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VIEWPOINT
By
Senator Georgia Gardner
I often
remind folks here in Olympia that I have to drive the entire
length of the Puget Sound “gridlock zone” –
a trip of 175 miles – to get home to Blaine. Needless
to say, being in my car for almost four hours gives me plenty
of time to think about how transportation in our state is
interrelated.
If traffic snarls in south King County affect someone living
in Whatcom County, how many others get caught in the same
web every day? How much produce and livestock from rural
Washington isn’t getting to market in Seattle because
the freeways leading to it are paralyzed?
Fortunately, other lawmakers also have transportation on
their minds during the 2002 session. The Legislature so
far has passed one landmark bill – which I sponsored
and the governor signed into law – to make the construction
of road projects cheaper and easier. The Senate also approved
a plan to let central Puget Sound voters raise their taxes
to fix "mega projects" such as Interstates 5 and
405 – but the final version of that plan will likely
be a compromise between the House of Representatives and
Senate.
The lynchpin to the entire plan, however, is raising new
statewide revenue. What everyone does agree on is that it
must be done, and done now.
Our state’s transportation crisis is bigger than central
Puget Sound.
Substandard roads around the state threaten drivers’
safety and jeopardize freight mobility. Every county has
critical road projects ready to go – if only there
were enough money.
Take Whatcom County, for instance. Raising $8.5 billion
during the next 10 years means we could: complete the long-awaited
improvements to the Guide Meridian from I-5 to the Badger
Road and across to Sumas and the border; widen Sunset in
Bellingham to five lanes from Orleans to Britton Road; and
widen and enhance the truck route in Blaine from I-5 to
the border, so commercial trucks don’t back up and
clog up traffic in Blaine.
All of these projects – plus important maintenance
work – will be postponed if we don’t find some
new revenue and will cost five times as much if put off
for an additional three to five years. But we can’t
put them off. Freight mobility will assure that our county
is the gateway to Canada and not the roadblock in front
of it.
For those us of who represent rural Washington, it’s
tough to talk about a gas-tax increase that will hit our
constituents particularly hard. Whatcom County has taken
its economic hits during the past couple years, with the
shutdown of Intalco and Georgia-Pacific and numerous smaller
companies. We’ve lost a tremendous number of manufacturing
and construction jobs since November 2000, and border line-ups
still discourage Canadians from making cross-border shopping
trips into our area.
However, a 10-year, $8.5 billion transportation revenue
plan would sustain more than 20,000 new jobs while fixing
some of the state’s worst traffic problems. If I ask
you to pay approximately 15 cents more a day for transportation,
I’ll pay you back with direct jobs and a huge boost
to our business climate. As I’ve said before, it’s
the best economic stimulus package out there right now.
We all have a stake in a statewide transportation system
that supports a vibrant economy. Without a healthy economy
in other parts of the state, the money to pay for our transportation
improvements and safety needs simply won’t be there.
Through thick traffic and thin, regardless of whether we
like it, we’re all in this together.
Georgia Gardner, D-Blaine, represents Whatcom County
in the state Senate. She is vice chair of the Senate Transportation
Committee.
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