Move on everybody, build the tunnel.
The intent, says Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee, was to keep Seattle political and business groups from showing up in Olympia and asking the state to pick up the tab for parks, bike lanes, park-and-ride lots or roads to areas beyond the immediate work zone.
He says he doesn't expect the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to exceed its $2 billion estimate for the tunneled portion of the $3.1 billion highway, which includes $300 million from the Port of Seattle.
"My amendment was not a legal means to get the city to pay for any cost overruns, if there are any," he said Tuesday in a phone interview. "My intent was to send them notice that this project was not going to become a Christmas tree that they can hang everything and anything on, that the state was going to pay for."
Local News | Tunnel figure says he didn't mean to put city on hook if costs soar | Seattle Times Newspaper
