Picture This!
What's
new this week in transportation
Construction projects in
2002 to help stabilize economy
Workers install a rockery at 140th
Avenue Southeast and Southeast 158th Street as part of a much larger King County project to
widen and improve roads in the area. This latest phase will eliminate a traffic bottleneck between the booming Fairwood area and the Maple Valley Highway. Construction projects like this in the Executive Proposed Budget for 2002 will help create and maintain jobs in this uncertain economy.
When the King County Executive
announced his proposed 2002 budget on Monday, Oct. 15, 2001, he included a number of projects in the Department of Transportation
that will create jobs and provide a boost for the local economy.
In challenging economic times, government has traditionally played a role in stimulating the economy, the most memorable being the New Deal of
the 1930s. Though a far cry from that federal program, the county's 2002
budget contains funds from sources that require they may only be spent
on specific roads, transit or airport projects.
Transit: Bus service will continue to expand in 2002, and 72 additional drivers and mechanics will be needed. The budget calls
for a capital investment of $140.5 million, an increase of $64 million, which will help Metro continue to implement security enhancements and information technology
measures on buses. The 2002 budget includes:
- $31 million to buy and build 2,700 additional
park-and-ride spaces along Interstate 5 and Interstate 90.
- $20 million to expand bus maintenance bases and improve existing operating facilities.
- $12 million for asset maintenance, including
replacing passenger shelters and repaving park-and-ride lots.
Other projects include:
- building a parking garage at the Eastgate park-and-ride lot.
- expanding the Central and Atlantic bus
bases.
- relocating the Transit Communications Center.
Roads:
- $12.3 million to build the
SPAR North Link to provide mobility to Sammamish Plateau residents.
- $2.4 million to start construction on Northeast 124th Street in Kirkland.
- $2.9 million for the intersection of Avondale and
Woodinville-Duvall roads and widening of Avondale Road between Northeast 155th
and 168th streets.
- rehabilitation and retrofit of the county's aging
infrastructure, providing additional funds for pavement overlay;
reconstruction of concrete sidewalks; construction of solutions to high-accident locations and road segments; retrofit of guardrails; and the replacement of obsolete signal controllers and electronics.
Additional road improvement projects will be
funded by revenue from bond sales combined with approved and prospective
grants. These projects include:
- right-of-way acquisition and construction of Northeast Novelty Hill (road widening), Benson Road Southeast (State Route 515) at Carr Road
intersection and Carr Road (road widening).
- construction of 124th Avenue Northeast.
Projects carried over from 2001 include:
- a King County Traffic Control Center -- $500,000.
- East Lake Sammamish Parkway -- $1.9 million.
- Cedar Mountain Bridge -- $4.6 million.
King County International Airport (Boeing Field):
The airport was recently put under the authority of
the Department of Transportation. The 2002 budget proposal includes
$9.7 million in construction projects, including:
- A runway shift project to enable The Boeing
Co. to meet operational needs for its aircraft facility.
- redevelopment of the west side of the airport.
- renovation of the Terminal building
- steam plant access road.
- water system upgrade.
-
noise insulation program.
Related links
"Sims
presents 2002 Budget that 'meets County's financial challenges,'" news
release, Oct. 15, 2001
King County
Budget Office Web site, updated with 2002 budget proposal
"2002
Budget Hearings Begin Tuesday," news release, Oct. 11, 2001
Major construction projects for 2001 for roads and transit |
