King County Executive Ron Sims last week unveiled a revised 2004 roads capital improvement budget that reflects the loss of an estimated $110 million over the next six years.

The county will experience a direct loss of $33.6 million due to the elimination of the Vehicle License Fee (VLF) following passage of Initiative 776 last year. It's estimated an additional $76 million will be lost because the county will no longer be able to leverage the VLF revenues to obtain grants and issue bonds to keep projects moving. The county had relied on this revenue source to back the sale of its bonds. In a letter to the King County Council, Sims said the county must now focus on basic transportation priorities such as roadway preservation, maintenance and safety improvements before major roadway widening can be considered.

"After thoughtful consideration of the loss of the VLF revenue, I have determined the most responsible reduction to balance the 2004-2009 Roads Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is to defer work on all future road capacity projects," Sims said. "The deferral of these major projects in effect decelerates their construction back out into the next decade. My decisions are based solely on the loss of the vital VLF revenue."

The county has had a program in place to fast-track needed congestion relief projects for the past few years. Projects benefiting from the program have included North Sammamish Plateau Access Road (SPAR), South 277th Street and 140th Avenue Southeast. However, due to the VLF funding loss, it will now be necessary to defer these types of capacity projects along with those the King County Department of Transportation had planned to partner on with other jurisdictions. The VLF was the primary funding source available to the county for use in partnering on regional arterial improvements. The department now proposes to recast its budget and direct revenues to high priority improvements that preserve the county's existing road network while maintaining safety for both traffic and pedestrians. These priorities are consistent with both the current and proposed update of the King County Comprehensive Plan.

Major widening projects recommended for delay include Novelty Hill Road, Issaquah-Fall City Road, the140th Avenue Southeast/Petrovitsky Road and Benson Highway/Carr Road intersections in South King County. Congestion relief projects the county had intended to partner with other jurisdictions on include Coal Creek Parkway, Southeast Issaquah Bypass and 150th Avenue Southeast. It's recommended these projects also be deferred.

Despite the loss of license fee revenues and unavoidable project delays, "I continue to strongly support the need to solve our traffic congestion problems now - not ten or twenty years from now," Sims said. "It is vitally important that we quickly take steps to fill the huge hole in King County's road funding plan that the passage of I-776 has left in its wake. To that end, I have asked our Department of Transportation to provide me with recommendations for replacing the critical local VLF road dollars with an equally flexible ongoing revenue source."

King County DOT is expected to provide recommendations for future funding options later this spring. The proposed roads budget is also being reviewed by the King County Council.

Top

King County Bicycling Guide Maps are available free at the Roads Services Division Maps and Record Center on the first floor of the King Street Center in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle at 201 S. Jackson St. The counter is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Bicycling Guide Maps may also be downloaded online in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format for viewing and printing (poster size). The printed version of the King County Department of Transportation's bike maps is sponsored by the Group Health Cooperative.

Top