I-1125 jeopardizes ability to use toll money to cover costs | Andrew Villeneuve

Ten and a half years after the Nisqually earthquake shook Washington and exposed just how vulnerable many of our decades-old bridges and roads are to collapse during a major storm or seismic event, we’re finally taking action. Instead of just talking about replacing the Evergreen Point floating bridge or the Alaskan Way Viaduct, we’re moving forward for a change — as anyone who regularly uses State Route 99 or State Route 520 has undoubtedly noticed. But these and other projects that voters have consistently told elected leaders they want kept on track are now threatened by a new initiative, I-1125, which would jeopardize our ability to use tolls and toll-backed bonds to cover our costs.

September 1, 2011 6:53 pm

Ten and a half years after the Nisqually earthquake shook Washington and exposed just how vulnerable many of our decades-old bridges and roads are to collapse during a major storm or seismic event, we’re finally taking action.

Instead of just talking about replacing the Evergreen Point floating bridge or the Alaskan Way Viaduct, we’re moving forward for a change — as anyone who regularly uses State Route 99 or State Route 520 has undoubtedly noticed.

But these and other projects that voters have consistently told elected leaders they want kept on track are now threatened by a new initiative, I-1125, which would jeopardize our ability to use tolls and toll-backed bonds to cover our costs.

Sponsored by Tim Eyman, I-1125 would require the Legislature to vote each time toll rates need to be changed and prohibit the state from using toll money for anything except the improvement of the facility where it raised. Additionally, it would ban the state from using variable tolling on future projects or setting new variable toll rates. That would mean that the state would have to force drivers who plan trips before or after rush hour to pay more. (The current tolling plan for SR 520 flexibly allows drivers to pay a lower toll if they cross Lake Washington during off-peak hours).

But that’s not all. The initiative also seeks to prevent the state from transferring part of Interstate-90’s Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge over to Sound Transit – even though a decades-old agreement calls for putting high-capacity transit there, and even though voters overwhelmingly approved Sound Transit’s specific plan to replace the I-90 express lanes with HOV lanes and then put East Link light rail where the express lanes are now.

Some of I-1125’s provisions have been recycled from Eyman’s previous attempts to play transportation planner, which have all ended in failure. I-745, which would have required 90 percent of the state’s transportation budget to go to roads, was overwhelmingly defeated in 2000. So was Eyman’s 2008 measure, I-985, which tried to restrict how toll money could be appropriated. I-985 lost in nearly every county in the state by lopsided margins. A third measure from 2002 – I-267 – did not even qualify for the ballot. In 2005, voters also rejected I-912 (an attempt to repeal gas taxes) which Eyman strongly supported, but did not sponsor.

The electoral history speaks for itself. We, the people of Washington, have repeatedly made it clear to Eyman and his wealthy benefactors that we don’t want them in charge of our transportation planning.

But they’re not listening. So much for respecting the will of the voters.

Years of public outreach and planning have gone into projects like SR 520’s new Evergreen Point floating bridge, which I-1125 would carelessly disrupt. For instance, the Legislature specifically empowered an independent commission to set toll rates to ensure that the process would not be hijacked by political gamesmanship. I-1125 would strip this independent commission of its authority, which State Treasurer Jim McIntire says would imperil bond sales for the new bridge.

“Requiring tolls to be set and adjusted by the Legislature rather than by an independent toll-setting body makes the cost of bonds secured solely by toll revenue prohibitively expensive and would be unprecedented nationally,” McIntire said after his office completed a review of the initiative. “We simply cannot sell toll-backed bonds if the Legislature is the toll-setting authority… By removing toll-only bonds from consideration, passage of Initiative 1125 would blow a huge hole in the financing plan for 520.”

Projects like the new Evergreen Point floating bridge, deep bore tunnel in Seattle, or Columbia River Crossing are not just needed to keep traffic moving and drivers safe. They’re crucial to our state’s economic security. They provide jobs and give employers confidence that Washington will continue to be a good place to do business. A state that doesn’t invest in its highways and bridges (or schools and hospitals) is not going to attract entrepreneurs.

The only way we can afford to make sorely needed transportation investments is to pool our resources. That’s what we’re doing each time any of us pays a toll: chipping in to help cover the costs of building bridges that can survive earthquakes.

This autumn, help keep Washington rolling by voting NO on Tim Eyman’s I-1125.