At an American Institute of Architects/Cascade Land Conservancy-sponsored appearance last night, King County Executive Dow Constantine defended his born-again support for the deep-bore tunnel (Constantine used to be a surface/transit supporter), arguing that the tunnel was the only option that won't result in downtown gridlock. Last week, Constantine joined Gov. Chris Gregoire, city council members, and legislative leaders to express his support for city attorney Pete Holmes' lawsuit to avert a vote that could overturn three agreements between the city and state on the tunnel, and to talk about why he feels the tunnel is the best alternative for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Explaining to interviewer C.R. Douglas of the Seattle Channel why he no longer supports the surface/transit option, Constantine said, "I was originally very attracted to [the surface/transit alternative], but years of study showed it wouldn't work. I don't think you can take enough people out of cars" to avoid gridlock, Constantine said. "If we're going to maintain our manufacturing and industrial base, we can't go down that path. ... The amount of roadway you would have to dedicate to through traffic defeats the whole purpose of having a downtown neighborhood."

With the tunnel, Constantine said, "access [to downtown] is going to be much improved. ...  You'll be able to exit at the end of the street grid near the stadiums, or take any one of the streets on the grid. It's going to be much more porous, accessible, and efficient."

Asked about his relationship with Mayor Mike McGinn, an outspoken opponent of the tunnel, Constantine said he and the mayor meet frequently and get along just fine. "You may have detected that we disagree on this one issue"---the tunnel---"that we've been discussing today, but ... it's really not my style to let those disagreements expand beyond the subject at hand," Constantine said.