Snohomish County voters this November will get to decide whether they want to pay $1.5 billion to fix many of the county’s most congested roads.
The Snohomish County Council on Wednesday voted 4-1 to put the road portion of a three-county road and transit tax package on the ballot.
“This is a very important victory for the people of Snohomish County,” said Dave Gossett, chairman of the council. “It gives us the opportunity to fix transportation problems in a comprehensive way. Without this chance, we would be stuck in traffic.”
Among the projects the road package would tackle are initial work to rebuild the U.S. 2 trestle, widening large tracks of Highway 9, rebuilding several congested I-5 interchanges and widening Highway 522 to four lanes all the way to Monroe.
The Sound Transit portion of the combined road and tax package is already approved. It seeks to spend $1.45 billion on extending light rail to 164th Street SE.
Overall, the two packages will ask voters to pay $17.8 billion in 2006 dollars. The two packages will be listed as one ballot measure on the November ballot.
Snohomish County’s road package now goes to Executive Aaron Reardon for a signature. Reardon said he wants to see the measure on the ballot.
“The Roads and Transit plan represents a historic transportation investment in our County,” Reardon said. “This plan will dramatically improve our highways, transit and public safety and will fundamentally change the way people and goods get around Snohomish County for generations to come.”
Councilman Gary Nelson said he voted against the measure because it was too transit heavy, and because most of the Snohomish County projects wouldn’t be built until the end of the 20-year plan.
In an earlier vote, Councilman John Koster opposed the tax package. But he decided that, in the end, it’s up to the voters. He voted for the measure.
“I got my protest vote the other day,” he said.
Like Nelson, he believes the package is too focused on transit and that the delivery date for Snohomish County projects is too far out.
“I don’t think it’s going to do a great deal to reduce congestion,” he added.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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