SEATTLE — A $17.8 billion package of transit projects that aims to bring light rail and more buses to Snohomish County is headed for the November ballot, a year after a similar measure tied to road projects failed.
The plan is expected to extend light rail to Lynnwood and to Federal Way by 2023. More immediately, if the measure passes this fall, Snohomish County should also see a 30 percent increase in bus service, a key factor that convinced three Sound Transit board members from the county to drop their opposition to the plan.
“Our focus is on Snohomish County taxpayers; we never lost sight of that,” said Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, a Sound Transit board member. “I’m very pleased with the final product.”
Edmonds City Councilwoman Deanna Dawson, a board member, said that people coping with high gas prices should benefit from more bus service in the near future.
“Now is the time for this board to exercise a great leadership,” Dawson said.
The Sound Transit board of directors on Thursday approved the measure that aims to tackle bus, train and light-rail projects over the next 15 years in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. The vote was 16-2. King County Executive Ron Sims and King County Councilman Peter von Reichbauer dissented.
The preliminary cost estimate had been $14.8 billion, but it went up on Thursday. The cost estimate includes inflation and interest payments. The measure will need a majority vote to pass in November in the Sound Transit District, which stretches over the three counties. If approved, the package is expected to result in a new half-cent sales tax hike per dollar spent, or 5 cents on a $10 purchase.
The meeting Thursday drew a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 200 people. Two young men in the crowd held a big sheet of paper that read: “Let’s not wait. Sound Transit on the ballot in 2008. We need mass transit now!”
Officials from Snohomish County showed up to voice their support for the plan.
Snohomish County Councilman Mike Cooper said that the region can’t wait to improve mass transit. Cooper’s district includes Lynnwood.
“I’m here to ask you to help see the vision come through,” Cooper said.
The package should create jobs through a number of public projects and help the regional economy thrive, Cooper said.
Lynnwood already passed a resolution to support the plan, said Lisa Utter, a Lynnwood city councilwoman.
“We planned our city center based on the plan that light rail will come to Lynnwood,” Utter said, adding that light rail could allow some people to live without a car.
If approved, light rail is expected to be built near the Lynnwood park-and-ride lot along I-5, Reardon said. The area has many potential riders, he said.
The mass transit package would bring relief to south Snohomish County along the freeway, said Mountlake Terrace Mayor Jerry Smith said. The city is notorious for traffic backups, he said.
“We support the package 100 percent,” Smith said.
Opponents at the meeting said taxpayers struggling with the slow economy can’t afford to support more tax hikes.
In November 2007, voters decisively rejected a different proposal that tied together a series of road and transit projects that was criticized by opponents as being too big and complicated to pass.
“What we heard from (voters) was they wanted more transit. They wanted it more quickly,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, the chairman of the Sound Transit Board of Directors.
This time, voters will have a chance to decide only on transit projects, separated from road projects. The new plan should also reduce air pollution by taking drivers off clogged roads, Nickels said.
“Every time we hit the pump, we are fueling the status quo,” he said.
The tough economy combined with record high gas prices may allow people to take a new look at transit projects, said State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond, who serves as a Sound Transit board member.
“I think people are scrambling and really want to see more bus service,” Hammond said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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