Funding for the long-awaited 179th Street interchange on Interstate 5 may not be in the proposed state Senate transportation budget for 2023-25, but it is in the House of Representatives’ version, contrary to previous reports.
In fact, total House support for the project exceeds by $35 million the project’s $50 million price tag, according to a March 26 Legislative Evaluation & Accountability Program committee document. Under the House committee’s proposed budget, $4 million is allotted for the 2023-25 biennium, $28.5 million for the 2025-27 biennium and $52.5 million for the 2027-29 biennium.
The interchange improvement’s design phase is scheduled to start this summer, with construction beginning in 2027 and finishing in 2029.
The state Senate’s proposed transportation budget did not include funding for the project, however. After the two budgets are passed by their respective chambers, the conference committee will reach a compromise budget to be sent to the governor.
