From The News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/679911.html http://www.thenewstribune.com/topstories/story/678836.html Since traffic counts are down, there is a fear that collections will drop as well, causing issues for paying off the bridge’s bonds. However, raising tolls may also decrease the amount of trips taken, leading to a very interesting situation for the planners. Ben
Uh oh… http://www.komonews.com/news/local/41510092.html Turns out the contractor used the wrong grade steel…and lied about it. From Sound Transit: http://www.soundtransit.org/x10853.xml Good. 3 seperate analyses say everything should be OK. Ben
From KIRO: http://www.kirotv.com/money/18919725/detail.html Total amount distributed by the Puget Sound Regional Council: 214 Million. Ben
From The Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008865336_transitsked16m.html “When construction began five years ago, the schedule included 180 days of “float,” a cushion in case things went wrong. The float is now zero, says a January progress report published this month” Hmm. Looks like the Beacon Hill Tunnel has been more complex than expected. The original opening date [...]
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/i405/SR520toI5/ExpressTollLanes.htm Effectively this would extend the SR 167 HOT Lanes up I-405 and increase them to 2 lanes each direction. The project makes sense. I-405 is very limited in how much it can expand and between the topography of the Eastside (sandwiched between the lake and the foothills) and the extremely high cost of real [...]
From The News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/646330.html “• $5.4 million for Pierce Transit to buy hybrid buses. • $4.4 million for Pierce Transit to do preventive maintenance on its buses. • $1.6 million for Pierce Transit to build a compressed natural gas fueling station and backup power upgrade at its agency headquarters. • $4.6 million for Sound Transit to build commuter [...]
Press release from WSDOT: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2009/03/02_NoFifeNoiseWalls.htm The project to add HOV lanes from the Port of Tacoma road to the county line was to include noise walls in the Fife area. The project will not include noise walls since they would have blocked views of Mount Rainier, potentially impacted property values, especially with all the auto [...]
From The News Tribune http://www.thenewstribune.com/topstory/story/643649.html Construction continues on the replacement for the SR16 Nalley Valley Viaduct.