Read my opinion piece below then fill out my survey at the end.
If you traveled for the Labor Day holiday you may have given a passing thought to our transportation system. Perhaps you were on some roads that need paving, or maybe you hit extra congestion that slowed you down. Or maybe you were in the Puget Sound visiting family and you took a ferry to get to your destination.
Even if you didn’t travel far, there has been a lot of news about transportation projects and problems lately that would be hard to avoid: the proposed I-5 bridge replacement to Oregon, the collapse of the bridge over the Skagit River and discussion about raising gas taxes to pay for needed projects and maintenance.
Fix It Before We Fund It
I wanted to talk about transportation today because I know there are great needs for further investment in our infrastructure. Our current system is not sustainable for future generations without more resources. However, we all know that the Department of Transportation has to get more of their ducks in a row before they should be given more ducks.
Over the years there have been many projects that have gone over budget or have encountered major problems that should have been avoided.
Just recently we heard from WSDOT that they have spent millions of dollars trying to fix mistakes made by the Department on the 520 bridge project. We can expect that millions more will be spent to fix the problems with the bridge pontoons. All of this will likely delay completion of the bridge by a year or more from what was originally planned.
And then there were the listing ferries in the Puget Sound: a few newly built ferries that were discovered to uncannily lean in the water. According to Crosscut, “the bill for the three ships will wind up at about $210 million, or $70 million a boat.”
Lastly, we are already seeing delays in the drilling of the new tunnel route for Highway 99 in Seattle. Machine problems and a labor dispute have resulted in only 24 feet of drilling in a month when they were expecting 6 feet of drilling per day.
Transportation Forums to be Held Around the State
These are just a few examples of recent transportation problems we have seen around the state. One way to help change the way we do transportation projects is to provide more oversight from both government and the public over what is happening with your transportation dollars. And I’m excited to tell you that two transportation leaders in the State Senate, Republican Curtis King from Yakima and Democrat Tracey Eide from Federal Way, will be holding forums around the state to share information with you and take your input as well.
On September 24th they will be holding a forum in Yakima at the Yakima Area Arboretum (Garden View Rm., 1401 Arboretum Dr., Yakima, WA 98901). The public is invited to come listen and share comments as well.
This is just a small step in the process of changing the way we spend taxpayer money, though an important one. I look forward to working with other legislators in the coming months on transportation reforms that the people of Washington deserve so that we can have a transportation system we can be proud to leave for our kids.
Thanks for reading…feel free to drop me a comment if you have something to share: info@votechandler.com.
All my best,
Your Turn: Transportation Survey
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