n Tuesday, February 27, three-term Seattle City Council Member Peter Steinbrueck announced that he will not seek reelection to the council later this year. Instead, Steinbrueck says, he will work full time to promote the surface/transit option to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, an option that has gained momentum as opposition to a new elevated viaduct and a politically moribund tunnel has grown.

"I can't think of anything more motivating than to take this on with all the energy and time and commitment I can possibly muster, and I can't see doing that while running for reelection," Steinbrueck, whose father, Victor, famously battled to save Pike Place Market, says. "If I'm out running, it will be a huge distraction from what really matters to me: preventing a hostile new imposition on our central waterfront and working toward a better way that's sustainable, environmentally responsible, and affordable." (Steinbrueck's comments echo an exuberant speech he made at the Friends of Seattle kickoff party last month, to wild applause.) Steinbrueck has won his last two elections with overwhelming margins, making him a credible potential spokesman for the antiviaduct cause; in 2003, he defeated his opponent with 82 percent of the vote.

Steinbrueck says he hopes to build a large coalition between the various environmental and urban-planning groups that currently oppose the new elevated viaduct, one of two options on the ballot March 13. Those include pro-surface/transit groups like the People's Waterfront Coalition, Friends of Seattle, and the Sierra Club, as well as more mainstream environmental groups like Transportation Choices and Futurewise, which both support the mayor's tunnel. "Until we get the election behind us, we can't really jell into a larger, more powerful civic coalition," Steinbrueck says.