Posted by
Icarus on Saturday, April 25, 2009 1:08:06 PM
Washington State lawmakers approved, Friday, April 24th, a deep bore tunnel to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct, a section of major highway that bisects the city of Seattle. Will this be the Pacific Northwest's version of
Boston's Big Dig? One hopes the engineers get this one right, given that Washington State's One Party (Democrat) Rulers put
Seattle Taxpayers on the hook for
ANY cost overruns. (One wonders at the coincidence of this decision coming down and the news about it being released on a Friday, a notoriously slow news day, when stories the government would like people to ignore are routinely released.)
As one who spent 7 years in the construction industry I can attest that, without a doubt, there will be cost overruns. The Rulers in Olympia have
allocated $2.8 Billion for the project, and anything over that, according to the spending bill, which will be signed by Gov. Gregoire, must be paid for by Seattle Taxpayers. The current estimate for total replacement cost is
$4.2 Billion.
Before one ounce of dirt has been turned on this project, Seattle Taxpayers are on the hook for an additional $1.4 Billion. The
Bill's language (link opens a PDF document) that sticks Seattle Taxpayers with the bill for cost overruns is, of course, incredibly vague: "Any costs in excess of two billion eight hundred million dollars shall be borne by property owners in the Seattle area who benefit from replacement of the existing viaduct with the deep bore tunnel."
What do the Olympian Rulers care, it isn't
their money that's being spent. After all, as Gov. Gregoire said, "The deep bored tunnel replacement will create jobs, help us emerge from this recession stronger and prepare our state for a 21st economy." Thousands of Seattle citizens have lost their jobs recently. At least one analyst is predicting that
Boeing will leave Seattle in the coming years if the business climate does not improve. I know, speaking from personal experience, those in the construction industry looking for work are very willing to relocate to another state. The fact that there may not be a tax base to cover this project's costs, apparently never crossed these morons' tiny brains.
In the midst of a recessionary economy, everyone; businesses and citizens alike, are reevaluating budgets and cutting back on spending. Government, in contrast, goes blissfully along, spending Other People's Money. I sure wish that voice whispering to government bureaucrats, "If you spend it. They will come." would shut up.
Boston's Big Dig was originally estimated at $2.8 Billion in 1982 (in 2006 dollars this was equivalent to $6 Billion). When all was said and done, including a fatal ceiling collapse attributed to poor construction methods, the project's final bill was
$22 Billion, which will not be paid off until 2038.
Seattle, ... Welcome ... to the Big Dig.