City Hall
Council to Approve Tunnel With Resolution
After all that, the city council will finally vote this afternoon to approve a resolution that will end the official debate over the downtown deep-bore tunnel.
The resolution is the denouement of the long, tortuous debate over the tunnel (read the "whereases" for a taste) that culminated in last month's failed tunnel referendum. Technically, that referendum affected just one portion of three lengthy agreements between the city and the state allowing work on the tunnel to move forward after the final environmental impact statement is adopted. Not-so-technically, the referendum was a proxy vote on the tunnel---and voters said they liked the tunnel.
As we reported in Fizz a week ago, the council has been divided on the question of how to move forward on the tunnel. According to council staffers, Section 6 is silent on the question of how council members should approve the agreements.
By adopting today's resolution, however, the council will effectively prohibit any future referendum on the tunnel. Had they passed an ordinance instead, that ordinance would itself be subject to referendum---one reason some tunnel opponents supported that option.
The resolution is the denouement of the long, tortuous debate over the tunnel (read the "whereases" for a taste) that culminated in last month's failed tunnel referendum. Technically, that referendum affected just one portion of three lengthy agreements between the city and the state allowing work on the tunnel to move forward after the final environmental impact statement is adopted. Not-so-technically, the referendum was a proxy vote on the tunnel---and voters said they liked the tunnel.
As we reported in Fizz a week ago, the council has been divided on the question of how to move forward on the tunnel. According to council staffers, Section 6 is silent on the question of how council members should approve the agreements.
By adopting today's resolution, however, the council will effectively prohibit any future referendum on the tunnel. Had they passed an ordinance instead, that ordinance would itself be subject to referendum---one reason some tunnel opponents supported that option.
