The Tom Warne Report, 16 January 2012
The Columbian, 9 January 2012
The Southwest region in the state of Washington has a busy construction season for 2012 with a $182 million budget, and with some of those projects continuing into 2013. But starting in 2014, the future of state projects is in jeopardy, according to WSDOT regional administrator Don Wagner. A big boost in public funding is about to run out if nothing is found to replace it, he said, both on the local and federal levels. That spike came from a pair of state gas tax packages approved in 2003 and 2005, which officials used to front-load the work schedule so borrowing costs could be repaid by long-term gas tax collections.
“We’ll be done with that work in 2014,” Wagner said, adding that construction activity is reaching its peak. “We’re going to pay for that work for the next 30 years … It was not a pay-as-you-go system.”
Lawmakers have mentioned the possibility of a transportation funding package in the 2012 legislative session, but discussions will likely focus on the $3 billion Columbia River Crossing project.