The PI.com reports that---as we predicted back in May ---the state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will not appeal a decision by King County Superior Court judge Laura Gene Middaugh to allow the anti-tunnel referendum onto the November ballot. (The referendum, in the form approved by Middaugh, would uphold one section of a 140-page ordinance adopted by the council last year; that section dictates how e council will proceed with three agreements on the tunnel after the state adopts a final environmental impact statement on the project.)

"We respect Judge Middaugh's decision that Seattle voters have a chance to weigh in on how the Seattle City Council will give notice to continue the agreements that protect the city's interests," state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said in a statement.

"We look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with the council as we replace the seismically vulnerable Alaskan Way Viaduct after 10 years of public debate and evaluation of more than 90 different options."

The state is, however, among the parties challenging the specific ballot language on the referendum, arguing that it inaccurately implies that the referendum will dictate how the city will move forward with the tunnel agreements.