Corridor in Senate budget plan

OLYMPIA – Senate budget writers on Tuesday unveiled an $8.1 billion transportation proposal for the next two years that, as expected, includes an extra $99 million for the North Spokane Corridor.

Local lawmakers are still, however, trying to shoehorn in several other local priorities:

“$4.2 million for a rail car “transloader” facility west of Spokane,

“About $300,000 to study putting streetcars in downtown Spokane,

“$250,000 for a study of the Inland Northwest’s role as a regional rail, air and road transportation hub.

Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane, is the only local senator on the Senate Transportation Committee, which wrote the proposed budget. He said he and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, are pushing hard, particularly for the rail transloader money. It would put more rail cars onto local state-owned rail segments, Marr said – a key step toward boosting the profitability of those lines.

“I think we’ve got a better-than-even chance of getting it in” the final budget, Marr said. Lawmakers must reach agreement on a spending plan by this legislative session’s last day, April 22.

The Senate’s proposal is the last of three – the others are from the governor and House of Representatives – that will be melded into the final plan.

One thing that did make it into the Senate proposal, however, could have long-lasting ramifications for Inland Northwest drivers and taxpayers. Marr’s fellow committee members are proposing a Spokane “summit” to discuss whether and how the region could help pay for the $3.3 billion, 10.5-mile corridor project. The years-long “megaproject” consists of a 60-mph highway link between Interstate 90 and U.S. 395.

“I think what we found is that expectations in Eastern Washington – around Spokane, in the urban area – are certainly becoming as large as they are in Puget Sound,” said Marr.

For Puget Sound’s own multibillion-dollar projects, lawmakers are hoping to tap a mix of local taxes, tolls and fees.

“Let’s face it: Our 520 (floating bridge) is dependent on tolling,” said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, the Senate Transportation Committee chairwoman. “I think tolling is a fact of life as we move forward on these megaprojects.”

Marr has repeatedly said tolling probably wouldn’t work for the North Spokane Corridor, since drivers could easily opt for free, even if slower and congested, local roads. And he reiterated Tuesday that he’d like the highway to be funded entirely with state dollars.

“But I’m the first to admit that when you look at the size of that project going forward to connect with I-90, that may not be a reasonable assumption,” Marr said.

The region is pushing for other projects to improve freight movement on both roads and rail, he pointed out.

“Those become just studies unless we can identify solutions, in which the local community has to play a part,” he said. “It’s part of the coming of age of Spokane as an urban area. There’s not a different menu of solutions in Puget Sound than there are for us.”