OLYMPIA, Wash. – Gov. Christine Gregoire has drawn a line in the sand and it's located right underneath Seattle's crumbling Alaskan Way Viaduct.

She says the elevated structure is coming down by 2012 – no exceptions.

"We've all agreed to that deadline, so it's coming down. That will force us to get a solution in a timely way," said Gregoire.

Since Seattle voters last year turned down both the rebuild and tunnel options, the city says it will spend this year deciding that to do next.

Gov. Gregoire has already made up her mind.

"The mayor, the county executive and I have agreed, we need a deadline. We can't just sit here and process and process. It's getting old. We need to get it done," said Gregoire.

So far, the state has committed $2.8 billion to replace the 55-year-old section of Highway 99 along downtown Seattle's waterfront. But government officials still haven't been able to agree on any replacement proposals, which includes another elevated highway, a tunnel or moving the vehicles, estimated at more than 100,000 a day on the major thoroughfare, to surface streets.

"I applaud her on having the backbone and the guts and the leadership ability to make it clear it's not negotiable," said King County Executive Ron Sims.

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The Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown Seattle would be very costly to replace.

Sims, a proponent of the so-called surface and transit option, says the governor's ultimatum gives even more urgency to improving traffic around the I-5 corridor.

"We're basically saying that I-5 has to be in play, that Seattle's grid system has to be in play, that rapid transit has to be in play, that new bridges have to be put in play, that the Mercer Mess has to be put in play," said Sims.

King County says it will, for its part, increase Metro bus hours. But first, the state and the city must make road upgrades. A spokesperson for the city says it wants to have a decision on the Viaduct by the end of this year.