Will it wake up the process crazy politicians in this town, or will they be in their normal process comes first , we hate to make a leadership decision mode. Was it 6 years ago that the Nisqually quake occurred and we were awakened to the possibility of our own viaduct collapsing, or do we need to go as far back as 1989, when the images from San Francisco caught our attention and we first started to think about the possibility of such a scene happening here? Yes, it's true folks, nearly 20 years has passed since those scary images of pancaked roadway and trapped cars led many in this city to wonder How Long? My guess is that our fine leadership led by Mayor Gary will just advise us to stay home and work, same as the response for the I-5 mess about to descend on us. That's the kind of leaders we have.
As for the citizens of the Twin Cities, our thoughts and prayers with you all.

The 2 Puyallup bridges(end of 167 and along River Road) always look and feel highly questionable as to the integrity. I always drive with one window all the way down and doors unlocked. Go ahead, call me paranoid. But boy do these puppies shake!!

I agree that these structures need replacement. As far as how to pay for them...isn't that why we had the gas tax increase??..to fix these issues?

We have needed a major overhaul of the transportation infrastructure in this state for decades now, but our political leaders have cared more about following the political buzz than getting this done. Now our state leaders have a 20 year plan they recently shoved down our throats that will leave us 20 years behind when completed. They wont develop and fund a full blown mass transit system as other cities have done with great success. Now we have this horrible tragity and everyone sounds ready to open their wallets to a huge tax that we cannot afford and don't need. We NEED Olympia to spend its tax money on state needs, NOT on state OFFICIALS!!!!! This states elected officials have blindly followed Ron Simms and other Seattle puppet masters for decades and blown off the real needs of this state for the wants of Seattle and King County, its time the rest of this state stand up and tell Seattle and King County to Bite Me and let them know our world does not rotate abound them, and that we expect this states infrastructure to get fixed NOW, and I WILL NOT pay for SEATTLES dad blasted viaduct to be repaired, or a new home for their loser b-ball team! Seattle is on its own - period, end of discussion!

With this new focus on bridge safety, politicians need to re-think the list of RTID projects. They include the very cobtroversial crossbase highway, a BRAND NEW 6-mile highway that will cost over $600 million. Environmentalists hate it, the military doesn't want it (it will be a nighmare for base security as it bisects McChord AFB and Ft. Lewis army base, and will contribute more to urban sprawl than is imaginable. Let's prioritize based on SAFETY, not developer's $$$.

Our infrastructure as a whole not just locally or even regionally but nationally is in dire need of repair or replacement as alot of our roads and bridges are 50+ years old.....yes, each indivual state has taxes and levys that supposedly go to handle these types of needs for our roadways but something always seems to come up right when a project is slated to be repaired or replaced or the project is put on hold beacuse " there isn't enough funding " ?????

And here's another thing to think about....... Interstaes are federal roadways and yet the government is doing nothing and has been doing nothing ( Band-Aid on a broken arm ) Meanwhile over 650BILLION has been spent on the fececious war in Iraq... 650 Billion dollars would do alot to help our infrastructure!!!!!

Nice to know the American Government has our best interests in mind Huh???

And Lastly, why does it take a tragic event like an Interstate bridge collapse to get our leaders in action...... if these so-called politicians really cared, they would be doing what they could've sooner.

Anybody notice how it took bush a whole day to acknowledge or even talk about the bridge collapse???

This government makes me F^%$%ING Sick !!!!!

So many lies and empty promises.

Why must it take a crisis to prove a crisis exists. Bridges like the Viaduct will fall someday, and many will die. So stupidly sad. The United States has the money; or did until they spent it away trying to fix the rest of the world. LETS FIX OUR WORLD! THE U.S.A... N.O.W.

I'm sure our bridges need attention because Washington state engineers do not inspire confidence. But also a lot of tax dollars seem to disappear in our state. So until we get better engineers and more honest politicians and bureaucrats I don't see much point in throwing our hard earned money into that black hole.

Where does the general public get a list of the "Structural Deficient" bridges in our state? It should be my choice if I choose to cross over one or go around, Is that public Information?

Everyone seems to have opinions, such as those who have reacted to this MN bridge collapse, but just like other tragic events that have taken place over time, this too will become distant memories to both our gov't and society as a whole. History repeats itself, and tragic events will gain support and some action during the weeks immediately following them. Sadly enough though, as the spotlight fades away, so will the funding and support that are vital in making the corrective action(s) to ensure these things don't happen again. What a vicious circle.
I wish I had all the answers, but I don't, and neither does any other 'individual'. But, isn't this why we have "elected officials" in the first place? Those in leadership roles are supposed to be there to bring all of us together on a common ground so that all these opinions and ideas can be heard and combined in order to make the best decisions.
It's easier to point fingers when accusations take the front seat. But that doesn't fix the problem. I'd rather point my finger in the direction of those who have answers, rather than who should be to blame.
Not only are many of our bridges here in Washington in need of repair or replacement, but the roadways that travel over them are just as much in need. Population growth is through the roof, and what may have been adequate 50, 20, even 10 years ago, is now outdated and wasn't originally designed to support the amount and size of traffic as we have today.
I'd like to see some documented evidence of where, exactly, our tax dollars are going that constantly increase year after year. Let's face it, taxes are an evil necessity since it's higly unlikely the average Joe or Jo would willingly hand over money to help pay the costs for such improvements. Too bad, because if everyone did submit a few bucks when funding was needed, and it was monitored and used wisely, we'd see these bridges and roadways, among other things, being taken care of as they should be. Another interesting point; ever notice how often someone who is affected by some unexpected event will often exclaim "I never thought this would happen to me" or "I thought these things only happened to other people". Hmm!! Am "I" ready and willing to fork over a few more bucks to make this happen? You bet I am. I drive over these bridges, too, and frankly, I don't feel that secure when it comes to them these days. It's only a matter of time.

Is there any other major city (major is questionable considering the mayor and King County Exec.) in the United States where the interstate freeeway thru the city narrows to two lanes. These exec's. are so provincial in their thinking that they have no regard for any other area north or south of their jurisdiction. The solution is to build a new viaduct parallel to the current one
over Alaska Way and when that is built tear down the old one and rebuild it, a la the new Narrows Bqridge. Access roads North and South, i.e., Hiway 99 and Elliot Ave. in the North and 1st. Ave. South, and beyond, in the South, would be made into thruways creating six, count them, six new lanes North and South thru Seattle. WADOT could pretty it up a bit so that our dense mayor would think it was a tunnel. Toll booths would be built at King County's North and South county lines to satisfy the Exec's. need for money to build more buses and slow moving trains.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct is overdue for a collapse. Tragic, yes, but it will happen. Act of nature or just lack of maintenance. Wait and see (SOP in the City of Seattle).

Let’s instead take it down, planned and organized, open up the BEST ASSET this city has - its water front - and put the traffic underground!

The voters turned that down - at the price tag provided. I doubt there are many that would say "no" to a tunnel if it was priced reasonably.

About a year ago, a new waterfront tunnel opened up in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is just about the same length as a tunnel in Seattle, same capacity, and same purpose; Get through-traffic away from downtown and the waterfront!

The difference however is that that tunnel was built for less than 10% of what WSDOT and other "experts" have indicated a tunnel would cost in Seattle (~$500M versus ~$5,000M).

There is something very wrong here. Sweden is a high cost country. Public building projects are pricey and take long time. BUT, they are of good quality, they do last. What reasons/factors here in Seattle would justify that a similar project would be 10 TIMES more expensive?

WSDOT, City of Seattle; You CAN do this - “on the cheap”, w/o sacrificing anything in along the way! Just make sure you hire the right people, the right contractors, people with experience and make sure that there is not a lot of "padding" of pockets along the way.

This city deserves an open waterfront, its people deserves a safe transit and transportation system.

With the money saved, we can put trains on the Eastside and ease up the always jam-packed I-405. Maybe there would even be money left for SR-520?

But no, now were are going to spend billions in sending light rail across the lake, on a bridge that was not designed for it, and even if the transit package is approved in November, we will not see the benefits until maybe sometime around the year 2020, or later. At least 15 years out!

Take another look at the transit package. Make sure we have money for maintenance (=avoid a Minneapolis disaster), and spend the rest wisely, instead of just building more, and more, and more, and more....

We need true leadership to invest for the long term. We need a rational 100 year regional development strategy and mass transit plan. Today we have short term thinking that only serves the interests of elected officials and commercial developers.

I sent a letter to the Mayor's office...I cringe each time I drive on the viaduct..and just hope it doesn't collapse on me. Until Minnesota, there was the Oakland Freeway to remember. And I am sure our elected officials are just waiting until the furor over the Minneapolis bridge dies down and then it will be business as usual. But for now, it's "get out the PIO's and placate the public" rather than sit down around a table and solve the problem. It's pretty disgusting and very frustrating to be a citizen and try to hold those folks accountable. Just sign me "worried in Seattle"

I think WDOT should close all the bridges in WA state for inspection so we can all enjoy 24-7 traffic jam. They should also do it at the same time when they close part of I-5 in downtown Seattle for the next 19 days, I love traffic.

I am afraid that too many people are pointing the finger of blame for failing infrastructure in the wrong direction. WE are too blame. Every time a politician or government entity asks the question they get the answer: NO NEW TAXES! Well, guess what, no new work on maintaining our bridges, ferries, highways, parks etc. Costs keep going up, and no corresponding increase in funding equals bridges falling down.