Seattle mayor says start date for seawall project only tentative

Some waterfront businesses have been angry about plans to start construction of Seattle’s central seawall in September, when tourists are still around.

Now, Mayor Mike McGinn is softening, saying that was only a tentative start date.

“There are competing demands. We’ll sit down with the general contractor, we’ll listen to all of those issues,” said McGinn at a news conference Tuesday.

McGinn said after they are done going through drafts for the seawall plans they will decide on the best timelines for the project.

Some business owners want construction on the $300 million seawall delayed.

McGinn has said the city can’t do construction in the waters of Elliot Bay between Feb. 15 and Aug. 1 because of juvenile salmon migration.

Construction was slated to begin in fall of 2013 and take approximately seven years. But McGinn said the first phase has to be completed by 2016, in time for the planned removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. He said the city will work in segments so that only certain parts of the waterfront will be disrupted at any given time.

“The primary thing is we need to build the seawall within the budget and the schedule allotted and we will do everything we can to mitigate the effects on businesses within that construction schedule,” McGinn said in a previous interview with Ross & Burbank.

In November, voters approved a $290 million, 30-year bond measure to pay to rebuild the seawall.

MyNorthwest.com’s Josh Kerns contributed to this report.