Senate transportation budget: $38 million more for the North Spokane Corridor, $250k for U.S. 195 interchange at Cheney-Spokane Road

The budget includes more than 400 projects $4.3 billion. Among them:

• I-5/SR 161/SR 18 “Triangle” - Interchange Improvements

• SR 3/Belfair Area - Widening and Safety Improvements

• SR 6/Willapa River Br - Replace Bridge

• SR 9 Corridor Improvements

• SR 11/I-5 Interchange - Josh Wilson Rd - Rebuild Interchange

• US 12/Frenchtown Vicinity to Walla Walla - Add Lanes

• SR 27/Pine Creek Bridge - Replace Bridge

• SR 28/Jct US 2 and US 97 to 9th St - Stage 1

• US 101/Hoh River (Site #2) - Stabilize Slopes

• SR 167 New Freeway

• SR 167/8th St E to S 277th St - Managed Lane

• I-205/Mill Plain Interchange to NE 18th St - Stage 1 & Build Ramp

• SR 502/I-5 to Battle Ground - Add Lanes

• SR 510/Yelm Loop - New Alignment

• SR 522/Snohomish River Bridge to US 2 - Add Lanes

• Increased funding for the Department’s significant maintenance backlog ($16.8M)

Locally, the north-south freeway dollars are “in acknowledgement of efforts to cut the cost” of the Spokane region’s transportation mega-project, said Sen. Chris Marr, vice chairman of the Senate transportation committee. Earlier this year, Marr and Senate Majority Lisa Brown, both D-Spokane, proposed a “six-year solution” that would slim down the next phase of that $3 billion project, which is a highway-speed link between U.S. 395 with Interstate 90. The budget would not, however, pay for new projects after 2015. Lawmakers say the state needs a new source of dollars to press on, particularly in the wake of lower gas taxes due to less driving, more use of public transit and higher-mileage cars. “All of those undermine the principal source of revenue for the transportation system, which is the gas tax,” said Sen. Fred Jarrett, D-Mercer Island. The budget also shifts $120 million in bonding capacity out of rail projects, although lawmakers say they hope rail projects can recoup some of that from federal stimulus dollars.