Free Republic

If you’re desperate for a smile while stuck in Seattle-area traffic, just look toward the billboards where Washington state has launched a $4.4 million marketing campaign that promotes the new Highway 99 tunnel as resembling a happy face. The messages remind motorists this four-lane tunnel goes completely under downtown, from the stadiums to the Space Needle. Television ads depict people performing a swooping “under” gesture — for instance, while ordering a chicken sandwich with meat beneath the lettuce. Viewers are encouraged to check www.99tunnel.com. The shape resembles the trademark smile of Amazon, which dominates several blocks near the tunnel’s north...

After spending weeks searching for what might be blocking the Highway 99 tunneling machine, officials say there’s another problem: Bertha is running hot. Adding to the trouble, project managers say they don’t know why. High temperatures near the machine’s cutting face prompted contractors to stop mining after the drill advanced a total of 4 feet in test runs Tuesday and Wednesday. And that ended Bertha’s attempt to resume mining after an eight-week layoff. . . .I t took weeks for Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) to pump away enough groundwater to safely allow an 11-day inspection of the front end, which...

More than two dozens cars, trucks and big rigs became entangled in a series of collisions that brought the busy Highway 99 to a virtual standstill Monday morning.