The re-start date for Bertha, allegedly a tunnel-boring machine, has been pushed back. Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) is now predicting drilling will perhaps begin again on December 23, another month later than previously announced.
The Highway 99 tunnel project is already more than two years behind schedule. The original opening was supposed to be by the end of this year. The disastrous project would be comical if it were not such a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) expects to lose at least another $78 million due to extra costs associated with the time Bertha has sat idle.
Of course, as the Seattle Times points out, the public will not know how much money the state has lost on the project for years.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) expects *the taxpayers of Washington state* to lose at least another $78 million due to extra costs associated with *incompetent management during* the time Bertha has sat idle.
BEND OVER TAXPAYERS