All the taxpayers are gonna be REAL happy about this shit...Making a NEW floating fucking bridge....if they make a new viaduct i hope they all drown...that shit is hideous, and the new one would be like twice as high as the current piece of shit viaduct....
_________________________________
http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_032707POLBwasenate_roadbudgetJM.7bb3b5e.html
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Senate transportation leaders on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan $8.1 billion highway budget for Washington that covers hefty cost overruns on hundreds of road and bridge projects.
The two-year spending plan identifies nearly all of the money needed to build a new Highway 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington and adopts a new $915 million plan for initial work on a replacement for Seattle's waterfront Alaskan Way Viaduct.
The proposal, higher than the $7.4 billion version that cleared the state House a day earlier, accelerates some major road projects and pledges to eventually build all 432 road and bridge projects that were promised when lawmakers approved gas-tax hikes.
The Legislature boosted the tax by a nickel four years ago and approved a four-step, 9 1/2-cent increase two years later. The state tax is now at 34 cents a gallons and rises 2 cents in July, with a final 1.5 cents one year later.
Besides "mega-projects" like the viaduct and floating bridge, the proposal includes freeway improvements, new connector roads, safety improvements on many highways, four new ferry boats, freight rail and road projects, car pool lanes, and passenger rail and other non-highway approaches to moving goods and people.
Many of the projects, such as improvements on Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass, are racking up big cost overruns, mostly because of soaring cost of materials as China and other nations and states build out their infrastructure.
Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, noted that her budget includes no new projects and that many expensive and necessary proposals eventually will need financing. She said new revenue will be required, including state, regional, federal money and tolls. She didn't have a timeline or further specifics.
The Senate proposal would allow a scheduled 2.5 percent ferry fare increase to proceed in May. The House has approved a one-year fare freeze. Fares rose 6 percent last year. Both houses would freeze terminal projects for two years while a study of ferry usage and terminal needs is conducted.
The Senate's budget, which drew the blessings of minority Republicans, should clear the upper chamber by week's end. House-Senate negotiators then will be assigned to write a compromise plan during the final three weeks of the legislative session.
_________________________________
http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_032707POLBwasenate_roadbudgetJM.7bb3b5e.html
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Senate transportation leaders on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan $8.1 billion highway budget for Washington that covers hefty cost overruns on hundreds of road and bridge projects.
The two-year spending plan identifies nearly all of the money needed to build a new Highway 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington and adopts a new $915 million plan for initial work on a replacement for Seattle's waterfront Alaskan Way Viaduct.
The proposal, higher than the $7.4 billion version that cleared the state House a day earlier, accelerates some major road projects and pledges to eventually build all 432 road and bridge projects that were promised when lawmakers approved gas-tax hikes.
The Legislature boosted the tax by a nickel four years ago and approved a four-step, 9 1/2-cent increase two years later. The state tax is now at 34 cents a gallons and rises 2 cents in July, with a final 1.5 cents one year later.
Besides "mega-projects" like the viaduct and floating bridge, the proposal includes freeway improvements, new connector roads, safety improvements on many highways, four new ferry boats, freight rail and road projects, car pool lanes, and passenger rail and other non-highway approaches to moving goods and people.
Many of the projects, such as improvements on Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass, are racking up big cost overruns, mostly because of soaring cost of materials as China and other nations and states build out their infrastructure.
Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, noted that her budget includes no new projects and that many expensive and necessary proposals eventually will need financing. She said new revenue will be required, including state, regional, federal money and tolls. She didn't have a timeline or further specifics.
The Senate proposal would allow a scheduled 2.5 percent ferry fare increase to proceed in May. The House has approved a one-year fare freeze. Fares rose 6 percent last year. Both houses would freeze terminal projects for two years while a study of ferry usage and terminal needs is conducted.
The Senate's budget, which drew the blessings of minority Republicans, should clear the upper chamber by week's end. House-Senate negotiators then will be assigned to write a compromise plan during the final three weeks of the legislative session.
