Voters' advice on roads will be sought

By Eric Pryne
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The Metropolitan King County Council yesterday put two advisory measures on the Nov. 2 ballot. One asks voters if they support developing a package of congestion-relief and safety projects and placing it on the ballot in November 2005.

The other asks how they'd like to pay for it.

With the two measures, "we might be able to get a better sense of what it is the voters want," said Councilwoman Julia Patterson, D-SeaTac, who sits on the board of the three-county Regional Transportation Investment District.

The district had planned to place a multibillion-dollar package of transportation projects and taxes on the ballot this fall, but backed off in June after large businesses, citing disappointing poll results, said they wouldn't bankroll a campaign.

Questions about what taxes and projects to propose remain unresolved.

Patterson said the advisory measures will not only give officials an idea of how to proceed but also will provide an opportunity to educate voters on the region's transportation troubles.

The first measure doesn't list specific projects but does provide a general outline of what a 2005 transportation package might include: road and transit projects in the Interstate 405 and state Highway 509, 522, 167 and 99 corridors; replacement of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge; a start on replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct; and light-rail extensions north to the University District and south to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

To pay for the projects, the second measure asks voters to select a favorite — if that's the right word — from among five possible taxes:

• A sales-tax increase.

• A flat tax on all motor vehicles.
 
• An excise tax based on motor vehicles' value.

• A local gas tax.

• An annual tax based on the number of miles driven.

On a parallel track, a panel of business and civic leaders recruited by the Discovery Institute, a Seattle think tank, met for the first time yesterday to begin crafting transportation recommendations to the Legislature and regional officials.

The group, dubbed the Transportation Working Group, is funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It includes former U.S. Sen Slade Gorton, former Port of Seattle CEO Dick Ford, former Sound Transit CEO Bob White and representatives of organizations ranging from Boeing, Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser to the Municipal League, Washington State Labor Council and Washington Conservation Voters.

Bruce Agnew of the Discovery Institute said the group hopes to complete its work by the end of the year.

"On the regional level, we are mired in a lot of infighting and bickering," he said. "We need to move forward. The question is, how?"

Even if the group does reach consensus, some participants acknowledged, the public could prove a tougher sell. "Everyone in this room probably knows everyone else in this room," said planning consultant Reid Shockey, "and that's part of the problem."

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com