We love to think the Puget Sound region is world class – for its beautiful shimmering waters and majestic mountains, its abundance of fine cuisine, and its attraction to international trade.
But the “world class” label given to us in a newspaper column last fall – “Hey, we’re world class. For truly terrible traffic” – serves as a call for action.
That headline came after the Washington State Department of Transportation released its 2014 “Congestion Report,” which noted the traffic gridlock and brake-tapping we’ve experienced for years has gotten significantly worse.
In 2011, to ensure your 22-mile trip on Interstate 5 from Federal Way through Kent and into Seattle was a timely one, you needed to leave yourself 41 minutes. That same trip now takes 49 minutes. What’s worse, the same report indicated the 10-mile trip on State Route 167 from Auburn through Kent to Renton – which ideally would take 12 minutes – instead required motorists to set aside nearly a half-hour (28 minutes) if they wanted to be on time.
It is time for all of us to say, “Enough!”
While we can’t make traffic go away, we can and must invest in transportation infrastructure that enhances mobility and safety, protects our economy and our job base, and preserves our quality of life.
In Olympia, the state Senate has approved a 2015 transportation revenue-and-reform package that makes some critical down payments on the worst of our transportation problems here in Kent, throughout King County and the entire state.
If passed, the Senate’s plan would allocate money to finally complete the State Route 509 corridor between Kent and the Port of Seattle, taking much of the Kent Valley’s freight traffic off Interstate 5; our state’s most congested interchange at Interstate 405 and State Route 167 would be rebuilt; and construction of an overpass on South 228th Street over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks would reduce train crossing delay times.
Kent stands to gain a lot of good out of this plan.
The Senate’s package also provides direct money and new financing tools for cities to start tackling the maintenance backlogs on our local streets. Kent has $250 million worth of such projects.
There’s a long way to go to make this transportation package a reality – the House of Representatives needs to put its own stamp on it.
But we can’t afford any more delay – we already get plenty of that on our roadways every day. Instead, we need investments that move our residents to and from their jobs, and allow our freight haulers and transit drivers to make on-time deliveries of products and people.
We are truly at a crossroads with a transportation system that is inadequate and deficient. Our choice is to allow it to get worse, or to take action and improve transportation networks for the good of our residents, our jobs, and our state’s economy.
The House Transportation Committee will take the next step in the process today when it holds a hearing on the transportation package. We ask that you help us with a simple message to all state legislators: “Let’s get this done. Pass a transportation package this session.”
Suzette Cooke is Kent mayor. Dana Ralph is president of the City Council. Andrea Keikkala is CEO of the Kent Chamber of Commerce.
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