The $7.5 billion biennial transportation budget enacted last year is the largest on record. And it’s getting larger—to the tune of about $1 billion more, thanks mostly to an influx of federal economic recovery funds received over the past year. Reps. Judy Clibborn (Mercer Island) and Marko Liias (Edmonds), chair and vice chair, respectively, of the House Transportation Committee, just finished unveiling the 2010 supplemental budget plan and answering reporters’ questions.The bulk of that increase is $590 million to bolster high-speed rail service along the I-5 corridor. On top of that, the North Spokane Corridor will get $35 million in new grant money, and Seattle’s Mercer Street project will see $30 million. Both projects were deemed critical to regional economic competitiveness. Other new money will go toward various highway projects, emergency projects (such as the October SR 410 Nile Valley landslide), the ferry system and more.
The additional funding is expected to generate 3,000 new jobs for construction workers and contracting businesses across the state.
Although the transportation revenue projection dipped since last year by $121 million, the underlying biennial plan is still in good shape because of today’s favorable construction-bidding environment and low interest rates. Over the first six months of this biennium, for example, bids came in about 24 percent lower than engineers’ original cost estimates.
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