Ballard council members push for elevated viaduct

Two members of the Ballard District Council have written Gov. Christine Gregoire a letter favoring the elevated viaduct plan, one of two proposed solutions. Warren Aakervik, president of Ballard Oil and Mary Hurley of the Downtown Ballard Merchants Association wrote that the surface street plan with its 23 traffic lights couldn’t handle the traffic volume, resulting in extended commute times to and from Ballard. “The viaduct carries one quarter of the north-south traffic through downtown Seattle, of which 70 percent is through traffic,” the letter read, which was also authored by Gene Hoglund from Working Families for an Elevated Solution.

The elevated plan, shown here, features two elevated structures side-by-side with two lanes each. Earlier, My Ballard readers chimed in on their favorite plan, and comments leaned toward the elevated solution. We don’t have to wait long for a final decision: it’s expected this coming week.