Failure this summer of a proposed 10.5-cent increase in Washington’s gas tax to fund big transportation projects such as the North Spokane Corridor has caused some state lawmakers to seek new ways to stretch existing funds.
Last week, Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, released a package of transportation reforms that would free up money for more construction.
Lawmakers are taking their ideas on the road later this year to gauge reaction from the public, government agencies and the private sector.
Lawmakers are planning to hold a public meeting in Spokane on Oct. 22 at the Eastern Region office of the Washington Department of Transportation, at North Mayfair Street and North Foothills Drive. The time for the event has not been set.
King said at least some of the reforms are needed before conservative lawmakers will support a tax increase. He said he believes the public wants lawmakers to make better use of the taxes that are already collected before asking them to pay more.
King is co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and a leader in the majority coalition caucus made up of Republicans and conservative Democrats.
“Some of these (reforms) are vitally important to our caucus and the ability to move forward with a revenue package,” he said.
In June, lawmakers rejected a 10.5-cent increase in the state gas tax that would have raised nearly $10 billion through 2025.
Under that plan, bonds would have been sold to raise funds immediately for the state’s largest construction projects, including $420 million to extend the North Spokane Corridor through Hillyard to the Spokane River and another $155 million to extend widening of Interstate 90 on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass.
Before majority caucus members will consider higher taxes, King said, he and his colleagues want sales taxes collected on transportation projects returned to the transportation budget, a move that would raise an estimated $400 million for transportation over 10 years.
The plan also would use environmental legacy funds to pay for stormwater elements of transportation projects, which would increase construction funds by a similar amount.
The lawmakers also are calling for re-examination of the requirement that contractors pay prevailing wages, and they want to streamline environmental permits for construction. Public-private partnerships are being encouraged for some projects.
Recent engineering errors uncovered in Western Washington are getting attention, too. The coalition wants to require the Department of Transportation to report to the Legislature when they make those kinds of mistakes.
Other reform proposals involve ferries, toll roads and Sound Transit.
Work started last week on renovation of the Spokane Transit Authority’s bus center at Spokane Community College.
Changes to the 30-year-old loading and unloading area will be finished by mid-September, in time for the fall quarter.
Burton Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the $115,000 project funded mainly with a federal grant.
An upgraded passenger platform with assigned zones for each route will be built, clearing up confusion about where to wait for buses. Up to six buses will be able to load and unload at the improved center.
In addition, buses heading south on Greene Street are going to start using the bridge underpass rather than attempting to make left turns onto Greene when they depart campus.
STA provides 800 trips a day through the campus transit center.
