On March 29th the Washington State 2016 legislative session concluded. With the passage of last year’s Connecting Washington – a $16 billion 16 year comprehensive transportation package that committed unprecedented levels of multi-modal investments and Sound Transit 3 authority – TCC’s 2016 legislative agenda was modest.

Our goals going into session were to preserve multi-modal funding and implementing practical design concepts in Connecting Washington and preserving tolls on 405.

We successfully preserved Connecting Washington’s multi-modal funding and joined with the City of Seattle to have funding for the Northgate Transit Center pedestrian bridge project moved up two-biennia to 2017-2019 and 2019-2021, thus ensuring that the pedestrian bridge was completed by the time the Northgate station opened.  TCC also continued our work with WSDOT on implementing practical design principles, saving WSDOT dollars and increasing transportation project benefits.

The 2016 session provided several disappointing setbacks:

Along party lines the State Senate fired WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson by refusing to confirm her after nearly three years on the job. Secretary Peterson was a multi-modal champion and worked tirelessly to shift the agency to think outside the box on transportation planning and policy. Many of our Senate champions gave passionate floor speeches in opposition to the procedure and advocated for Lynn’s continued service. 

Another setback was I-405 Express Toll Lanes roll backs, which allowed general traffic to use these ETL lanes off-peak hours, weekends and holidays.

Please stay connected with TCC between now and the 2017 legislative session as we develop our next set of Olympia priorities and advocate for passage of the Sound Transit 3 November ballot initiative – a bold and comprehensive light rail package that will comprehensively connect the Puget Sound Region with light rail and select bus service.

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