Say no to asphalt pavers

Initiative 745 is special interest politics at its worst. Rather than create public policies that benefit all (or even most) Washington citizens, the asphalt pavers are the only ones that stand to profit from this narrow-minded measure. According to The Herald’s Oct. 9 article (“Big money paves way in battle over I-745”), a group of asphalt pavers and construction companies have contributed over $1.1 million to get this measure on the November ballot. That’s because they stand to gain millions.

I-745’s one-size-fits-all strategy is a simplistic approach that eliminates our transportation choices. According to more recent news articles, even some of the proponents admit it will not solve congestion. Real transportation solutions require choices for people that include good roads and additional road capacity, as well as a variety of public transportation modes such as buses, rail and ferries. If passed, I-745 would take away local control of transportation dollars. Although citizens all over the state have voted to fund local transportation projects, I-745 will override their decisions. It will be left up to politicians in Olympia to decide how best to spend local transportation dollars, prohibiting communities from addressing their unique transportation needs as they see fit.

Let’s remember that the cuts in transit that weren’t made last year because of the car tabs initiative were only postponed by one year, because of the Legislature’s stopgap funding. How many more cars will be put onto the roads during rush hou to compete with you on your commute when even more buses are taken off the road because of the funding shortfall caused by I-745?

I-745 is an inflexible, extreme and simplistic approach to our transportation problems. I hope others in our area will join me in voting no to I-745.

Marysville