Week of Oct. 16, 2007

County’s proposed transportation budget focuses on preserving infrastructure

King County Executive Ron Sims presented his 2007 budget this week, which places an emphasis on preserving the key infrastructure that supports our daily lives.

Shoring up this aging seawall on Vashon Island to protect the road it supports is one of the priorities in the proposed 2007 budget.

For the King County Department of Transportation, that means a significant investment in upgrading dozens of bridges, rebuilding seawalls, ongoing road maintenance, making runway improvements at Boeing Field, and adding modest increases in transit service.

Roads

The biggest budget increases will be in the King County Road Services Division, where more than $100 million will be spent in 2007 to preserve and protect the transportation infrastructure throughout unincorporated King County. This includes repaving roads, replacing old bridges, repairing aging seawalls, and continuing to maintain the overall county transportation network.

King County is undertaking both short and long-term projects to preserve roads supported by seawalls on Vashon Island. During the next 12 months, repairs to three aging seawalls will be completed along Dockton Road Southwest, Southwest Quartermaster Drive and the Vashon Highway.

In the long term, the Road Services Division will be investing $44 million to design and construct a more permanent solution for two large sections of failing seawall on the island. One is the seawall that supports more than half a mile of the Vashon Highway along Quartermaster Harbor, a critical highway that serves more than 10,000 residents and links two ferry terminals. The other is along Dockton Road on both sides of Tramp Harbor. The goal for both is to design and construct a solution that will preserve the roads for the next 80 to 100 years.

Two major bridges in unincorporated King County will be under construction in 2007. The new Tolt Bridge spanning the Snoqualmie River near Carnation broke ground this year, and will be completed in 2008 at a cost of $27.6 million. Replacement of the 92-year-old Mt. Si Bridge near North Bend will begin in the spring of 2007. That project is estimated at $21.5 million.

In 2007, the Roads Division will kick off a long-term program to replace 57 short-span bridges that were built in the 1950s and are rapidly failing. Many of those bridges considered high-priority will be accelerated and constructed within 10 years. These short bridges also encroach and act as choke points on the smaller waterways they span. The first two bridges slated for replacement in 2007 are both located near Fall City.

Airport

The 2007 Executive Proposed Budget identifies several actions to preserve the King County International Airport at Boeing Field, including a $3.3 million airport facilities plan to carry out a variety of maintenance and repair projects to improve several airport-owned buildings. And following on the very successful on-time and on-budget rehabilitation of the main runway completed earlier this year, KCIA will conduct preliminary work on a major project to rehabilitate its Taxiway Bravo. The airport will also begin implementing a major multi-year $55 million Home Insulation Program to mitigate aircraft noise.

Transit

Metro Transit’s proposed budget essentially maintains the status quo, but does call for some modest service improvements in an attempt to address the increasing need for more transit service in King County. While the largest change supports the reopening of the Downtown Transit Tunnel, some hours will be added for service restructuring on the Eastside and in South King County. A limited number of new hours will also be available to help Metro adjust for overcrowding and other conditions. In all, Metro expects to provide 104 million rides in 2007. Metro also anticipates it will see continued demand for vanpools and Access service for people with disabilities.

Fleet & department actions

KCDOT’s use of alternative fuels is helping to make King County government the largest consumer of biodiesel fuel in the state. It uses a mixture of 20 percent biodiesel to power more than half of Metro’s buses in addition to vehicles in the county fleet – that’s a full 20 percent reduction in fossil fuel consumption and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Next year, the department intends to do even more. The Fleet Administration Division will purchase up to 32 new ‘flexible fuel’ vehicles so it will be well positioned to make a smooth transition to ethanol when it becomes more accessible and affordable. Working with the ‘Plug-in Partners’ national initiative, Fleet will be supporting the commercial production of flexible-fuel, plug-in hybrid vehicles.

KCDOT’s Fleet Division is aware of the challenges faced by fleet organizations around the country as they attempt to adapt to and understand new hybrid technology. That’s why Fleet is thinking outside the box and is exploring a partnership with South Seattle Community College (SSCC) to establish a hybrid vehicle maintenance apprenticeship program. This education program is aimed at creating a skilled labor force to meet the emerging demands for hybrid vehicle maintenance.

Subscribe to DOT Dash

Sign-up to receive an e-mail text version of "Transportation Today," along with other significant DOT news by sending an e-mail to us with subscribe King County DOT Dash in the subject line.