The Seattle Times, which has enthusiastically supported two of Tim Eyman’s last four initiatives (and firmly opposed the other two), has made public its stance on Initiative 1125. In an eight paragraph editorial, the paper, owned and controlled by the Blethen family, urged voters to save road projects and vote no.

By restricting the state’s management of its highways, including tolls, Initiative 1125 would make it more difficult to build needed roads and bridges.

The whole state has an interest in this. Tolls are a way to help pay for expensive parts without dipping too heavily into the common pot. Without tolls, the biggest projects either would not get built, or would guzzle all the other road money. That is how a toll on the Highway 520 bridge-replacement project in Seattle protects money in Yakima and in Spokane.

The editorial ends by listing some of the projects that would be jeopardized by I-1125: the new Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, the Columbia River Crossing, and Sound Transit’s East Link light rail system. All of them would be “messed up”, the editorial says, proclaiming I-1125 to be “a mess too large”.

It looks like most, if not all, of Tim Eyman’s fair-weather friends have abandoned him this year. Only his closest followers and sympathizers have come out in favor of I-1125, while the opposition has become more and more widespread.