New $9.8 billion transportation budget includes some major projects for Whatcom County
The state Legislature on Sunday approved the two-year, $9.8 billion transportation budget that builds on the 2015 Connecting Washington package.
The budget includes a handful of major projects that will impact Whatcom County drivers, including money to construct a new northbound on-ramp to Interstate 5 at Bakerview Road.
“This budget addresses the transportation needs of our state in a fiscally responsible way,” Sen. Steve Hobbs, the Lake Stevens Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Transportation committee, said in a statement. “This was a good, bipartisan effort to keep our promises and move our state forward.”
“This is about adapting to changing times and technology,” Rep. Jake Fey, the Tacoma Democrat and chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said when the bill was released earlier this year. “Our state’s population has grown by 1 million in the past few years because of our booming economy, but that growth has put a great strain on our highways, ferries and transportation system. We’re proposing smart, cost-effective ways to deal with those changes.”
New projects include a $35 million for creation of a project office and predesign work for the replacement of the Interstate 5 Bridge across the Columbia River. Several projects had funding advanced, including $40 million for the state Route 167/State Route 509 Puget Sound Gateway project and $17 million for I-90 Snoqualmie Pass.
Ferry investments include providing for the start of building a new 144-car hybrid electric vessel, along with converting one existing ferry. The ferries division received $495,000 for planning work needed to prepare for hybrid-electric vessel terminal charging investments.
The budget also includes $160,000 for a vessel noise reduction study aimed at helping protect the endangered southern resident orcas.
“I’m proud of the bipartisan cooperation and outcome of this budget,” Hobbs said. “This is a good budget, but it is a bare-bones budget. Our state has many transportation needs and lacks the means to meet them: fish culverts, replacement of the I-5 bridge in Vancouver, the U.S. 2 trestle in Snohomish County and many other projects large and small across the state.”
The following are some of the major projects in Whatcom County:
▪ $12.1 million for the Thornton Road Overpass in the Ferndale area.
▪ $9.4 million for an Orchard Drive east-west connector under I-5 in Bellingham.
▪ $6.5 million for I-5/Northbound on-ramp at Bakerview Road. The project is to construct a northbound on-ramp on the east side of I-5 to address congestion, enhance regional multimodal transportation and support economic development in northwestern Bellingham.
▪ $200,000 for the Washington state-British Columbia joint transportation action plan for international mobility and trade.
▪ $2 million to construct improvements to the I-5/Slater Road Interchange and accommodate planned future development in the area around the interchange.
It also including the following a project covering multiple counties:
▪ $1.6 million for Skagit Transit to purchase five replacement buses to be used on the county connector services operated by Skagit Transit and partnership with Island Transit and Whatcom Transit. The buses will add passenger capacity and emissions reduction.
This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 5:00 AM.