years due to a lengthy construction time and/or because of likely construction delays, and/or due to the loss of the through capacity of the present Viaduct; and

WHEREAS, the proposed tunnel will cause a significant disruption of and impacts to the scenic vistas now available to and/or enjoyed by the thousands of daily users of the Viaduct; and

WHEREAS, it is not reasonable or practical to mitigate the above impacts and those related to the construction of a deep-bore tunnel that would replace the Viaduct if it is allowed to be constructed in the public right-of-way, or on public property, including those in the subterranean zones;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained by the City of Seattle as follows:

Sec. 1. The City's approach to the repair or replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct has inappropriately favored replacement of the existing structure in part with a tunnel. For instance, references in the City's Comprehensive Plan purport to prohibit elevated structures, but allow tunnels with a surface roadway and a surface roadway without a tunnel, both of which are impractical to accommodate the level of traffic on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Council is urged to make changes in the City's Comprehensive Plan to retain options for addressing the Alaskan Way Viaduct, including repair or replacement with an elevated structure. Additionally, the Alaskan Way Viaduct is an essential public facility both as a bypass highway and an access facility to downtown and northwest Seattle neighborhoods. The site for this essential public facility should not be eliminated.

Section 2. A new Section 15.55 of the Seattle Municipal Code is added to read as follows:

The construction, operation or use of any City right-of-way or City-owned property wherever situated for a tunnel for vehicular traffic, or tunnel-related facility, to replace in whole or in part the Alaskan Way Viaduct is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. All ordinances and/or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this measure are hereby repealed.

Section 4. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstances is declared illegal, the remainder of the ordinance or its application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Section 5. The City Attorney is directed to fully defend against any challenge to this ordinance and/or to its application to any person, property or circumstance.