Some newfangled food for thought on the eve of the newest NW $Billion Boondoggle - My first choice would be the bay bridge option hands down (Greg "Wooden" Nickels Memorial Bay Bridge), but how about this innovative idea for an Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement:

Construct an exquisite third deck atop the new viaduct which would serve as an elevated sky-park. Imagine an unobstructed, futuristic promenade for pedestrians and bicyclists alike which sweeps across and above the entire waterfront, undergirding the city skyline - but which also cloaks the entire top of the newly minted viaduct "eye-sore." Imagine four-lanes northbound capped by four southbound capped-off by this floating park complete with walking/jogging/cycling thoroughfares flanked by lawns and landscaping and dotted by occasional vendor kiosks and sky-bridges to the Pike Place Market and to other landmarks along the waterfront.

This option will still be far, far more cost-effective than the current "Cut and Cover" (YA) Trench BOONDOGGLE that the leftist political establishment now appears bent on ramming up the citizen's backside. The oft-claimed cry of "revitalizing the waterfront views" is a red-herring designed to pay off certain political benefactors while hardly benefiting those citizens who would actually bear the costs of their fantasy. Let's be frank, the viaduct hardly blocks any "vital views" when compared to the plethora of high-priced views already paid for and enjoyed throughout the downtown area.

This sky-park thoroughfare (The Emerald City Archway?) will actually benefit the people who pay for it, and when designed properly will provide a masterful and unique signature for the entire metropolis - while at the same time, provide a cost-effective (not to mention an environmental- and time-effective) traffic solution of a style we're already long familiar with (while also facilitating the street-level functionally along the waterfront as it currently exists). This solution also allows for the separation of, and therefore averts, the "Rebuilding of the Seawall" debacle - The Great Trench Stench boondoggle which is sure to ensue. The Seattle seawall situation must be a separate project which is solved, and paid for, by the City of Seattle itself.

Perhaps that new road really should be paved with gold brick... There's no place like home...