Editing Alaskan Way Viaduct (section)

===Tunnel planning and construction===
{{Main|Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel}}
[[File:Alaskan Way Demolition Oct 2011- 07.jpg|thumb|Demolition of the southernmost section of Alaskan Way Viaduct, October 2011]]
On January 12, 2009, the governments of Washington, [[King County, Washington|King County]], the city of [[Seattle]], and the [[Port of Seattle]] announced that they had agreed to replace the viaduct with a four-lane, {{convert|2|mi|km|adj=on}} long tunnel.<ref name="TunnelAnnounce">{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Garber |title=Tunnel in place of viaduct: A deal, but how to pay? |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2008621043_viaduct13m.html |work=The Seattle Times |date=January 13, 2009 |access-date=January 13, 2009}}</ref> The tunnel would have a south portal in [[SoDo, Seattle|SoDo]], near [[CenturyLink Field]], and a north portal near Thomas Street, north of the Battery Street Tunnel.<ref name="HAER2008"/>

The project was estimated to cost $4.25 billion, with state, city, and county promised funding well short of the estimate.<ref name="TunnelAnnounce" /> The state would fund boring of the tunnels, while the city and county would fund surface street improvements and repairs to the Alaskan Way Seawall, which itself was damaged in the Nisqually earthquake.<ref name="TunnelAnnounce" /> The announcement did little to quell the long and heated debate over the viaduct's replacement, with several factions expressing their criticism over the tunnel decision.<ref name="TunnelAnnounce" />

Boring of the tunnel by the [[tunnel boring machine]] "[[Bertha (tunnel boring machine)|Bertha]]" began on July 30, 2013, with the roadway initially scheduled to open in December 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=July 30, 2013 |title=Bertha's excavation mission beginning under downtown |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/bertharsquos-excavation-mission-beginning-under-downtown/ |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref> Tunneling stopped on December 6, 2013, after the boring machine struck a steel pipe, which obstructed its path {{convert|1,083|ft|m}} into the route. Investigations revealed that the machine had struck a pipe which had been installed in 2002 as a part of an exploratory well used to measure groundwater as part of the planning phases for the project. Boring resumed briefly on January 28–29, 2014, stopping again due to damage to the seal system which protects the machine's main bearing and damage to several of the cutting blades.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 7, 2014 |title=Feb. 7 update: Two factors contributed to tunnel stoppage |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/Contents/Item/Display/1457 |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref> This caused a two-year delay as it was necessary to dig a {{convert|120|ft|m|adj=on}} vertical shaft recovery pit from the surface in order to access and lift the cutterhead for repair and partial replacement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=January 30, 2015 |title=Bertha's repair pit reaches full depth of 120 feet |url=http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2015/01/berthas-repair-pit-reaches-full-depth-of-120-feet-depth/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref>

Work was initially expected to resume by March 2015,<ref>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Aubrey |date=April 21, 2014 |title=State: Bertha to get back to work by next March |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/State-Bertha-to-get-back-to-work-by-next-March-5418606.php |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref> but it was December 2015 before tunnelling recommenced.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=December 22, 2015 |title=Bertha back on the move after 2 years of delays |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/bertha-restarts-after-two-years-of-delays/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref> Boring was halted again 23 days later after a sinkhole developed on the ground in front of the machine,<ref>{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=January 14, 2016 |title=Inslee orders tunnel dig halted as soil sinks above Bertha |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/inslee-orders-bertha-tunneling-stopped-after-sinkhole-forms/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref> but resumed a month later.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=February 23, 2016 |title=She's ba-ack! Yes, Bertha's on the move once again |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/shes-ba-ack-yes-berthas-on-the-move-once-again/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref>

In July 2016, a citywide [[ballot measure]] attempted to build an [[elevated park]] along the waterfront after the demolition of the viaduct, utilizing a portion of the existing structure. The attempt failed, with more than 80 percent of voters in Seattle rejecting the measure.<ref>{{cite news |last=Madej |first=Patricia |date=August 2, 2016 |title=Voters soundly reject elevated waterfront park for downtown Seattle |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/elevated-waterfront-park-initiative-results/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> By this time, the tunnel was not expected to be completed until 2019, and had incurred $223 million in cost overruns.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=July 21, 2016 |title=Bertha's woes grind on: more delay, higher cost for Highway 99 tunnel |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/berthas-woes-grind-on-more-delay-higher-cost-for-highway-99-tunnel/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2016}}</ref>