A recent letter to the editor expressed an opinion that Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen has done very little to solve our ongoing traffic problems. I believe, due to Sen. Haugen’s efforts, an amount in excess of $467,000 has been spent in the county as a result of the nickel gas tax.

It appears to be easy to forget that a few years ago an excellent transportation package was voted into being by our state citizens under Referendum 49. When the Legislature sent this referendum to the voters, Sen. Haugen was chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. It was funded by the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax and would have gone a long way to prevent the problems we have now. The next year, of course, voters adopted Initiative 695 – which removed all funding for the plan and effectively stopped it.

In order to move toward a solution to our traffic congestion and gridlock, we should retain the services of our present senator instead of relying on a new individual with no seniority and perhaps very little chance of even landing on the Senate Transportation Committee to solve this problem.

Sally Lien

Arlington