Senator Steve Hobbs, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and a member of our Club outlines the State of the Transportation budget at our regular Friday morning meeting on October 25th. The State Transportation budget is at $9.3 billion in appropriation authority and is separate from the Operation budget. Constitution amendment #18 requires that all gas money received by the State goes to transportation separated into two accounts. One is the motor vehicle account and the other is the multimodal transportation account.
Some of the budget items cover State Ferry operations with $188 million for one hybrid vessel which would be electric and diesel. $41.5 million is for conversion of one jumbo ferry to hybrid. The highlights of the 2019 session where that the legislature kept the Connecting Washington promise. They include new investments in ferries, congestion reduction, the Washington State Patrol and improving the I-405 corridor. Culverts to fix salmon runs in the state will cost $3.4 billion dollars and a decision has to be completed by 2030.
And, the battle with the Governor over veto of six lines that are not allowed and has to be challenged in the courts because it moves money from the budget into culverts was a topic of the Senator's presentation..
Some but not all of the local transportation projects for the 44th Legislative District include the following:
$ 3.5 million - US 2 Interchange justification report
$ 229 million - SR 9 Corridor improvements
$11.8 million - SR 9/South Lake Stevens Rd to 20th Street SE intersection improvements
$ 142 million - Snohomish River bridge replacement
$69.5 million - SR 9/SR 204 interchange
$ 2.0 million - SR9/South Lake Stevens Road Roundabout
$ 1.3 million - South Lake Stevens Multi-use path
$ 5.75 million-35th Street improvements
$ 800,000 - SR527 Pedestrian Safety Project-Parker & Quincy Memorial Pathway
The impact of Initiative 976 will be an immediate impact of $175 million to the budget rising to $300 million per year. The impact on cities who have Transportation Improvement Districts such as Granite Falls will be very costly.