Regional transportation agencies are hopeful talk from the White House about making major infrastructure improvements will allow them to tackle some big projects.
President Trump has said he wants Congress to come up with money so major infrastructure improvements can be made nationwide. Congress has yet to act on such talk, but if money is provided, regional transportation officials say they have some good ideas what to spend it on.
The Regional Administrator for the eastern region of the Washington Department of Transportation, Mike Gribner, says they do have a wish list of specific new projects, but maintenance of current projects is considered a priority.
“so on the priorities we have as an agency is to remember to raise the concern about preservation and maintenance, keeping the investment we have already make as taxpayers, in the infrastructure, we want to keep that in existing status,” says Gribner.
One example is the many bridges in the eastern part of the state that need repair.
“Over the next 10 years, there are 60 or so bridges that are in need of some major investments. That’s a pretty high number, and those are not cheap projects. And so whether or not we will be able to actually fund them or not is a question mark for us. And so that comes back to if there were an infrastructure package, we would purse that,” according to Gribner.
As far as new projects, Gribner says the congestion on Interstate 90 is one priority.
“If you think about the connection of 195 and I90, that’s on our radar screen to do something with. The safety issues with the downtown viaduct would be on our radar screen as well,” he says.
Over in Idaho, transportation officials say I-90 is also a major concern, according to Idaho Department of Transportation District one Information Specialist Megan Sausser,
“ITD would really like to expand the Interstate to three lanes, from state line to Sherman avenue,” says Sausser.
Shesays the Interstate was designed to handle a peak hour volume of 6000 cars in that section of road. Last July the peak hour total was 5,947 vehicles, between Huetter and Northwest Boulevard. Expanding to six lanes total would cost an estimated 100 million dollars on the Idaho side, and would also include increasing capacity at the freeway interchanges with hiways 95 and 41.
Sausser says her agency has several other wish list projects:
“We would like to expand hiway 95 from CDA all the way to Sagle. This is to accommodate growth and do it in a safe manner. And really making it four lanes would cost about 600 million dollars,” says Sausser.
Other hope for projects include a regional transportation management center, and maybe even a Huetter bypass, that would connect I-90 to Idaho state route 53, at a cost of 245 million dollars.
Both transportation agencies received money when the Obama administration provided funding for the “shovel ready” projects. Idaho DOT replaced the tiny bridge in Dover, and Washington received funding for the North Spokane corridor.
