As Snohomish County mayors, we are seeing the lack of investment in our state’s transportation system place our communities in a stranglehold of backups, lost time, late deliveries and higher costs. We need to replace delays with action.
Last October the Washington state Department of Transportation released its 2014 “Congestion Report,” showing that the gridlock and brake-tapping we’ve been stewing in for years have gotten significantly worse.
Case in point: In 2011, to ensure a reliable on-time trip on I-5 from Everett to Seattle, drivers needed to allow themselves 62 minutes for the 27-mile drive. In 2014, according to the Congestion Report, those same drivers needed to leave themselves 80 minutes. That’s nearly 20 minutes more of one-way congestion — and the story is much the same for drivers commuting from Edmonds, Marysville or Arlington.
We hope this is the year our elected leaders in the state capital do something about all this.
It is time for a comprehensive and balanced transportation package — something we strongly support. We urge the Legislature to fund a critical set of project investments for Snohomish County, and to provide direct funding, grant funding, and financing options to our cities and counties for all of their local roadway needs.
In Olympia, the state Senate has approved a 2015 transportation revenue-and-reform package that makes some critical down payments on the worst of our transportation problems here in Snohomish County. On the reform side, the package includes several bills to help ensure that transportation projects are permitted and constructed as efficiently and effectively as possible.
On the investment side, the Senate’s package would allow the Department of Transportation to build new peak-use lanes on I-5 between Everett and Marysville, improve key bridges and interchanges on Highway 9, invest in the Mukilteo ferry terminal, combat freight gridlock on the Edmonds and Everett waterfronts, enhance transit service, build more “safe routes to schools,” and support a host of other projects throughout the county.
The Senate’s package also provides Sound Transit with new revenue options to take to voters as part of a “Sound Transit 3” ballot measure next year to connect light rail to Everett, and it provides direct funding and options for local bus routes and local roadways. It is crucial that any ST package extend the ST light rail transit spine through the Paine Field aerospace complex and to the emerging Everett College District.
The transportation package also invests in grant programs vital to cities and counties, including the Transportation Improvement Board, Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, “Complete Streets,” Safe Routes to Schools, and Bicycle-Pedestrian Safety.
We urge the House of Representatives to seriously consider extending the package to include improvements to the Highway 531 link to the industrial complex at the Arlington Airport, long-term safety and capacity improvements to the U.S. 2 trestle, and backlogged mobility and maintenance projects throughout Snohomish County.
No matter what, we simply have to see action on a transportation package this year. The state’s transportation system is in disrepair, with a backlog of maintenance and preservation needs. Failing roads and bridges, congested highway corridors, and bottle-necked interchanges undermine the ability of vehicles, buses and freight haulers to move people and goods.
While the House of Representatives is considering a transportation package, we ask that you help us with a simple message to House members. Please, whether you are a commuter, parent, student, trucker or transit rider, take a moment to communicate your views on transportation needs to our elected representatives in Olympia.
Let’s get this done!
Barb Tolbert is the mayor of Arlington; Dave Earling is the mayor of Edmonds; Ray Stephanson is the mayor of Everett; Vern Little is the mayor of Lake Stevens; Jon Nehring is the mayor of Marysville.
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