Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Washington’s transportation experts have released billion-dollar cost estimates for the state’s eight highway mega-projects, although state and regional taxes have yet to be approved by voters and no one knows how much Uncle Sam will kick in.
In case those figures cause "sticker shock," the Department of Transportation also offered pricetags Monday for partial buildout of the major highway and bridge projects in the congested Puget Sound region. A new Spokane freeway and Snoqualmie Pass improvements in Kittitas County also are on the list.
For the first time, planners aren’t offering a single shot-in-the-dark number that can quickly become outmoded. Instead, the DOT price list offers a range — from $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion for the new freeway in Spokane, for instance.
The estimates are considerably higher than project advocates have previously mentioned, primarily because new estimates use the actual cost of construction in, say, 10 years from now, rather than 2002 dollars.
The range also reflects the most likely factors that could drive up costs — higher land acquisition prices, environmental mitigation, lawsuits or tougher seismic standards.
The information was presented to the King County Council on Monday. Pierce and Snohomish county leaders also are being briefed. The numbers will help the tri-county region decide on pricetags to submit to their voters, said John Okamoto, assistant secretary for the Northwest region of DOT.
Gov. Gary Locke and the Legislature are asking voters to approve Referendum 51 in November, which would raise $7.7 billion over the next decade.
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