U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee secured several local projects in the Omnibus Appropriations legislation that Congress passed on Saturday.
The Saturday vote represented a brokering of the differences between the House of Representatives’ Omnibus bill and the Senate Omnibus bill, and now goes to President Bush’s desk for his signature.
Some of the projects of particular interest to Snohomish County residents include:
* University of Washington at Bothell campus – Cascadia Community College south access
Description: $1 million from the Federal Highway Administration for the new south access. The UW Bothell campus and Cascadia Community College are at I-405 and Highway 522. The campus opened for students in September 2000, and enrollment has exceeded expectations. Completion of the new south access will alleviate congestion at the north campus access on Beardslee Boulevard and allow enrollment to increase, which is currently capped until the project is completed.
* Shoreline Interurban Trail
Description: $500,000 for the Shoreline Interurban Trail, from the Transportation and Community System Account. This project is necessary to link the communities between Seattle and Everett with a continuous trail. The Shoreline Interurban Trail is the redevelopment of the former Interurban Rail Line into a 10-foot-wide path to accommodate pedestrian, bicycle and other nonmotorized traffic from N. 145th Street to N. 205th Street.
* Edmonds Center for the Arts
Description: $300,000 for the Edmonds Arts Center. This request was also made by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. The Edmonds Public Facilities District is working to create the Edmonds Performing Arts Center, which will provide a state-of-the-art home for the 40-year-old Cascade Symphony. Schools and colleges will have access to an 800-seat auditorium, and the center could be one of the leading midsize, mixed discipline cultural centers in Snohomish County.
* Snohomish County Sheriff-COPS Tech Program
Description: $500,000 to help the sheriff’s office implement a Palm Automated Fingerprint Identification System to allow the sheriff to compare palm prints found at crime scenes to palm databases to solve more crimes. This money will help purchase five to seven scanning devices, an archive database and the actual system. This funding was also requested by Murray.
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