As quickly as gasoline prices rise and fall, you might not even notice that you’re paying an extra nickel a gallon in state tax starting today.
For those who do notice, take heart: All those nickels will pay for some major highway improvements over the next few years in Snohomish County, improvements that will loosen some of our biggest traffic jams.
The first hike in the gas tax in 12 years means work will finally begin to widen highways that have long been choke points. And with 15 percent of the new revenue going to Snohomish County projects, drivers here will get a better-than-even return on their investment.
Highways are where relief is needed, and that’s where the gas-tax money will go. The state Constitution commands that gas taxes only be used for road and car-ferry improvements. Transit improvements are also needed to keep pace with growth, and they’ll get a boost from a 0.3 percent tax on the sale of new and used vehicles that also starts today.
Over the next few years, Snohomish County commuters will see major improvements on four highways: I-5 and Highway 527 in Everett; Highway 9 in south county, and Highway 522 near Monroe. They’ll also see a new ferry/train/bus terminal built in Mukilteo.
The biggest project is on I-5, where traffic comes to a near standstill during each rush hour. A carpool lane will be added in each direction between Highway 526 and Marine View Drive, auxiliary lanes will be built between the 41st Street interchange and U.S. 2, and the northbound Broadway exit will be moved from the left to the right side of the freeway. Alas, there is a down side to this project: It’s not scheduled to start for another five years.
Other improvements include widening Highway 9 to five lanes from Clearview south to the county line, a project that will start in 2005; widening the Bothell-Everett Highway to five lanes from 132nd Avenue SE north to 112th Avenue SE (which will give the highway five lanes from Bothell all the way north to Eastmont); and widening Highway 522 from two to four lanes from the Snohomish River to U.S. 2 in Monroe. The latter project includes the construction of five bridges, including one across the Snohomish River that will be a third of a mile long.
In all, Snohomish County projects get $488 million of the $3.25 billion statewide highway improvement package. That should do something to ease the pain at the pump.
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