OLYMPIA — A new state audit on Wednesday urged the Gregoire administration and the Legislature to more aggressively combat traffic congestion in the heavily traveled Puget Sound region.
The administration took issue, saying congestion relief can’t crowd out the traditional priorities of safety and maintaining the current roads.
The performance audit, one of four transportation studies requested by the Legislature, said traffic congestion is “bad and becoming worse every year.” The region’s congestion, among the worst in the country, costs motorists, businesses and the overall economy dearly, the report said.
The report suggested steps that auditors said could reduce congestion 15 percent to 20 percent, saving commuters perhaps 10 hours of delay each year. The improvements could save the economy as much as $400 million a year and enhance the environment, the report said.
The audit, conducted by the outside consulting firm Talbot, Korvola &Warwick, said the state should explicitly adopt a goal of reducing congestion and set benchmarks for measuring progress.
The audit called for more use of carpools, transit and telecommuting, and suggested coordinating traffic lights on major arterials. The report said existing infrastructure could be improved, but that new construction projects, including more carpool lanes and regular highways, will be needed.
Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office and the state Department of Transportation said they intend to make congestion relief a priority and already have developed plans to make progress.
But officials indicated they won’t turn the spending priorities upside down to accommodate congestion-relief projects.
One of the audit’s central recommendations is that the DOT and lawmakers elevate congestion relief to a prime goal. The state currently focuses on safety and preserving current infrastructure.
The audit said public investment in transportation — both roads and transit — should have congestion relief as a major priority, and budgets and construction schedules should reflect that.
The administration, while acknowledging congestion is a problem, took issue with the idea of making it a paramount consideration.
“Congestion reduction is critical, and one of many important priorities that are WSDOT’s responsibility,” the transportation agency said in comments circulated by the governor’s budget office.
“The governor and WSDOT, with the support of the Legislature and Transportation Commission, have chosen to focus first on the safety, preservation and maintenance of the state’s transportation system. This fix-it-first mandate is critical, as it ensures the continued and long-term use of the 7,000 centerline miles of state highways upon which we depend.”
The state’s 16-year transportation plan includes 388 projects totaling nearly $15 billion, some aimed at traffic chokepoints, the department said.
Jessyn Farrell, executive director of the Transportation Choices Coalition, said she wished the audit had addressed congestion differently.
“We often focus on how many cars go through a lane, but really what we should be focusing on is how many people are moving through a lane,” she said. “That way, you can focus on transit or carpools and you end up with different conclusions on success.”
Farrell said if the state wants to build an environmentally sustainable transportation system that’s less expensive, it should focus on mass transit.
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