This is amazing given the fact that voters rejected the Road-and-Transit ballot measure in 2007, many on the grounds that the new highways would lead to additional impact on the climate and expand suburban sprawl. Here are the damages:
• SR 167 Extension: $4.4 billion
• Widening of SR 522: $146 million
• Widening of SR 524: $312 million
• SR 704 (Cross Base Highway): $743 million
• Expansion of US 2: $1.5 billion
• Widening of I-405: $360 million
• Extension of SR 509: $891 million
• Expansion of SR 9: $513 million
Tacoma's Mayor Marilyn Strickland sent a letter (PDF pg. 52) on March 9th to the PSRC stating:
"...it is [the Tacoma City Council's] considered opinion that in the very near term: (1) the proposed roadway capacity improvements need additional scrutiny, particularly given the limited funding available, and (2) the proposed GHG and VMT strategy needs to be fully developed and incorporated into TRANSPORTATION 2040."Editorial:
There is an amendments process to Transportation 2040, and we'll have to be really vocal to get these projects removed and exchanged for transit and non-motorized improvements. I can't believe that public transit is in a funding lurch and we have rail transit projects that cost not even half as much as the smallest road project in Pierce County, and we can't find funding, but highways are given a green light without even a bit of reflection about their relation to our climate or urban development policy.