Monroe in tough spot after traffic plan defeat

Published 11:01 pm Wednesday, November 7, 2007

MONROE — Tim Bettis often drives on Highway 522 and U.S. 2 to get to Monroe, where he sometimes gets stuck in a slow traffic.

The Kirkland man wants to see a U.S. 2 bypass built around Monroe to improve the city’s traffic woes. But Bettis, 26, said he voted against a road and light rail tax package that would’ve paid for a portion of the bypass.

“That part is good,” Bettis said Wednesday at a coffee shop in Monroe. “I didn’t necessarily like the other parts.”

Bettis was among voters in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties who voted down the $17.8 billion package on Tuesday. Sound Transit and the Regional Transportation Investment District crafted the package that included many road, bridge, light rail and transit projects.

The package overwhelmed Bettis.

“I like it subdivided into smaller pieces,” he said.

The measure’s defeat disappointed Monroe officials who believe the proposed bypass is key to improving the city’s notorious traffic problems.

The city released a far-reaching transportation plan earlier this year. The plan lists 43 projects worth about $40 million that the city aims to tackle over the next 23 years. City officials say that the plan’s success hinges on other projects such as the U.S. 2 bypass.

Now city officials are wondering how to get the bypass built. Even a portion of the bypass would cost $44 million. The city of about 16,000 people may not be able to afford it, city officials said.

“We need the state to start paying up their share of this responsibility,” City Councilman Mitch Ruth said.

People in Monroe agree that their city has traffic issues. But some say they weren’t aware the humongous tax package could’ve made a difference in Monroe.

“We desperately need the work on Highway 2,” said Michael Hanford, pastor at Christ Church in Monroe.

Still, Hanford, 60, said he voted against the tax package because he wasn’t sure that the measure would actually set aside money for U.S. 2.

And he added: “The light-rail system doesn’t seem to be very effective.”

His assistant, Debra Johnson, said she doesn’t remember how she voted on the package. Nor did she know that it included a portion of the U.S. 2 bypass.

Traffic on U.S. 2 is so bad that she tries to avoid using it, Johnson said.

Chelsea Schalo, 18, of Sultan, commutes on U.S. 2 to her job as a waitress at a Monroe restaurant. She voted against the tax package. It included too many projects at too many locations to digest, Schalo said.

The price tag of the package grabbed her attention.

“Too much taxpayers’ money,” she said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.