InfrastructureUSA.org is a non-profit, online community whose mission is to bring together infrastructure experts, industry leaders, government officials and most especially interested citizens, to participate in vigorous conversation and generate action to address the U.S. infrastructure crisis.

COALITION FOR A SUSTAINABLE SR 520

SR 520 is one of two east-west roadways across Lake Washington. Approximately 115,000 vehicles carrying 190,000 people travel the SR 520 Evergreen Point Bridge every day.
–WSDOT.WA.GOV

Summary

Washington is dangerously close to its constitutional debt limit.

SR 520 is dangerously close to the end of its useful life.

The state is advocating a construction plan that can’t legally be paid for.

Why?

It’s time to get real – to create a plan for SR 520 that is within the state’s financial ability and that solves imminent safety problems.

It is time to use available funds for safety, and defer expansion until additional funding is available.

It is time to stop spending on an unrealistic dream for SR 520.

Construction on the east side of the lake is to start soon.  If the money is spent there, some of the highway’s worst safety problems will not be fixed. And the traffic jam will only be moved, not reduced, even for transit. With the money available now, the state could fix the imminent safety problems.  Later, when more financing is available, the corridor can be expanded.  Our coalition supports this approach.

Download full version (PDF): Too Much Debt

About Coalition for Sustainable SR 520
www.sustainable520.org
“We represent all the communities contiguous to SR-520. We have worked for years seeking a way to rebuild the corridor without doing excessive damage to local mobility, open spaces and neighborhoods. We developed the design now called Option M that puts a tunnel, not a second drawbridge, across the Montlake Cut. We believe many of Option M’s features provide good solutions to real problems. But we need political leaders who are willing to talk and listen, and to re-frame the question to include regional mobility, local mobility, the health of nearby residents, and the preservation of this iconic natural beauty.”

Tags: Coalition for a Sustainable SR 520, debt, Highway, Montlake, SR 520, Sustainable520, WA, Washington

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Accountability, Funding, Highway, Infra Views, Land Use, Local, Policy, Roads, Smart Growth, Urban Planning . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.