The Urbanist
By Ryan Packer January 15, 2024
Washington State highway expansion plans are billions over budget and soaking up resources from maintenance.
Despite a state transportation system full of unmet needs, the 60-day legislative session that started last Monday will likely see lawmakers spend the lion’s share of the time they devote to transportation spending discussions talking about how to keep a relatively small number of large transportation projects on track. With materials costs increasing and a relatively small number of contractors available to tackle billion-dollar megaprojects, costs have been steadily increasing for a number of years, but this session represents a key moment where the legislature needs to grapple with the trade-offs that will come from keeping these projects going.
Before the legislative session had even started, the number of projects seeing cost overruns that the legislature would need to address this year had mounted was considerable. First, $254 million on top of what had been previously allocated to secure a contract for the widening of I-405 between Bothell and Kirkland. Then, an additional $725 million to keep the SR 520 program in Seattle on track, including an additional $683 million for the Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid, the last major component of the overall 520 bridge replacement project.
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