Crux of gas-tax debate: What will ease traffic?

Backers of Initiative 912 say the new gas tax should be repealed because it will do little to reduce congestion on the state's highways.

But the Washington State Department of Transportation says $3 billion of the tax's revenue would go toward easing choke points and congestion.

Who's right?

It depends on what you think would improve traffic flow.

Initiative supporters say the state needs to add general-purpose highway lanes to handle the growing number of cars and trucks.

The state agrees to a point, and the 9.5-cent gas tax would pay for 115 new miles of general-purpose lanes at a cost of $1.2 billion.

But the tax also would build 19 miles of high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes and add or update several onramps and interchanges.

I-912 supporters don't think HOV lanes and onramps would solve the state's traffic problems.

How the new gas tax would be spent


The 9.5-cent gas tax would raise about $7.1 billion for state transportation projects.

$3.3 billion: Roadway safety, including replacing the damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct and work to reduce collisions

$3 billion: Choke points and congestion relief, including new highway lanes, ramps and interchanges

$541 million: Freight mobility, including new rail lines, railroad overpasses and highway improvements for truck traffic

$186 million: A new state ferry and ferry-terminal work

$108 million: Environmental work, including erosion control, noise reduction and storm-water management

$95 million: Multimodal improvements, including railroad work and King Street Station track improvements

$500,000: Preservation, to repair unstable slopes in Mason County

Source: Washington State Department of Transportation

"We need new pavement that people can drive their cars on," said Brett Bader, spokesman for I-912. "Onramps and new HOV lanes don't reduce congestion for 95 percent of those who drive their own vehicles, and that's the problem."

I-912 backers complain the tax package doesn't include new general-purpose lanes for Interstate 5, or new lanes on Interstate 405 that would run from Bothell to Renton.

"There's no lane miles to get anyone anywhere faster. It's all designed for mass transit and to make our individual commutes so horrible we'll consider a train or a bus," Bader said.

The largest share of the new gas-tax money — $3.3 billion — would go to safety improvements, including $2 billion to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct and $500 million toward replacing the Evergreen Point Bridge. The state says with the gas-tax money it would have enough to replace the aging structure — though not with a tunnel through downtown Seattle as the city wants.

The next-biggest chunk of the tax dollars would go to what the state considers congestion and choke-point relief.

The most visible of those projects may be on I-405, where the new tax, combined with the nickel tax approved in 2003, would finance $1.5 billion worth of work, including new lanes and freeway interchanges.

One project would build new ramps in Renton where Highway 167 and I-405 intersect, a spot the Department of Transportation says is one of the three worst bottlenecks in the state.

Other I-405 projects would add one lane in each direction between the Highway 181 and I-5 interchanges in Tukwila, and a general-purpose northbound lane between Northeast 124th and 160th streets near Bothell. That would extend the extra lane that now ends at Totem Lake to the Highway 522 interchange.

In all, the new tax would pay for six miles of new general-purpose lanes and ramps on I-405.

"We have $1.5 billion for 405, and they're all congestion-relief projects," said Kim Henry, the state's chief engineer for the I-405 project. "I think that's a pretty substantial investment. Every one of these projects goes through to completion."

The state hopes to begin construction on the I-405 projects in 2007 and complete the work two years later.

Safety project

Of the 274 projects the Department of Transportation plans to fund with the new gas tax statewide, all but 34 would be completed with that revenue. The rest are in the planning stages or environmental review and would need additional money to finish.

Replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct is considered a roadway-safety project rather than congestion relief. But while the state doesn't plan to add any lanes to the new viaduct or tunnel, it would add shoulders where disabled cars could be moved. Now, an accident or disabled car on the viaduct shuts the lane down.

Bader, of the I-912 campaign, said the state is calling many of the gas-tax projects safety improvements because polls show that sells better than trying to convince voters it would help with congestion. "It's ridiculous if you're looking at onramps as congestion relief," he said.

Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald concedes that much of the I-405 work involves ramps and interchanges, not long stretches of new highway. But he argues that's where the traffic choke points are. Traffic backs up where freeways meet, he said.

"We want to address congestion that affects real drivers, and the first thing we have to do is attack bottlenecks and choke points," MacDonald said. "Those who drive know what aggravates their commutes. There's no question we're attacking congestion."

Transportation planners also say new HOV lanes, like the one planned on Highway 167 from Auburn into Pierce County, would help move traffic more efficiently.

Within Seattle, a typical HOV lane serves twice as many people as a general-purpose lane during peak commutes, according to a 2002 study by the Washington State Transportation Center at the University of Washington.

Local HOV ridership grew 17 percent between 1998 and 2000. One of every 25 freeway users switched from single-person trips to some type of ridesharing during the two years, the center found.

Still, MacDonald said the state doesn't want to oversell the gas-tax projects. He points to Referendum 51, a proposed 9-cent gas-tax increase that was rejected in 2002 by more than 60 percent of the voters.

"One reason Ref 51 failed is because people were told it would solve congestion and any idiot could figure it would not solve congestion," he said.

Transportation planners, MacDonald said, have told the Legislature: "Don't oversell this program of improvements and say it will do miraculous things for congestion, when our powers are much more limited. We can help with congestion and there are projects in this mix which will help with congestion, but don't oversell it because the public needs the straight scoop."

Indeed, a Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation appointed by Gov. Gary Locke in 2000 found it would cost $40 billion to solve the state's congestion problems. The new tax provides just a fraction of that.

Other projects

Other highway-expansion projects in the tax package include:

Clark County: Adding one lane in each direction on Highway 502 from I-5 to Battle Ground.

Grant County: Expanding a three-mile segment of Highway 17 from two lanes to four, completing the corridor from Interstate 90 to the Grant County International Airport.

King County: Building northbound and southbound transit/HOV lanes on Highway 99 from North 145th Street to North 165th Street; adding a third lane on eastbound Highway 518, and extending HOV lanes from Auburn into Pierce County.

Kittitas County: Beginning construction on a new section of I-90 from Hyak to Keechelus Dam to move the freeway away from avalanche areas.

Pierce County: Building HOV lanes on I-5 from 38th Street to the Port of Tacoma Road; widening Highway 410 in Buckley, building two additional lanes; building direct HOV connectors between Highway 16 and I-5.

Snohomish County: Widening and improving seven intersections along Highway 9 from Clearview to Arlington.

Thurston County: Designing and purchasing right of way for a new four-mile, three-lane corridor on Highway 510 in Yelm.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com