Message from the KCDOT Director:
Costs will outpace revenue growth in 2005 transportation budget
 "Next year is shaping up to be very challenging for the King County Department
of Transportation. Each of our divisions is coping with a situation in which
basic ongoing costs will be outpacing revenue growth in the years to come.
While the local economy is starting to show signs of growth, economic recovery
is taking longer than expected.
"Our Metro Transit Division estimates that its sales tax base has lost more
than $20 million. The three main revenue sources (tenant occupancies, number
of landings, and fuel sales) for King County International Airport at Boeing
Field have not recovered to pre-9/11 levels. In light of its loss of Local
Option Vehicle License Fees (VLF) as a result of Initiative 776, our Road
Services Division is necessarily reprioritizing its Capital Improvement
Program to focus more on safety and preservation, and less on increasing
traffic capacity through major road widening. Roads is also subject to further
pressure from Initiative 747's one-percent cap on road levy (property tax)
growth, which will be reached in 2007 when the banked levy capacity has been
fully utilized. Revenues for Roads are also being reduced by projected
annexations of remaining urban unincorporated areas and their tax bases.
"Transit has been dealing with diminishing revenues since the passage of
Initiative 695 in 1999 and the economic downturn following 9/11. Our other
divisions are more recently encountering similar significant revenue problems.
Transit's response has been to steadily reduce administrative and indirect
support staff over the past four years, managing to cut ongoing operating
expenses by more than $25 million and to steadily cut its capital program as
well. For Roads, the loss of VLF, coupled with the projected 2007 one-percent
cap on growth of the road levy, means no new major road capital construction
projects are being proposed for the 2005-2010 Roads Capital Improvement
Program (CIP). Roads is also reducing and reorganizing its engineering staff
positions in response to its reduced CIP.
"Despite these issues, there are some very positive things to report about
2005. Our Airport has secured FAA funding to complete the much-needed Runway
Safety Area project. Our Fleet Administration Division has maintained vehicle
rental rates below the 2005 proposed status quo, except in situations where
agencies have increased their inventory. Our Transit Division will continue to
maintain existing levels of bus service, and even make some small increases.
Integrating the light rail and bus systems will begin with the closure of the
Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) in September 2005 for modifications
that will allow joint bus and train operations. And, Road Services Division
will continue to fund its retrofit and rehabilitation work on roads and
bridges, pavement overlays, and LED signal light replacements."
Harold S. Taniguchi, director
King County Department of Transportation
Highlights from the 2005 proposed
KCDOT budget:
Funding
The King County International Airport (KCIA) is proposing to increase a number
of fees, including: landing fees; fuel flowage fees; tiedown bulk rates; and
rental rates for T-Hangars;
Transit is proposing to move up a planned fare increase from 2007 to 2005. In
addition, the next fare increase is projected for 2009. The proposed 2005
increase will raise all adult fare categories by 25 cents per ride, the
senior/disabled peak pass to $10 a month, youth fares to 75 cents a ride, and
the paratransit pass from $13.50 to $18 a month;
Roads is planning on its continued use of available taxing capacity to result
in six-percent growth in the Unincorporated Area Roads Levy. Beginning in
fiscal year 2007, Roads projects that it will hit the levy lid, restricting
future growth of the road levy to one percent annually. As critical segments
of the county's roadway infrastructure near the end of their useful life, more
funding will be needed to restore or replace bridges, failing roads, culverts
and drainage systems, and other roadway facilities. Although the proposed
six-year Roads CIP currently assumes the one-percent levy growth cap, keeping
the aging road system in good repair into the future will require a greater
annual revenue stream than we can find under the one-percent cap.
Service
Given current financial projections, Transit has to cut back on bus service
additions. The amount of service to be added in 2005 will be lower than
projected in the current adopted Six-Year Transit Plan, and out-year growth
has been substantially reduced. By 2012, bus service is projected to grow by
128,610 hours, or 3.8 percent, over 2004 levels. This does not keep pace with
expected population or job growth over this same period;
Staffing
The 2005 budget identifies positions to be reduced in KCIA, Roads, and
Transit. Work is currently underway to determine the number of individuals who
will be impacted by these decisions. Where possible, vacant positions are
being reduced and work reshuffled to accommodate priorities, but in some cases
we have had to eliminate positions that are filled and leave vacancies
available because of business-need requirements.
New initiatives in 2005
In addition to the items mentioned above, there are some specific initiatives
being proposed by the department. These include:
The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel will be closed in September 2005 for up to
two years while it is retrofitted and upgraded for joint light rail and bus
operations. In September 2005, buses currently operating in the DSTT will be
rerouted to surface streets. Some staff currently associated with tunnel
operations will be laid off unless proposals to increase staffing in other
areas are approved (e.g., maintaining new facilities, service quality
staffing);
Roads is proposing to complete critical drainage and shoulder restoration
maintenance work that was deferred in order to provide emergency response to
2004's severe winter storms. Roads proposes providing funds to catch up on the
drainage and shoulder restoration backlog over the next two years;
Per an agreement reached with Sound Transit in 2003, Metro Transit will be
operating the Central Link light rail line. While passenger service is not
scheduled to start until 2008 or 2009, a number of pre-startup activities will
begin in 2005;
Metro Transit's 2005 budget includes increased funding for safety and security
improvements;
Fleet is analyzing the merits of moving the Seattle-based Motor Pool
maintenance shop to a county parking facility or to another location.
Capital Improvement Programs
There is limited new activity included in KCDOT's capital improvement
programs:
The Roads CIP proposed for this next six-year period contains no new major
road construction projects. It places an increased emphasis on safety and
preservation of infrastructure. Due to the age of the existing road
infrastructure, there will be an increasing need to devote additional
resources to rebuilding and replacing worn-out roads and bridges.
The Transit Division's Public Transportation Capital Program has been revised
to reflect more aggressive revenue assumptions - particularly regarding work
related to Sound Transit and Seattle Monorail impacts. The priority remains
the maintenance of infrastructure - with more than 65 percent of the CIP funds
from 2004-2010 being spent on projects of this type.
Top
As part of the statewide celebration of Washington's Archaeology
Month in October, King County Road Services is sponsoring the "Footpaths
to Freeways" Lecture Series. It is an illustrated series focusing
on the history of roads in King County.
The next presentation will be this Thursday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. on the
8th floor of the King Street Center, 201 S. King St., Seattle.
Topics to be discussed include the wildly differing ways in which
roads have been established, a chronology of building techniques, and
the myriad of funding schemes and packages used to pay for their
construction over the past 150 years. It features a mixture of
historic and modern photographs, and concludes with an opportunity for
the audience to "find" their favorite historic road on electronic maps
using GIS.
The program will be held again on Thursday, Oct. 28 at the Auburn
Library, 1102 Auburn Way S.Top
King County Metro Transit
is proposing a series of changes to Route 5 that involve consolidating
bus stops along Greenwood Avenue North. Comments on the proposal are
due by this Friday, Oct. 15.
The overall goal of the project is to make existing bus service safer,
faster, and more reliable along the Route 5 corridor. In the already
completed Phase 1 of this project, four bus stops were removed between
North 46th Street and North 65th Street. For Phase 2, the public is
being asked to comment on the removal or relocation of more than two
dozen bus stops along an 80-block stretch of Greenwood between North
65th Street and North 145th Street.
For more information, visit the
project page at Metro Online.Top
In late September, the Road Services Division activated a new
traffic signal at the intersection of Auburn-Black Diamond Road and SE
Lake Holm Road.
The intersection had been identified as a location with sight-distance
limitations, heavy volumes, and prevailing speeds in excess of the
posted speed limit. Work included installation of curbs, gutters,
sidewalks, and ADA ramps, plus pedestrian push buttons and vehicle
sensors under the pavement at the intersection. Crews also installed a
connection between the intersection and the county's Traffic Control
Center for remote monitoring of signal operations.Top
Metro is offering shuttles to two special events this weekend -
the annual Fall Home Show and Husky Football versus the Oregon State
Beavers.
Free Home Show shuttles will be available on Saturday and Sunday -
Oct. 16 and 17 - between the Qwest Field Event Center and the
Northgate, South Bellevue and South Renton park-and-ride lots. Shuttle
service begins at approximately 9:30 each day. There are no shuttles
on the first two days of the Home Show - Oct. 14 and 15 - but there is
plenty of regular Metro routes that serve the event center.
For the UW game at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, free game-day shuttles will
run between Husky Stadium and: Shoreline Park-and-Ride; Northgate
Transit Center; Kingsgate P&R; Houghton P&R; South Kirkland P&R;
Eastgate P&R; South Renton P&R; and the Federal Way Transit Center.
In addition, Husky fans can show their tickets to ride free on any
regular Metro route and Sound Transit Route 550 on UW game days.
For all the details on both special services, check out
Metro Online.
Top
Roadwork Ahead:
 Here is a list of King County Department of Transportation projects that may disrupt traffic and travel in the coming weeks:
124th Avenue Northeast, in Kingsgate - Work is ongoing for
street improvements along
124th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 132nd Street and
Northeast 146th Place. This section of the road will remain
closed until late October.
Northeast 124th Street, north of Redmond - Work will continue
through October on the
Northeast 124th Street project between Willows Road and State
Route 202.
Edgewick Bridge, east of North Bend - The
Edgewick Bridge on 468th Avenue Southeast remains closed,
with traffic diverted to a temporary one-lane bridge. The next
phase of the project will be to switch traffic over to the new
bridge and removal of the temporary bridge and equipment. Work is
expected to be completed by the end of October.
South 277th Street, between Auburn and Kent - There will be
no lane closures, but motorists may experience periodic traffic
disruptions on
South 277th Street between the West Valley Highway and 72nd
Avenue South through October 2005 as a result of this major
reconstruction project.
Top
|
|
|
|
|
DOT Dash