Rough and tumble politics in Olympia may have contributed to deaths along U.S. 2.
Four years ago, an opportunity to get state money to fix the road vanished as legislators were swapping projects for votes.
It happened again two years ago.
And this year two Skykomish Valley-area representatives introduced four bills seeking to make the highway safer, but that’s as far as they got.
The Republican legislators blame Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee. She, in turn, blames them.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the stretch of highway claimed its 44th life since 1999.
Genevieve Jelinek, 65, of Sultan, died after her car crossed the centerline. What caused that to happen is being investigated.
“I think it’s way past the time to put in improvements and make it safer,” said Loretta Storm, secretary of a grass-roots group that’s spent about 10 years trying to get the highway fixed.
“I’m highly disappointed at the lack of funding that has been allocated for the seriously fatality-plagued highway,” Storm said.
In 2004 and 2005 the state spent about $650,000 to grind a rumble strip a few inches wide along 10 miles of median.
More miles of centerline rumble strip are slated to come by 2009. The idea is to alert drivers before they drift into opposing traffic on the two-lane highway between Snohomish and Stevens Pass.
Other money has been spent on improving problematic intersections, crumbling slopes and installing guardrail.
A traffic study has suggested that more than $1 billion in road improvements are needed between Snohomish and Stevens Pass in order to increase overall safety on the crowded highway. No money has been set aside for that.
Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, said the east county legislators never got the chance to play ball in 2003 and 2005 when they had their best chance of getting major funding from new gas taxes.
“We were not invited to the discussions,” he said. “It was very, very frustrating. It was absolutely politics.”
In the most recent legislative session, Kristiansen introduced three bills to raise money for U.S. 2 safety. He wanted the money to come from other projects instead of new taxes.
Legislators from outside the valley believe U.S. 2 still is a rural highway, therefore, not a priority, said Kristiansen, adding that he has lost many friends and neighbors in U.S. 2 accidents.
“This is driving me crazy,” he said. Following Wednesday’s accident, Kristiansen said he’s sending U.S. 2 accident data and newspaper articles to all state lawmakers and Gov. Chris Gregoire.
“Anytime anything happens on U.S. 2, I will forward it” to them, he said.
Haugen said she’s not willing to take money from one project to aid another. And there was no stomach in Olympia this year to consider raising a new gas tax.
The state had to spend its transportation dollars on projects from 2003 and 2005 that ran short of money because of inflation. That left little for new projects.
“It’s obvious that we need more funding,” she said. “Where that comes from, that’s going to be a hard issue.”
As for leaving the road out of the gas tax spending plans in 2003 and 2005, she said the valley’s Republican legislators were playing partisan politics and decided to not be present when negotiations were going on. They were protesting the tax, she said.
“It’s really easy to talk, but it’s another thing to actually vote for something,” Haugen said.
“Those of us who represent Snohomish County, we’ve all thought this has got to be a high priority,” Haugen said. “Anytime anybody dies, whether it’s somebody you know or not, it’s a tragedy.”
Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, did not return phone calls for comment.
Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, on Friday said he did not want to talk about the political battle over U.S. 2 safety. He and Genevieve Jelinek were close friends.
Herald writer Jeff Switzer contributed to this report. Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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