A poll released earlier this week by researchers at the UW shows that Seattle voters have a better understanding than the current crop of elected politicians that addressing the region’s transportation problems should be our top priority.In the poll of 600 people likely to vote in the August 18 primary election, 30 percent said that transportation issues related to the Alaskan Way Viaduct project is the number one issue for the city. General transportation challenges ranked number two at 25 percent, followed by jobs and the economy, taxes, and schools.

You can read the complete results here: http://www.washingtonpoll.org/results/080409.pdf.

The fact that “Transportation-Alaskan Way” outpolls every other issue indicates widespread concern about the plan to spend $4.2 billion to replace the Viaduct with a deep-bore tunnel. I think it’s a clear sign that voters are dissatisfied that the plan will cost so much and do so little.

And the fact that the two transportation-related items outpolled all other issues combined shows that while politicians continue to put off making tough decisions–or opt for ill-considered compromise plans like the deep-bore tunnel–voters are ready for fundamentally new approaches to our transportation challenges.

What voters understand, but politicians are afraid to acknowledge, is that the long history of failure to provide better public transit options and improve traffic flow hurts our economy, damages the environment, and harms the health of Seattle residents.

This is why I strongly oppose the deep-bore tunnel. It will require the largest tax or fee increase in Seattle history, but it will do nothing to improve our ability to move people and freight through our city.

I have long supported a plan that would replace the Viaduct with a new open waterfront that includes:

• A surface street at Alaskan Way
• Significant improvements to our public transit system, I-5, and the surrounding street grid
• Adaptive traffic signals and other enhanced traffic and parking management approaches
• Increased incentives for alternative commutes.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, this approach would:

• Cost almost $1 billion less than the deep-bore tunnel
• Provide substantial improvements to the overall capacity of the region’s transit system
• Reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles
• Improve the flow of cars and freight on 1-5

Stopping the deep-bore tunnel is just the start. We need to move beyond tired 20th-century solutions that subsidize endless road building and perpetuate the cycle of ever-increasing vehicle volume. This approach squanders our money and time, and contributes to global warming.

I believe it’s time to transform the way we approach transportation in this city. We need 21st-century thinking that favors people over cars. I will push for expanded public transportation, investments that make it easier to get around on a bicycle or on foot; and incentives that encourage people to choose alternatives to driving alone in a car.

I will also lead the fight to stop the deep-bore tunnel and work to ensure that the Alaskan Way Viaduct is replaced through a comprehensive set of solutions that enable us to reclaim the waterfront and that serve as the foundation for better, more efficient, and greener answers to our city’s outmoded and wasteful transportation infrastructure.