STATE ROUTE 520 FLOATING BRIDGE

The Washington State Department Of Transportation authorized a preliminary consultant inquiry – recently completed – into the feasibility of a tunnel to replace the congested, dangerously earthquake-prone and windstorm-prone State Route 520 Floating Bridge across Lake Washington from Seattle to the Eastside. It’s one of just two bridges across the 22-mile long lake, and the jammed, 60s-vintage four-laner carries 155,000 to 160,000 people per day. The odds-on favorite to replace it is……a new, wider and safer floating bridge. However, well-heeled communities at both ends have strong concerns about bridge-related noise and air pollution, and on the Seattle side, about current roadway impacts on the Washington Park Arboretum. These concerns could translate into expensive mitigation measures attached to a new bridge, Read More ›

State Auditor Brian Sonntag – whose office recently issued a performance audit of state and regional transportation management – is now urging the legislature to take stock after defeat of the big roads and transit ballot measure, Proposition 1. In a Tacoma News Tribune op-ed, Sonntag urges lawmakers to ensure the state re-establish congestion relief as a top transportation priority; and implement coordinated regional decision-making on transportation in Puget Sound. Sonntag writes: Clearly, Proposition 1 was not what the public wanted. The first step in moving forward should be to ask citizens about their needs and what they are willing to support……the recent performance audit on traffic congestion in the region should serve as a good starting point for any Read More ›