Funding for roads and bridges in King County has been dwindling for years, and despite warnings as far back as 2014, money for capital investments in unincorporated areas is still set to run out within the next six years.<\/p>\n
The scope of the problem has been well documented in various studies, including the 2017 annual bridges report released last August. The county owns or maintains 182 bridges that range in age from 10 to 100 years old, with the median age being 65 — or 15 years older than their typical useful lifespan.<\/p>\n
Due to declining revenue between 2012 and 2018, no new standalone bridge replacements have occurred since 2014, and work is focused exclusively on daily safety and maintenance work, the report found. King County Local Services department public information officer Brent Champaco said when money for capital improvements runs out, other basic maintenance and operations services will be reduced to stay within budget.<\/p>\n
King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert has been taking a leading role brainstorming ways to address the funding shortfall. The county found in 2014 that its roads and bridges program was underfunded by roughly $250 million annually. An independent analysis from 2015 found the deficit to be even higher. The analysis by BERK found the county could use up to $500 million each year to fully fund transportation infrastructure projects. In the 2019-2020 county budget, which was approved last December, the county was able to allocate $108.2 million each year. The budget found that within the next seven years, the county’s Local Services department will have to eliminate its capital program if additional revenue isn’t secured.<\/p>\n
“Starving the roads and having them all turn to gravel, or the bridges falling down, is not a viable solution, and at this point unless there is county and state action to prevent that, that is where we are headed,” Lambert said.<\/p>\n
By 2040, the effects could be felt even more acutely because it’s expected that 72 miles of county roads may go to gravel and multiple bridges could be closed. For Lambert, the root of this problem can be found in the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA), which was passed in the early 1990s. Unincorporated King County has around 250,000 residents living outside of cities. Since the GMA was passed, there has been an emphasis on cities annexing areas within urban growth boundaries. While this has had the intended effect of increasing density and managing urban sprawl, it has also left the county strapped for cash — with a smaller tax base and little sales tax revenue.<\/p>\n
A 2019 statewide infrastructure report card<\/a> compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers said the primary revenue source for county transportation infrastructure is property taxes. The county’s current budget executive summary further states that roads are supported primarily by property taxes, a share of the state’s gasoline tax, and occasional grants.<\/p>\n