Transportation Funding Package Unveiled In Olympia

As part of the the budget wrangling going on in Olympia, Governor Inslee has been pushing for the passage of a transportation revenue package. While we already have a transportation budget in place, there has been talk for a long time of creating a package aimed at creating new funding for much needed maintenance, as well as new projects.

Yesterday House Democrats unveiled a $10 billion package that includes a 10.5-cent increase in the gas tax, with 6 cents of the increase taking effect on August 1. The proposal also includes $3.2 billion for several state road projects, including State Road 167, Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass and a replacement bridge that would extend Interstate 5 over the Columbia River. It also includes more than $1 billion for maintenance of highways and bridges.

So what happens next? The Oregonian has the latest on both budget and transportation package negotiations.

What Happens To Local Road Construction Projects If The Government Shuts Down?

I work with a lot of government employees at other agencies, plus have friends at other agencies around the state, and all anyone can talk about lately is if they'll be working next week. With the legislature still struggling to pass a budget, the word is that if it doesn't happen by July 1, State government will shut down for at least a week or two until something is hammered out.

The question I've been getting from the public is, what will happen to the construction projects that are either scheduled to start soon or are currently underway, if there is a government shut down? Well don't worry, we won't be left with gaping holes in our streets (beyond the potholes we have now, anyway) or half-paved roads while workers sit at home watching soap operas, waiting to get called back to work.

A state transportation budget was approved in late May so that is what we will continue to operate under. Leaders at the local WSDOT office say that there will be no disruption in construction or funding that they anticipate. There are a couple agencies local jurisdictions partner with on projects, such as fish and game or then Department of Ecology, to make sure transportation projects won't harm wildlife or cause air pollution. WSDOT is working to identify those agencies and evaluate what the impact will be if they are shut down.

Why Isn't Transportation Playing A Bigger Role In The Presidential Election?

What's missing from the presidential race? Planes, trains, roads and bridges, perhaps? As Superstorm Sandy reminded us, we can't afford to do without them, so why isn't transportation a hot topic this election season? The World has some ideas in this article.

How Do We Project How Much Will Be Spent On Transportation In The Next 20 Years?

I've been talking a lot lately about the work we've been doing on Horizon 2040, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) that we're required to update every four years. This year is different though. We're not just updating the MTP, we're giving it a full overhaul and facelift. The old version was ridiculously long, not user friendly to members of the public (in other words, wasn't written in plain speak) and included a ton of transportation projects intended to be constructed or completed over the next 20 years (the timeline of the MTP).

While it's great we had big ambitions four years ago by including all those projects, the reality is that there isn't money to fund every transportation project we'd like to do. One requirement of the MTP by the federal government is that it must be financially constrained. In other words, we have to be able to prove that we can reasonably pay for all the projects included in it, based on current sources of income and proposed future sources.

With this in mind, we sat down last week with a group of representatives from our partner agencies and had a couple workshops to make sure we are all on the same page (as the projects in the list are all submitted by the agencies we work with that actually do construction (versus SRTC, which covers the planning end of things). So the workshops covered Project Cost Estimating and Revenue Forecasting.

Being a non-technical employee, I was dreading sitting through these workshops. But to my surprise, they were actually interesting and went by quickly! So, if you're interested in finding out how local jurisdictions set the price tags on the projects they do, you can read the summary from that workshop here.

And if you're interested in how much money is expected to come into the region, and be spent on transportation projects, over the next 20 years, and how we figure out these numbers, that workshop summary is here.

While you're on the page, you might as well take the survey of your transportation priorities as well. Click the "Horizon 2040 Survey" box at the top left to take it.

Gregoire Signs $800M Transportation Budget

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signed a transportation budget with nearly $800 million in new spending Friday but vetoed several items in it.

The budget, which includes new and increased fees on driver’s license and electric cars, is a far cry from the $3.6 billion increase in transportation funding that Gregoire called for previously.

Money raised by the new fees will go to the state ferry system, the potential state Route 167 extension to the Port of Tacoma, and studies of six congested Interstate 5 interchanges in Thurston and Pierce counties near Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The News Tribune has the details on the new budget.

Approved City Budget Adds $700k To Street Fund

Spokane's City Council last night adopted the 2012 City Budget. They largely accepted the budget proposed by Mayor Mary Verner, with a few tweaks. The last item pertains to transportation so take note of it:

• Added $100,000 to the Human Services budget for additional allocations to social service agencies. Some $900,000 already was included in the budget for Human Services grants.
• Added back $30,000 in funding to the City’s Arts Department.
• Retained the Weights & Measures function at the City.
• Made some changes to the Council’s own office budget.
• Added minor amounts to the Spokane Public Library to help job seekers and to the youth program, which is expected to be turned over to a non-profit agency in 2012.
• Moved $700,000 in real estate excise tax money to the Street Fund to limit the use of Street reserves in that fund to balance that portion of the 2012 Budget.

The City’s General Fund for 2012 will total approximately $164 million. The General Fund pays for police, fire, streets, parks, and libraries, among other things. Revenue for the General Fund comes from sales, property, and utility taxes.

As part of the 2012 Budget the City also will add $615,000 to the City’s rainy-day fund, which had been largely depleted over the last several years of tough budgets.

I was going to add a link to the budget itself, but the City's website appears to be down right now.

WA State Transportation Budget Signed, Gregoire To Ask For More Transportation Money

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Washington's 2011-13 transportation budget yesterday. It spends $5.6 billion on road, bridge, rail and ferry projects over the next two years, including $72 million for the North Spokane Corridor, $15.8 million to widen Interstate 90 in the Spokane Valley, and $12 million to replace the Keller Ferry.

But the state will exhaust most of the money for big projects from gas tax increases approved by voters in 2003 and 2005, with some big projects like the North Spokane Corridor unfinished Gregoire said. Which is why she plans to ask voters for more money for transportation next year. The Spokesman-Review has the budget details.