The Washington State Department of Transportation, under the direction of Gov. Jay Inslee, has released a list of transportation projects that would be deferred due to the recent passage of Initiative 976, which reduces or eliminates car tabs. Surprisingly, the long-awaited North Spokane Corridor (NSC) project, also called the North-South Freeway, which has been promised to voters for decades and was fully funded in the 2015 Connecting Washington transportation package, was on that list. Though it may be easy and convenient to pin the blame on the car tab-cutting initiative, the deferral list is ultimately a product of political choice. State DOT Secretary Roger Millar, under the direction of the Governor, states in a November 26th letter that the purpose of delaying projects that are not yet underway is to provide “the Governor and Legislature more funding flexibility” as they tackle the transportation budget during the upcoming 2020 legislative session. This includes projects that were funded by the 11.9 cent gas tax increase that passed as a part of Connecting Washington – projects like the North Spokane Corridor construction of new lanes between Sprague Ave. and the Spokane River. Some have said that the deferral list includes projects like the North-South Freeway because it is funded by Connecting Washington funds, which included other car taxes and fees. While it’s true that the Connecting Washington package included other increases in taxes and fees, WSDOT confirms that the North-South Freeway is funded solely by the gas tax increase.