![]() ![]() But there’s actually no design for the project yet, and all signs point to a carbon copy of the failed Columbia River Crossing project which was (allegedly) cancelled in 2013. This project continues to be lumped in with the state’s deferred maintenance backlog. ![]() Instead, both packages would spend more on new highway projects rather than on maintaining existing ones.īut there’s one project that both packages made sure to include: the “replacement” of the I-5 bridge between Washington and Oregon. Neither of the two funding packages currently being discussed in the House and Senate Transportation Committees would fully close that gap despite the fact it may be the state’s last chance: if the funding levels for maintenance stay at current levels, the cost to repair the roadways later could triple. This is around 20% of the department’s annual budget of $3.6 billion per year - filling that gap would mean more than doubling the amount currently spent on maintenance, around $550 million. In 2019, WSDOT estimated that there was an annual gap of $690 million between funding available for maintenance and the amount the state would need to spend to maintain a state of good repair on its state highways. “We need to make the investments first, and I emphasize first, in maintenance of our existing transportation system”, Inslee said, calling maintenance “woefully underfunded” in Washington. When Governor Jay Inslee held a press conference with Washington State Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar and other area officials at the Lake Washington Ship Canal in March, one word was emphasized: maintenance. ![]() A rendering showing the Columbia River Crossing project at Hayden Island. ![]()
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