CHOKEPOINTS

What should we name the new Seattle tunnel?

Jun 12, 2018, 6:50 AM | Updated: 11:59 am

SR 99 tunnel, Seattle tunnel...

What should the SR 99 tunnel be named? (WSDOT)

(WSDOT)

The new Seattle tunnel is set to open this fall. But what should the tunnel be named?

RELATED: The 3 toll options for SR 99 tunnel

I’ve been pushing for naming it after former Governor Christine Gregoire because she pushed the tunnel through, despite the objections of many. We could call it “The Greg” for short.

I also see the ironic value of naming it Bertha, after the tunneling machine that ended up putting the project three years behind schedule.

While we debate what the tunnel should be called, there is a process that must be followed to name any public structure. Anyone can submit a proposal to name the tunnel. It can also be started by the state Legislature. The decision on naming a transportation facility rests with the Washington State Transportation Commission.

“It’s not enough just to say ‘let’s name it the “X,” I think that’s great,” commission Executive Director Reema Griffith said. “There has to be some substantiation.”

The public needs to be on board for what is being considered.

“We want to make sure that if we’re naming a prominent facility that the public has had a chance to chime in,” Griffith said. “We think that’s really important. The community is going to have to live with the name for a long time.”

The vetting, she said, must be thorough.

“It’s a collection of demonstrating that wide-spread support,” she said. “When it gets to the commission, they’re going to look for that kind of vetting to be present before they consider moving something forward to name a facility.”

If the tunnel is named after a person, that person needs to have had a positive influence.

“We really need people to take it seriously because it is such a permanent action,” Griffith said. So, “Tunnel McTunnelface” (see Boaty McBoatface) would not be considered by the commission.

RELATED: Seattle tunnel may open in October

So far, no one has stepped forward with a name for the new tunnel.

“We have not heard any proposals come forward at all,” Griffith said. “We have not been made aware that there is anything out there that’s being seriously considered.”

Suggestions so far include:

  • Pacific Sounder 99
  • The Alaskan Way Waterfront Interchange
  • The Alaskan Way Underpass
  • The Elliott Bay Underground Expressway
  • The Viaduct memorial tunnel
  • Belltown Bore
  • The Sonic
  • The Dori Monson tunnel
  • The Dori-was-Wrong tunnel
  • The Salmon Run
  • Bertha’s Wormhole
  • Western Washington Wormhole
  • Lower Seattle Drive
  • JP patches tunnel
  • The Arthur Langlie Tunnel

What do you think the tunnel should be named? Comment below.

Chokepoints

lane sweeping...

Chris Sullivan

Sullivan: Lane sweeping is all too common and needs to stop

This is called lane sweeping and let me be crystal clear -- what that driver did to me is 100% illegal for multiple reasons.

5 days ago

Photo: The Nisqually River Bridge will be cleaned this weekend as I-5 sees road work....

Nate Conners, KIRO Newsradio and Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest

Weekend road work: The bridges working against traffic flow

The Nisqually River Bridge is set to get its annual cleaning this weekend.

12 days ago

520 tolling...

Chris Sullivan

Expanded SR 520 tolling going down to wire in Olympia

Do you want funding for 520 or do you want lower gas prices? That's what the campaign against the citizen's initiative is expected to be.

12 days ago

sound transit parking...

Chris Sullivan

Sound Transit parking changes on the way

Sound Transit can and will check to see if you're meeting those benchmarks for parking, and you could be denied if you fail to meet them.

14 days ago

Image: After an I-5 south vehicle crash on Sunday, March 3, 2024, a traffic sign the Washington Sta...

Steve Coogan

I-5 south vehicle crash that killed pedestrian snarled traffic near Marysville

One person was killed in an accident on Interstate 5 south involving a vehicle and a pedestrian, the Washington State Patrol reported Sunday.

15 days ago

South 216th Street Bridge...

Nate Connors

I-5 near SeaTac closing this weekend at South 216th Street Bridge

The South 216th Street Bridge in SeaTac has nearly completed the installation of its concrete girders -- a heavy beam to support the deck of a bridge.

17 days ago

What should we name the new Seattle tunnel?