King County Superior Court judge Laura Middaugh issued an order today laying out an expedited timeline for city attorney Pete Holmes' lawsuit to avert a referendum on the deep-bore tunnel from going to the ballot. The city also filed its motion for summary judgment in the case, arguing that the agreements are not subject to referendum because they are merely administrative, not legislative, and asking the court to rule the referendum invalid as quickly as possible.

Holmes has asked the court to speed up the process as much as possible so that, if the city does not prevail, the referendum can move forward to an August ballot rather than waiting until November. The court has to decide whether the agreements are subject to referendum on or before May 24 for the measure to move forward in August ballot.

Under the timeline, which we reported Wednesday would be announced today, the defendants in the lawsuit---representatives of Protect Seattle Now, the anti-tunnel referendum campaign---must respond to the city's summary judgment order no later than May 4, and the city must issue its own responses to Protect Seattle Now by the 10th. The court will hear oral arguments in the case on May 13.