Support transportation reforms to invest effectively!
With available funding for new projects and road/highway preservation declining at an alarming rate AGC supports additional transportation revenues. At the same time there are steps the Legislature can take to help ensure additional revenues are spent as effectively as possible.
Please click the Take Action link at the end of this message to quickly send an email to your Legislators. Urge them to support these common-sense measures to help invest transportation dollars more effectively:
Expedited permitting: ESHB 1978 speeds up the permitting process for transportation projects. The bill implements a new seven-step permit process for all WSDOT projects that require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Road permitting is a massive cost driver than can result in lengthy project delays and public frustrations. This bill creates a process to streamline permitting ensuring that environmental goals are met while moving our economy forward.
Public/Private partnerships: SSB 1979 helps facilitate the process for obtaining public/private partnership funding for small scale non-toll transportation projects. This legislation allows our state to be more creative in non-toll project planning for things like ferry transit and port facilities. We need new options for funding and new partnerships to meet economic development goals.
Engineering errors: SHB 1986 requires WSDOT to submit a report to the Legislature on engineering errors in excess of $500000. Creating greater accountability and transparency in transportation projects is one way to rebuild the public’s trust regarding transportation spending.
Right-sizing projects: HB 1988 directs WSDOT to explore the cost and feasibility of expanding current software to all capital projects to ensure they are right-sized. Right-sizing is a term used to describe a lean metric-based approach to determining project investments. The goal is to find a best fit transportation solution for the context that meets the expectations of decision makers the state stakeholders and the community.