A new audit says the state Department of Transportation and the Legislature are not doing enough to unclog the traffic congestion choking the Puget Sound region’s roads, a problem that hits Snohomish County particularly hard.
With nearly four in 10 local workers headed to their jobs outside of Snohomish County — the largest daily work migration in the state — people here have the longest average commute in the Puget Sound region.
The average commute time to work takes Snohomish County residents more than 29 minutes, according to U.S. Census data. That’s more than three minutes longer than neighboring King County.
Congested highways are costing time, money and potential business opportunity, according to the audit from State Auditor Brian Sonntag. He called on state transportation planners to make reducing traffic congestion a greater priority.
The audit, which cost $1.7 million, notes that commute times are getting worse all over the Puget Sound region.
“If we don’t do something about it, it’s going to keep getting slower, and slower and slower,” Sonntag said.
The state Department of Transportation ranks its priorities this way: make it safe for people to travel; preserve the transportation infrastructure, both long-term and short-term; protect the environment; and promote the economic vitality of the region.
Reducing congestion is not on the list, but it is a priority, said Lloyd Brown, the DOT’s communications director.
“I reject, a little bit, that we don’t have congestion as a priority,” he said. “We’re working on it. It just comes after safety and preservation.”
Brown said much of the work that the state is doing to make the roads safer eases congestion. He pointed to the new parallel bridge across the Tacoma Narrows as an example where the state has met both goals.
Work on I-5 through Everett is a local example of the state trying to attack gridlock, he said.
“As people are watching the orange barrels and the work we’re doing in Snohomish County, it’s clear that the Legislature has made an investment up there,” he said.
Much of the construction paid for by gasoline tax hikes in 2003 and 2005 is going to relieve congestion, said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen D-Camano Island, chairwoman of the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee.
The audit suggests that the state must focus more attention reducing congestion along I-5 in Seattle, the location with the state’s biggest traffic snarls.
That’s unworkable, Haugen said.
“The congestion in Seattle is so much worse than everywhere else” that if it were the state’s top priority “you would never spend a dime anywhere else,” Haugen said.
The audit also is critical of how many different agencies are responsible for making decisions about how best to move people.
“There are more than 100 agencies that deal with highway projects in the Puget Sound region,” said Mindy Chambers, spokeswoman for the auditor’s office. “The projects sometimes are not coordinated. They can get lost in the bureaucracy. Someone’s pet project may get taken care, but it doesn’t necessary mean its part of a coordinated attempt to relieving congestion in the region.”
Haugen agreed. She was among those who proposed melding many of the transportation agencies in the state into a single superagency. The idea failed to gain traction.
The state must find a way to become more efficient with its transportation dollars, Haugen said.
The audit gives good marks for investing in mass transit and projects that get people off the road during peak commuting hours, but noted that more work needs to be done in that area.
“(Congestion) is stalling people in traffic,” she said. “There is a cost associated with this.”
Auditors suggest that with some focus on the problem, the state could reduce congestion by 15 percent to 20 percent. That would save 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 of 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 to help with congestion, but also said new construction projects, including more carpool lanes and regular highways, will be needed.
Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office and the 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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