Question: Is the cross-base highway ever going to be finished? – Claude Whitley, Puyallup
Answer: That remains to be seen.
The first phase of the project has been completed at a cost of $9.5 million, and another $31.5 million has been spent on studies and buying rights of way.
But there’s no money for the rest of the job, and work has been suspended.
“We’re waiting for the funding,” said Washington State Transportation Department spokeswoman Claudia Bingham Baker. “We’ll build as much as the Legislature will fund.”
The estimated cost of completing the project was $419.6 million in 2008, when it was last calculated. That estimate doesn’t include redoing the interchange at Interstate 5 and Thorne Lane. The controversial project would construct a new state Route 704 across Joint Base Lewis-McChord, linking state Route 7 (Pacific Avenue) to Interstate 5.
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