Feds offer $139M if state imposes 520 bridge toll

The federal government will provide $139 million if Washington state decides to impose a toll on the old Highway 520 floating bridge, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced Tuesday.

Tolls would be part of a comprehensive effort to reduce congestion and to raise money toward a replacement bridge, she said.

The proposed grant includes $86 million for toll equipment, enforcement cameras, message signs and telecommute programs; $41 million for new King County Metro Transit buses, plus two park-and-ride lots at south Kirkland and Redmond; and $12 million to add passenger-ferry service from Vashon Island to Seattle.

The state and county would fund additional improvements.

To receive the grant, the state must launch the tolling project by September 2009, said Paula Hammond, interim Washington state transportation secretary. That decision rests with the state Legislature and the Washington State Transportation Commission.

They are likely to hear from irritated motorists. The tolling proposal comes after a pair of state gas-tax increases, as well as ballot measures to boost local transportation spending.

Some motorists will recoil at the notion of paying to cross an old bridge, which was built in 1963. A 70-cent toll there expired in 1979.

The proposed tolls would rise or fall based on traffic conditions, Peters said, calling the Highway 520 proposal "one of the most ambitious" among 26 applications nationally. Variable tolls are meant to discourage unnecessary trips and to promote ride sharing.

Michael Ennis, transportation analyst for the Washington Policy Center, said it's wrong to finance a new bridge under the guise of congestion pricing, because traffic will divert to other roadways. "To me, that's a recipe for disaster," he said.

The Seattle area is among a handful of regions chosen to join the federal Urban Partnership program. Others announced Tuesday include Miami and New York City, Peters said.

In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to use the money to impose a "congestion charge," similar to a fee in London, for motorists entering Manhattan.

Washington state Treasurer Mike Murphy has said that tolling on the old 520 bridge could help reduce either future tolls or finance costs for a $4.4 billion, six-lane replacement span, currently on hold because of a lack of money.

Long-standing disputes remain about how to design a new crossing through parks and neighborhoods on the Seattle side.

King County Executive Ron Sims called the tolling project a necessary strategy to reduce greenhouse gases.

"The Legislature holds the ignition key on this, and I hope it responds," Sims said.

Even this week, telecommuting has shown its value by helping the region survive an Interstate 5 construction project without severe gridlock, he said.

Under one scenario in state studies, drivers might pay an average $2 in each direction over the bridge.

The Sierra Club's local chairman, Mike O'Brien, said the announcement raises questions about whether voters ought to pass this fall's "Roads & Transit" ballot measure, which includes new highway lanes.

"We have an existing transportation system that could be used much more efficiently. Congestion pricing is the way to do that," he said.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com