Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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House Passes Local Transportation Projects

10 March 2005

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a transportation bill that includes crucial funding that U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee has requested for high priority transit project in Snohomish, King and Kitsap counties. The Transportation Equity Act (H.R. 3) passed the House today by a vote of 417 to 9.

Commenting on the bill's passage, Inslee said, "Traffic congestion is a chronic problem in the Puget Sound region and these projects will provide needed and welcome relief to our region's commuters. Puget Sound residents would rather spend time with their families and friends than waiting in traffic and today's vote represents a commitment to improving our area's traffic flow. Passing this legislation shows that there is bipartisan support in Congress to meet our nation's high-priority transportation infrastructure needs."

Inslee continued, "With the nation's largest ferry system, Washington State will also receive important federal assistance in this bill to keep ferry service costs low, and continue to serve passengers in a safe and efficient manner."

Added University of Washington, Bothell Chancellor Warren Buck, "The South Campus Access interchange is a critical infrastructure project that will enable both the University of Washington, Bothell and Cascadia Community College to grow. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Congressman Jay Inslee to help us meet the needs of higher education in our region."

Prior to the vote Inslee, had offered an amendment that would have increased highway safety funding, but the amendment was not made in order by the House Rules Committee.

Funding for projects requested by Inslee include:

$430 million, over 6 years, for the nation's ferry system, including the Washington State ferry system.

This funding, which represents a significant increase from $220 million in last year's bill, will help Washington State ferries continue to serve passengers in a safe and efficient manner. The Washington State ferry system is the largest in the country, with over 25 million riders annually - close to the number passengers that travel through Sea-Tac Airport annually.

$3,000,000 for the UW-Bothell/Cascadia interchange.

This project will provide critical access to the growing university and community college campus. The new south access will improve the link between I-405, SR-522 and the campus, alleviate congestion at the north campus access on Beardslee Blvd., and allow campus enrollment to increase. Enrollment is currently prohibited from increasing without the completion of this project. The Regional Partnership of Snohomish, King, and Pierce Counties lists completion of the UW-Bothell freeway interchange as a top priority and essential to the growth of the tech and bio-tech corridors in Bothell.

$2,000,000 for the Interurban Trail in Shoreline.

Inslee has played an active role in previously securing funding for this project, and this figure will complete funding for the trail, which provides a safe bike and pedestrian avenue to travel the length of Shoreline. The trail also creates a pedestrian bridge crossing of Aurora Ave (SR-99) and continues regional trail improvements that, when completed, will unify communities from Seattle to Everett.

$2,000,000 for the Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) railroad trestle and bridge in Woodinville.

The purpose of this project is to improve traffic flow at a longstanding bottleneck at the railroad crossing south of Woodinville's main interchange onto Highway 522. Currently there are long delays during commute hours, queuing problems all day, and hampered freight mobility in the adjacent commercial and industrial areas. Work will include adding lanes on SR 202 under the trestle, adding a southbound right turn lane at Northeast 175th Street, adding an additional southbound left turn lane at Northeast 177th Place and another northbound through lane north of Northeast 177th Place. The SR 522 overpass will be re-channeled to expand capacity, and the trestle walls will receive a new treatment.

Additional funding requested by Inslee and included in the bill:

$2,000,000 for reconstruction of Aurora Ave N. (SR 99) in Shoreline between N 145th St. and N. 205th St.
$1,500,000 for widening SR 527 in Bothell-Mill Creek
$1,500,000 for highway work on SR-9 in Snohomish County
$1,000,000 for congestion relief on I-405 between Woodinville/Bothell and Kirkland
$500,000 for an extension on Wagga Way in Kitsap County, which will help improve traffic flow and add emergency enhancements for Naval Base Kitsap
$500,000 for an exit ramp at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood

In addition to these requests, Inslee worked with Congressman Rick Larsen to secure the following funding in the bill:

$5,800,000 for a new Mukilteo transit hub that will include a ferry terminal, Sounder station and bus stop
$3,000,000 for Community Transit's Snohomish County park and ride expansion program

Overall, the legislation will provide $284 billion in federal highway, transit and road safety projects through 2009. The legislation contains similar local funding to what was included in the transportation reauthorization bill that passed the House last year, but which never became law. The bill's funding will become authorized once the President signs this year's legislation.