Prop 1 Campaign Cash--and Rhetoric--Continues to Mount

Those for and against Proposition 1 (the Roads & Transit proposal) have raised more than $4.9 million in cash and in-kind contributions, dwarfing fundraising for the three previous statewide transportation measures. Backers have raised and spent nearly 84 percent of the money, $4.1 million, as the measure faces what is expected by both sides to be a close vote.

The Seattle media seemed to rally a bit in support of the proposition, with the Seattle Times editorial columnist Lance Dickie opining:

Tuesday's election is adorned with black crepe, but I will not be surprised if a three-county package of highway and Sound Transit improvements wins approval.

Wishful thinking? Nope, not even civic optimism. Voters idling off $3-a-gallon gasoline in traffic feel stranded and they want choices. They know it is long past time to get started.

That's a far cry from yesterday's rail-bashing (at least south of Tukwila) editorial by Bruce Ramsey.

Even farther was Joel Connelly's column in the Post-Intelligencer:

As folks decide on Prop. 1..."No" side partisans are freely giving assurances of a brighter tomorrow if the voters refuse to jump for this package of steep taxes.

Sierra Club leaders told me over lunch that Sound Transit can come back with a light rail-only proposal. An editorial writer with Seattle's duller daily opined that local officials will hammer together a more modest proposal.

"Neither one of them is right. ... I don't see anything on the ballot in 2008. I do not see how Sound Transit could go back next year," said state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

"Congestion pricing" is the new catchphrase, on tongues ranging from King County Executive Ron Sims to professional naysayers on the political right. But do not ask for whom the tolls will be rung up, or what agency gets to pocket them.

In other words, there is no viable alternative to Roads & Transit--RAMP's position from the beginning of this campaign.

Light Rail to Tacoma: Bonanza or Boondoggle?

Regular readers of this blog know that both King County Executive Ron Sims and the Sierra Club say taking light rail to Tacoma doesn't make much sense. Today's front page article in the Seattle Times considers the pros and cons to this point of view.

The article reports that, when the King County Office of Management & Budget did a "rough" cost-benefit analysis of each proposed light-rail segment in Proposition 1, as well as bus and commuter rail, it estimated that for every $1,000 spent the Tacoma extension would carry 69 passengers; by comparison, the analysis found that light rail to Bellevue would carry 106 people per $1,000 and the extension north would move 369 people per $1,000. Sound Transit responds that its ridership projections from Sea-Tac to Tacoma are the same as its projections for the light-rail route to Redmond. Analysts arrived at the estimates by "taking projected costs of the projects and dividing them by estimates of how many people would ride each segment"--in other words, estimated guesswork. Does anyone doubt that a similarly "rough" estimate by Pierce County might derive a much different estimate?

Sims questions Sound Transit's projections that people would ride light rail to places inside Pierce County instead of traveling all the way to Seattle. That's a difference he needs to resolve with the Puget Sound Regional Council--the source of long-term regional employment estimates--not Sound Transit.

Elsewhere in that paper is a rail-bashing (at least south of Tukwila) editorial by editorial columnist Bruce Ramsey, in which he concludes with this intellectual exercise: "Imagine what it will cost, and how many people who now stream by Fife's car dealerships will get out of their cars, buy a ticket and wait for the train that stops at South Federal Way, Federal Way, Redondo, Des Moines, South 200th Street, Sea-Tac Airport, Highway 518, and on up the Rainier Valley into downtown Seattle." Unlike John Lennon, Ramsey doesn't seem to like what imagination brings to life--or maybe he just can't imagine the rail traffic going anything but one way, into Seattle.

Patrick O'Callahan, political columnist for The News Tribune, notes in that newspaper's editorial blog today that "[s]ome opponents of Proposition 1, like Ramsey and King County Executive Ron Sims, have decided it would just cost too much to extend Seattle's light rail line down to low-rent Pierce County."

South Tacoma Tagged for Non-Attainment

As reported in an earlier post, the Washington Department of Ecology is considering designation of most of the Pierce County metropolitan area non-attainment area. The proposed area includes the entire Pierce County Comprehensive Urban Growth area (CUGA), except for areas to the south and southwest (including Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base), and areas to the east of the Puyallup River-White River valleys (including Sumner, Auburn, Pacific, Bonney Lake, and Orting).

Cities within the proposed non-attainment boundary include Tacoma, Lakewood, Steilacoom, Fircrest, University Place, Ruston, Milton, Edgewood, Puyallup, and Fife, as well as the unincorprated areas of Frederickson, Parkland, Spanaway and South Hill.

Ecology will hold a hearing to receive public comment on the draft PM2.5 recommendations and the proposed non-attainment area boundary on Wednesday, December 5th, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Pierce County Library & Administrative Center (3005 112th St. E.) in Parkland. Comments can also be sent by mail, e-mail or FAX until 5:00 p.m. on December 10th; comments should be directed to:

Doug Schneider
Department of Ecology
P.O. Box 4700
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
FAX: (360) 407-7534
Email: dsch461@ecy.wa.gov

Prop 1 Maintains Narrow Lead in Polling

The Washington Poll, a non-partisan, academic survey research project tied to the University of Washington, shows Proposition 1 still ahead with Puget Sound voters.

Some 51 percent of those who said they’ve already voted say they supported the measure and 49 percent of those who are yet to vote are certain or likely to approve the package. 36 percent of those who have sent in their absentee ballots claim to have voted against Roads & Transit, while 38 percent who have yet to vote report that they are likely to vote the plan down.

Voices for Proposition 1

From the chorus of voices raised over Proposition 1, here are excerpts from some statements that bring both light and heat to the subject:

As to the zealotry in our community, the salvation-in-cycling cult has been joined by the cars-are-evil crowd in implacable opposition to improving the roadways, the down-with-light-rail adherents who insist more buses are the answer to our needs, the anti-tax disciples who decry anything that costs money and the global-warming prophets who denounce the whole business as an effort that will simply hasten the day of ecological doom. It's hard to hear any dispassionate voices in what ought to be an intense but levelheaded discussion about our region's future...

A decade ago, Sound Transit was considered a disaster. Currently, it is hailed as a public enterprise that gets things done. Much of the credit, even Sound Transit critics acknowledge, goes to Joni Earl, Sound Transit's CEO, who took over an agency with "a lousy reputation" and is credited with its near complete turnaround. Earl happens to be a public servant who turned down a raise five years ago based on her exceptional performance because Sound Transit had not achieved two major milestones it had set for itself....

She points out...two unarguable facts in all of this: Droves of people continue to move into our midst every year and we've delayed coming to grips with our transportation needs for far too long. No plan is perfect but now is the time, she says, to get on with it; "It's only going to get more expensive
if we delay."

Hubert G. Locke, The Seattle P-I

Prop 1 certainly moves us in the right direction, adding long overdue regional funding for transit and roads. Without "some for each" this effort would fail. As the primary source for Sound Transit, the regional funding in "Prop 1" will dedicate $10.8 billion toward a solution and as a secondary funding source for roads, this measure will add $7 billion toward long overdue progress.

Some of these projects have been "on the books" for a very long time. If not now, when? It took leadership this long to agree on this proposition. If we don't fund it with a yes vote, how do we expect our Puget Sound traffic nightmare to ever end?

Pat Maddock, Tacoma-Pierce County Association of REALTORS

There's a reality for business owners across the central Puget Sound: More than $1.4 billion a year is being sucked out of this region as we idle in a traffic morass judged the nation's 19th worst by the Texas Transportation Institute. And things could get much worse.

State Auditor Brian Sonntag's performance audit of the Washington State Department of Transportation clearly predicts what happens if this November's Roads and Transit package (Proposition 1) is rejected: The measure's failure would "far more than double the current level of congestion" on our roadways.

Far more than double the current level of congestion. That's why after thoroughly examining the $17.8 billion Roads and Transit package, Washington Roundtable members and a broad spectrum of other businesses are confident that, dollar for dollar, its benefits far outweigh its costs.

Confidence is an important concept here. First, we are confident in our region's long-term economic prospects. We are confident that our businesses can continue to produce jobs that pay family wages and grow a tax base that pays for essential services like transportation. But we must make key investments to our aging transportation infrastructure.

Steve Mullin, Washington Roundtable

Two New Transportation Blogs

While blogs like On RAMP have been active in other regions across the nation--offering informed insights on transportation issues from places like Portland, Houston, the Bay Area and Connecticut--similar sites in the Puget Sound region have been few and far between.

Or so it seemed. Recently, the authors of this blog have become aware of one blog that focuses on regional transportation, trade and technology issues, and have noted the debut of another blog offering to provide a citizen's forum on transportation issues:

Cascadia Prospectus, the group blog of the Cascadia Center aims for "the sweet spot between vision, accountability and investment" and offers to provide news, commentary and insight on transportation, trade and technology. The Center supports development of a balanced, integrated, and expanded transportation system for people & goods in the central Puget Sound and beyond: Washington, British Columbia, and Oregon.

Let's Improve Transportation (LIT) is "an experiment in participatory democracy" through which residents of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties are invited to join an online experiment via the Internet at their own convenience. The purpose of this experiment is "to evaluate a new and potentially more meaningful way to involve citizens in the process of regional transportation decision-making."

Note: RAMP provides the links above for informational purposes only; links do not imply endorsement or recommendation by RAMP or its participants, and RAMP is not responsible for the contents of any "off-site" web page referenced from this server.

Another Level of Attainment?

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) is in the process of developing an action plan implementing new federal standards for clean air, incorporating such factors as ozone and particulate matter (2.5 microns or smaller).

The federal Clean Air Act requires “transportation conformity”--assuring that local and regional transportation plans, improvements and projects conform to the federal regulations. Current data locally indicates that the implementation plan's new emphasis will no longer be on stationary sources (plants), but rather on transportation conformity (trucks, locomotives, ships) for diesel engines.

Currently, the Tacoma area exceeds the new federal limit on particulate matter in an area centered on S. 78th & 'L' St. This level of pollution has been determined by its characteristics and timing to be the result of residential wood smoke; a study is underway to determine whether or not other sources may contribute to this problem.

This seemingly obscure decision to designate the boundaries of a non-attainment area, separated by a few years from potential effects, carries real consequences. A non-attainment designation can adversely affect economic development, transportation infrastructure development and growth in military installations.

The timeline for this process is as follows:

1. October 26th
   PSCAA completes initial analyses for designation and informal consultation with Tacoma/Pierce County stakeholders
2. November-December
   WA DOE holds public comment sessions, then sends draft recommendations to Governor
3. December 1st
   Legislative Workgroup to recommend wood smoke reduction plan
4. December 18th
   Governor submits designation areas to EPA based upon monitoring data from 2004 - 2006
5. December 18th, 2008
   EPA designates final areas--could consider data from 2005 – 2007

States have three years after designation to develop a plan and two or more years longer to meet the standards.

Roads & Transit Coverage Accelerates

The past several days have evidenced a flurry of newspaper stories and editorials throughout the Central Puget Sound regarding the impending Roads & Transit vote. While the official polling date is November 6th, many voters already have their absentee ballots in hand.

Sunday's edition of The News Tribune offered extensive coverage, including a slightly negative feature by Joe Turner (sort of a cost/benefit analysis minus the benefit part), a pro/con pitting former state senator and former state Supreme Court justice Phil Talmadge (is there no credible Pierce County spokesperson?) against RAMP Co-Chair David Graybill and Patty Rose, Secretary-Treasurer for the Pierce County Central Labor Council. The coverage was capped by a second endorsement by the editorial board, stating:

Much of the opposition to Proposition 1 is rooted in the region’s old, tiresome roads-vs.-transit dispute....In reality, the region cannot get enough of either.

For a wrap-up of other media coverage of the debate over the Roads & Transit package, check out the campaign website.

Does Parking Need to Be the 'Ugly Stepsister' of Transportation?

Parking--the endpoint for any vehicle trip--tends to be the "ugly stepsister" of the transportation world. New technology and a new paradigm for how that service is delivered is changing parking systems across America.

Typically, cities use parking regulations as a weapon to discourage people from parking downtown, as an incentive to use mass transportation, as a means to raise municipal revenue, or all three. New devices offer ways to increase customer choice, transforming that paradigm.

Portland Transport, the Rose City's version of On RAMP, recently posted a piece that reveals the experience of cities that have moved away from the old pay-for-space approach to a smarter parking system. New devices allow customers to buy parking anywhere they can within a specific district for the exact time they choose, and drivers also have payment options: cash, credit or even a prepaid gift card.

Boulder has recently deployed a Downtown Gift Card that can be used to pay for shopping, movies, and dining as well as municipal parking. Such cards are a way to make parking an integral part of the whole experience of visiting downtown.

Invitation to RAMP Participants

If approved, will the Roads & Transit package (increasingly now known around Pierce County as Proposition 1), be built on time and on budget?

Is there enough in the proposal for Pierce County to justify the resulting tax increases? Is it the right mix of roads and transit? What are the alternatives if this proposal is rejected by voters?

Next Wednesday, The News Tribune is hosting a forum with five experts representing the pro and con positions on the measure :

When: Wednesday, October 10th, 7:00 -9:00 p.m.

Where: Baker Community Room, The News Tribune (1950 S. State St.)

What: Panelists will present their perspectives and answer audience-generated questions

Who: The panelists are Shawn Bunney, Pierce County councilman and chair for the Regional Transportation Investment District; John Ladenburg, Pierce County executive and chair of Sound Transit; Tim Gould, chair of the Sierra Club’s transportation committee; Jim Horn, chair of the Eastside Transportation Association board; and David Graybill, president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber; the discussion will be moderated by Hunter George, The News Tribune’s politics editor

Also: Doors open at 6:30; cookies and coffee will be provided.

Auditor's Review Vets Sound Transit Performance

Submitted by Paul Ellis

The Washington State Auditor’s office today released an extensive performance audit of Sound Transit’s Link light rail construction program. The performance audit was conducted in compliance with Initiative I-900, approved by Washington voters in 2005.

The audit identified three overarching findings:

1. Sound Transit was unable to complete the Link light rail line at the cost and within timeframes communicated to voters in 1996;


2. Sound Transit initially lacked procedures for land acquisition, environmental compliance, permitting and construction management, contributing to its inability to meet project costs and timeframes communicated to voters in 1996;


3. Sound Transit has extensively improved its construction planning and management processes since 2002.

Areas identified for improvement include but are not limited to environmental compliance, management of change orders and how we track and implement lessons learned. The audit concludes that Sound Transit has made major strides and has developed the processes and procedures that are responsible for the agency’s successful delivery of projects.

The performance audit focused on the Link light rail construction project, which is currently nearing 80 percent completion. Areas identified for improvement include environmental compliance, management of change orders and how we track and implement lessons learned. The audit states Sound Transit has made major strides and has developed the processes and procedures that are responsible for the agency’s successful delivery of projects.

The audit makes several recommendations, many of which Sound Transit has already begun implementing; with a few exceptions, the transit agency generally agrees with those recommendations. Overall, the audit identified potential savings of approximately $5 million and cost the State $455,410 to administer. The Link project budget is $2.7 billion.

Sound Transit is one of the most closely reviewed and audited agencies in the state. The performance audit identifies 48 different federal, state and independent audits beginning before voters approved the Sound Move ballot measure in 1996, and notes the agency is marked by a “culture of continuous improvement.” Recently, an independent Expert Review Panel appointed by the State of Washington issued a final letter affirming that Sound Transit used its lessons-learned to build a solid Sound Transit 2 plan (the basis for the transit portion of the Roads & Transit package submitted to voters).

Sound Transit says it is committed to maintaining transparency and serving as an effective stewardship of the taxpayers’ dollars; to that end (as required by law), the agency will be holding a public hearing on the audit next Thursday, October 11, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Ruth Fisher Board Room at Union Station (401 S. Jackson, Seattle).

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.

Staking the Middle Ground

Submitted by Paul Ellis

Most political strategists will say that the best place for a campaign to aim its efforts is into the broad middle ground of voters--and that one way to judge that positioning is when those on either extreme of an issue are taking shots. If so, the Roads & Transit campaign is clearly in that sweet spot.

From the right, the Washington Policy Center (which has never seen a transit project it liked) attacked the proposed package this week in its latest Policy Note. The Center claims that "by every measure, the roads and transit plan is unbalanced and favors public transportation 3 to 1."

From the left, the Sierra Club, Cascade Bicycle Club and Conservation Northwest (none of which ever have seen a road project they liked) continue to contend that building new road capacity cancels out the environmental and climate benefits of building new transit--an extreme position even for the enviros.

Meanwhile, King County Executive Rom Sims is taking potshots against the plan with comments like these:

• Light rail would connect Seattle to Tacoma (already served by faster Sounder
  Trains) and run along Highway 99 (where last year's King County Metro "Transit
  Now" tax increase is ramping up bus-rapid-transit service).
• Instead, expanded bus service could generate much higher ridership in this corridor while
  freeing up funds for light rail to Southcenter and Renton. In Pierce County, we can achieve more traffic relief by extending light rail within Tacoma to the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University.

Sims commends the Sierra Club and its partner organizations for "showing great courage"--apparently for being the odd parties out from the environmental consensus behind the package. He is apparently unaware of the extensive local discussion--coordinated by RAMP--that helped define the stable of projects now in the ballot proposal.

Like some other King County leaders, he'd like to see south end projects scrapped in favor of more money for SR-520--a project that's still short of needed dollars despite massive injections of capital from the Washington State Legislature. As state transportation leader Ed Murray has told his constituents up north: "RTID has chosen to peanut-butter it and spread the money all over the place; when you're building roads in Pierce County to developments that don't even exist but you're not financing a bridge that's falling down, that's a very questionable approach."

Just to keep the facts in perspective, here is The News Tribune's editorial response today to Executive Sims.

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.

Tacoma Electeds Divided Over Roads & Transit

Submitted by Paul Ellis

A dust up is brewing for the Tacoma City Council Chambers next Tuesday evening as the city's elected officials consider competing resolutions related to Pierce County Proposition 1--the $18 billion (regionally) Roads & Transit package.

Councilmember Tom Stenger has introduced a resolution to oppose the issue on the November ballot. It states the following reasons for opposition:

• Sound Transit has failed to fulfill its promises from the 1996 package, including failing to provide ten commuter rail round trips per day and failing to provide "reverse commute" service;
• Sound Transit's plan creates serious disadvantages for Tacoma residents, including a design at Tacoma's Pacific Avenue Crossing that provides for a dangerous at-grade crossing and requiring Tacoma taxpayers to pay taxes for 20 years before light rail connects from SeaTac Airport to Tacoma;
• RTID takes over $10 from Tacoma to be spent in the suburbs while spending only $1 in the City; and
• Tacoma has been excluded from the RTID planning process and its needs, which are as great as anybody's, were not fairly considered.

Stenger, it may be recalled, was the City of Tacoma's representative to regional planning bodies until that privilege was revoked by the City Council following outbursts of intemperate language and what some characterized as inappropriate responses to citizens.

Julie Anderson, Tacoma's current representative to the Sound Transit Board, has also introduced a resolution expressing the City Council's support for Proposition 1. This resolution cites a number of reasons for support of the ballot measure, including:

• The package contains several road projects of benefit to Tacoma, including completion of State Route ("SR") 167, from Puyallup to SR 509; creating a direct southern access to SeaTac Airport by completing the connection between SR-509 and Interstate 5 ("I-5"); and funding for an I‑5 access ramp to the Tacoma Mall, bypassing the congested South 38th Street and Steele Street intersection;
• The package also contains several transit projects of benefit to Tacoma, including extending Link light rail from SeaTac Airport to the Tacoma Dome Station intermodal terminal; funds for additional Sounder commuter rail service; and expansion of Sounder Station parking in several locations.

The majority of city leaders seems to appreciate the value of the proposed package and are likely to vote to support Roads & Transit, but Tuesday evening's fireworks may be worth watching.

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.

Life in the Fast Lane Soon for SR-167

Submitted by Paul Ellis

It won’t be long now before some commuters on SR-167 in South King County begin paying a toll between 50 cents and 3 dollars to travel between Auburn and Renton. The Washington Department of Transportation expects to open the high occupancy toll (HOT) lane pilot project next spring, allowing solo drivers to buy their way into the car-pool lanes. Consultants have estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 of the 120,000 drivers who use that portion of the highway daily will be willing to pay a toll to drive in a faster lane.

Motorists who already have a Good To Go account for the Tacoma Narrows Bridges will be able to use the lanes, too, because the toll amount will be electronically deducted from their accounts. Unlike the toll on the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which is fixed, the toll on SR-167 will vary based on how quicky (or slowly) traffic is flowing. When general traffic lanes are heavily congested, the toll in the carpool lanes will be higher because drivers will be able to save more time by switching to the carpool lane. When traffic is free-flowing, the toll will be lower. Travel will remain free to buses, vanpools, carpools and motorcycles in the car-pool lanes and for all traffic in the general-purpose lanes.

This dynamic pricing model, which is close to real-time, also will let solo drivers know exactly how much they will be charged before they switch to the car-pool lane because the price will be displayed on roadside signs. Electronic Transaction Consultants Corp. of Richardson, TX was hired by the state to develop the computer software that looks at traffic volume and speeds to vary the toll. Feedback from the traffic model also will let highway officials know when to close the car-pool lane to solo drivers because too many cars will slow down buses and disrupt their schedules.

The HOT lanes themselves have been built, but the tolling equipment has yet to be installed. The northbound HOT lane will run 12 miles from 15th St. S.W. in Auburn to I-405, and southbound nine miles from I-405 to about S. 288th St. A nine-mile extension of the southbound carpool lane on SR-167 is slated for 2009-2011, and that may later become part of the HOT lane corridor.

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.

In China, Too

Submitted by Paul Ellis

A previous post for this blog highlighted China's voracious appetite for building new roads. The Asian nation is also surpassing the United States in another area of record: bridge collapses.

As families continued to mourn nine people killed in Guangdong Province after a cargo vessel struck a bridge there, the nation was rocked by news of an even more shocking incident. Twenty-nine workers were killed and 46 are still missing after the bridge they were building in Fenghuang, a tourist destination in central Hunan Province, crumbled down on top of them.

The bridge was part of the highway linking Fenghuang and Daxing Airport of Tongren in neighboring Guizhou Province. Construction of the 42-meter-high structure was almost complete except for dismantling the steel scaffoldings, and more than 120 workers were removing the scaffoldings--during the afternoon rush hour--when all the four arches of the 328-meter-long stone bridge fell.

The Chinese Ministry of Communications reports that more than 6,000 damaged or dangerous bridges will be fixed or rebuilt under an ambitious plan to make China's major roadways safer by 2010. Figures from the ministry's annual report on road maintenance found that by the end of 2006, some 6,300 of China's 500,000 or so bridges were graded "fifth rank"--defined as "in dangerous status with some important structural components seriously damaged".

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.

A Bridge Too Far Gone?

Submitted by Paul Ellis

The collapse earlier this month of the I-35 bridge into Minneapolis has underscored the need for renewed investment in transportation infrastructure nationwide--it's clear now that an earthquake is not the only danger facing older structures like the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The nation's long-term failure to adequately invest in roads and bridges has a deferred cost--a debt that may be coming due.

In the aftermath of the incident, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters urged state transportation departments to conduct inspections of 756 bridges similar to the ill-fated steel-deck truss bridge. The Minneapolis bridge, which was built in 1967, rose about 64 feet above the river and stretched about 1,900 feet across the water with a single 458-foot-long span to avoid interference with river navigation. Questions about the cause of the collapse and whether it could have been prevented continue to arise, although local officials have been quick to assure the public that a similar collapse here is very unlikely.

Minnesota officials were warned as early as 1990 that the bridge was "structurally deficient," yet they relied on patchwork repairs and stepped-up inspections that unraveled with a calamitous sudden drop of concrete, bodies and automobiles. The tragic collapse is sure to engender a new round of bridge inspections across the country; hopefully, it will also engender renewed debate about the need for transportation investments.

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.

Invitation to RAMP Participants

East side of the Thea Foss Waterway Transportation Corridor Study - Design Alternatives Community Workshop: the City of Tacoma is conducting a transportation corridor study for the east side of the Thea Foss Waterway, and community input is encouraged.

When: Thursday, September 27th
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Where: Phoenix Room, Freighthouse Square, Tacoma Dome District (2501 E. 'D' St. )

Study Purpose: Develop recommendations that will serve four primary functions:

1. Improve vehicular and pedestrian access to the two distinct development areas located on the east side of the Foss (industrial and non-industrial).
2. Provide for a functional separation between industrial and non-industrial development areas.
3. Potentially create new freight routes to improve public access.
4. Physically distinguish the areas with unique signage, limited access and landscaped buffers.

Study Area Boundaries: Thea Foss Waterway, Commencement Bay, the Puyallup River and I-5

For more information: contact Peter Huffman, City of Tacoma, Community and Economic Development Department, at (253) 591-5373.

'Keep Washington Rolling' Moves R&T Forward

Submitted by Paul Ellis

Success at the polls on November 6th will require a well-organized, aggressive campaign effort working in all three counties. Such an effort is now organizing--it's called Keep Washington Rolling.

Keep Washington Rolling is building a regional campaign with strong local efforts in each county. The campaign is headed by Kelly Evans, a seasoned political strategist, and capitalizes on the strong alliances already built to defeat Initiative 912 last year. A campaign website and fact sheets detailing benefits of the Roads & Transit package for each county are already online.

Polling shows strong voter support for the Roads & Transit package, and the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota highlights the need for renewed investment in transportation infrastructure. A squishy public image and huge price tag are potential obstacles to a successful vote in November.

As of the end of July, the following groups and individuals have registered their support for the package:

Environment
Washington Conservation Voters
Transportation Choices Coalition
Washington Environmental Council
Futurewise
Tahoma Audubon Society
Environment Washington

Business
Washington Roundtable
Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce
Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce
Everett Area Chamber of Commerce
Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce
Bellevue Downtown Association
Bellevue Chamber of Commerce
Renton Chamber of Commerce
Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce
Issaquah Chamber of Commerce
Pierce County Association of Master Builders
Microsoft
Boeing
American Council of Engineering Companies – Washington
National Association of Industrial Office Properties
Washington Association of Realtors
Associated General Contractors of Washington
Perteet, Inc.

Labor
Washington State Labor Council
Pierce County Central Labor Council

Municipalities
City of Edmonds
City of Bellevue

Personal
Duke Schaub
Ralph Munro

Political
Pierce County Democrats
Snohomish County Democrats

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.

Invitation to RAMP Participants

With the Roads and Transit package vote looming in November, the latest transportation roundtable sponsored by the Cascadia Center will examine what other regions are doing to align transportation needs with regional development. This coming Thursday, July 19th, the event will be held from 4:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle.

The theme of this roundtable is "Getting to Yes" and the roundtable will offer examples of how other regions surmounted the challenges facing them and were able to move forward on agreements of large-scale benefit--in each instance, a wide range of interests from both the public and private sectors had to be accommodated:

1. Allocating a Scarce Resource: The Colorado River agreement among southwest states. Reaching this agreement required reconciling not only the competing interests among states but competition within each state for agricultural, urban and environmental uses of a limited water resource. The story will be told by Richard Katz,, former California State Water Resources Board member and former state legislator.
   
2. Winning a Super-Majority and How to Leverage It: The San Diego regional transportation revenue package. Last November, San Diego metro area leaders overcame a daunting state requirement for two-thirds voter approval on a $14 billion, 40-year plan of highway, transit and freight improvements. Now they are moving ahead with innovative partnerships such as the South Bay Express, a 12-mile toll road financed by a mix of new regional, voter-approved funding and private equity capital. The story will be told by Craig Scott, TransNet Manager for the San Diego Association of Governments.
   
3. Revitalizing the Waterfront: The Baltimore Inner Harbor project. One of America’s most historic cities, Baltimore needed a boost and capitalized on a major asset – its Inner Harbor. A stunning mixed-use project combining destination attractions with commercial and residential projects, the Inner Harbor demonstrates redevelopment in a dense urban setting. The story will be told by a representative of the Baltimore Development Corporation.

RAMP participants may register for the event by contacting by contacting Jennifer Zucati at (206) 292-0401 x.157.

Pierce County Council Votes on Combined Package

Submitted by Paul Ellis

The Pierce County Council is expected to endorse the regional Roads & Transit package today, placing the fate of "the largest transportation investment since the Federal Highway Act" in voters’ hands. The King County Council and the Snohomish County Council have already agreed to put the package on the ballot in their respective jurisdictions.

All seven Pierce County Council members voted to pass the package forward yesterday as a Committee of the Whole. RAMP co-chair David Graybill spoke in favor of the measure, reflecting the support of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber; representatives from the cities of Tacoma, Puyallup and Fife also voiced their support for the transportation plan.

Graybill will be on hand this afternoon to reiterate the Chamber's support as the County Council considers Ordinance 2007-49; an affirmation of this proposal will authorize officials to put the Roads & Transit measure on the November ballot. Also this afternoon, Commissioners of the Port of Tacoma will vote on whether or not to endorse the transportation package.

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community’s largest transportation planning effort.