House Bill Requires Developers To Include Citizens In Toll Plans
The state House refused to kill a toll-road program Thursday, but said the Department of Transportation must force developers to gain the acceptance of affected citizens before proceeding.
The state has given a tentative goahead for five major toll projects, all in the Puget Sound region, with a total cost approaching $2 billion. Washington has no experience with toll roads, but has occasionally built toll bridges.
The House voted 86-11 for a bill requiring private developers to heavily involve local citizens as a prerequisite to winning approval. No actual public vote would be required, but developers and the legislative transportation committee would hold open hearings and sample opinion, possibly including an advisory vote.
A move to scuttle the whole publicprivate partnership program was voted down 67-28. Even critics said they like the concept of having private investors build projects the state can’t afford to finance through the gas-tax-financed construction budget.
The measure, HB1317, now goes to the Senate, where a similar bill awaits action. The legislation still needs work to define the public’s role in whether the projects go forward, said Senate Transportation Chairman Brad Owen, D-Shelton.
Gov. Mike Lowry “favors the principles in the House bill to involve the public as much as possible in transportation projects in development,” said spokesman Jordan Dey.
Critics of the state’s handling of the program said they were cautiously optimistic lawmakers will rein in the Department of Transportation and give motorists a bigger say.
Two years ago, the Legislature agreed to allow developers to propose transportation projects they would finance privately in return for tolls for up to 50 years. Six projects were given a tentative go-ahead by the state, but local opposition quickly surfaced. One proposal, a major improvement of Washington 18 from Auburn to Interstate 90, was dropped from consideration.
Other projects still alive include a new Lake Washington bridge, improvement of the Washington 16 corridor across the Tacoma Narrows, and improvement of Washington 522 in the Monroe area. Also proposed are new park-and-ride lots in King County and so-called congestion pricing on I-5 in the Seattle area.
Rep. Steve Van Luven, R-Bellevue, urged his colleagues to scrap the whole program and start over. Legislators were deceived into voting for a program that has careened out of control, he said. Instead of finding projects that add new capacity in areas where there is wide acceptance, the DOT is moving to add tolls to corridors that taxpayers already have paid for, he said.
“If you want to kill it, this (outright abolition) is a kinder way to do it, rather than with a thousand cuts,” said Rep. Ruth Fisher, D-Tacoma, a strong backer of the program.
The House decided to stick with the program.