City leaders and residents react to latest tunneling mishap

SEATTLE -- City leaders and residents we spoke with on Thursday were not surprised to learn of a new sinkhole that formed near the viaduct and they applaud Governor Jay Inslee's decision to stop drilling immediately until further notice.

Seattle City Council member, Mike O'Brien, was extremely discouraged to hear the news.

O'Brien said, "I’m really grateful frankly, that the governor intervened to stop that machine from moving forward until all the questions are answered and we have assurances that what happened yesterday wont happen again because what happened yesterday was never supposed to happen."

Motorists who use the viaduct every day are also skeptical of the drilling after the recent news of the sinkhole.

Claire Jordan drives on the viaduct everyday. Jordan said, "I’m a little concerned that they haven’t looked at the very obvious problems of digging a hole in Seattle especially considering the history of Seattle."

Governor Jay Inslee ordered the tunneling to stop until Seattle Tunnel Partners, the contractor in charge of the project, can come up with a safe solution moving forward that state experts can agree on.

Seattle Tunnel Partners and WSDOT plan to have a meeting regarding the situation on Friday.