BOTHELL – Plans to dramatically expand enrollment at the University of Washington at Bothell won’t go anywhere until a south access route to the campus is built, campus officials say.
University leaders will soon lobby the Legislature to approve construction money, estimated at $22.5 million.
“It’s our very top priority,” said Kathleen Drew, director of community and governmental relations at UW-Bothell. “It’s a high priority for the University of Washington (in Seattle) as well.”
The campus of 1,300 students recently unveiled plans to expand to as many as 6,000 by 2020. In the short term, if road improvements come through, UW-Bothell plans to grow to 2,772 students by 2009.
UW-Bothell shares a campus with Cascadia Community College, which also has expansion plans. At full size, the two campuses would enroll 10,000 students.
For now, the two schools are limited to a combined enrollment of 3,000 students. The lid was set long before the schools opened in an agreement between the state and city of Bothell. The agreement requires south access to the campus from Highway 522.
Drew is optimistic funding can be found.
This year, for the first time, all four-year public universities in the state banded together to compile a list of capital projects they hope the Legislature will approve. The access route to UW-Bothell ranks high on that list, Drew said.
The access road is ninth out of 55 items on the list, said Bruce Botka, government relations director for the state Higher Education Coordinating Board in Olympia.
State Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, is chairman of the capital budget committee. He said the south access route proposal has had a rocky past because some people think it should be part of the transportation budget while others believe it should be part of a capital projects budget.
The fact that the project ranked high on a list compiled by the universities bodes well for its chances, he said.
“I want to make sure that list is respected by the universities and the Legislature,” he said.
However, Dunshee warned that pavement is only part of the equation.
“This could be an access ramp to nowhere without more funding from the operation of schools,” he said.
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