MEDINA — Overlooking the Highway 520 floating bridge project, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday unveiled a proposal he said would address the state’s most pressing transportation needs — fixing bridges and roads and boosting the ferry system while cleaning the air and water.
Inslee hopes to fund the $12 billion plan with bonds, fees and a carbon charge on the state’s industrial polluters. The market-based carbon pollution charge will generate $7 billion over 12 years, he said. The fee will generate the equivalent of a 12-cent gas tax without hurting consumers, he said.
“Transportation pollution paying for transportation solutions,” Inslee said. “It’s not our children’s lungs that should be burned. It should be polluters’.
“It’s a pretty elegant solution for the state of Washington.”
The governor’s transportation plan includes $81.8 million for highway projects in Everett and other areas of Snohomish County.
The state will face a 52 percent drop in its maintenance budget, and 71 bridges will become structurally deficient, if the Legislature is not able to pass a transportation budget in the 2015 session, he said.
What’s needed to resolve this barrier is a vision that transcends old divides and recognizes “there are no Democratic or Republican bridges,” Inslee said. “They all need to be safe.”
He hopes to connect all of Washington through a “bipartisan spirit” that aims to “reduce the hours we spend on the roads away from our families.”
His “Let’s Move Forward” plan includes 50,000 construction jobs that will ensure projects are completed and traffic congestion reduced.
High on his wish list will be the completion of the Highway 520 bridge — “the longest floating bridge in the world” — at a cost of $1.4 billion.
Inslee also wants to spend $1.3 billion on Interstate 405 between Bellevue and Renton and $2 million for work on state highways 509 and 167, he said.
Inslee hopes to improve the water-commuter experience by funding a fourth ferry, freezing ferry rate increases for two years and improving ferry reliability. He wants to see the ferries contribute to his clean-air vision by moving from diesel to cleaner natural gas, he said.
Inslee’s plan also includes money to complete the new Mukilteo ferry terminal and to improve dispatch services to avoid missed sailings due to crew shortage.
Other parts of the plan of interest to Snohomish County:
- $45.4 million for a new interchange on Highway 526 at Hardeson Road in Everett, to improve access to the area for aerospace suppliers.
- $34.4 million to add a shoulder lane on northbound I-5 from Marine View Drive in Everett to Highway 528 in Marysville.
- $36 million for advanced LiDAR imagery, statewide mapping and creation of a hazard identification institute to detect areas of potentially lethal landslides.
- Authority for Sound Transit to seek voter-approved funding for expanding light-rail service from Seattle to Everett and from Sea-Tac Airport to Tacoma.
- Authority for Community Transit to seek a voter-approved hike in the sales tax for service improvements.
Inslee also wants more funding for projects that will improve safety on the road, including adding rumble stripes, guardrails, improved signals and money for the Washington State Patrol.
The governor says more than half the state dollars will go toward new construction and economic development. A quarter will be aimed at maintenance, operations and preservation, and 20 percent goes to clean transportation and public transportation.
Key to making all of these visions work is accountability, he said. The state will track projects to make sure they are completed on time and on budget, he said.
All of this can be done with “a new and bold idea that will breathe new life” into the state — the polluter’s fee, he said.
“We can clean our air and water at the same time we are fixing our air and our roads,” he said. “It is indeed a two-for.”
Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield contributed.
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