From WSDOT: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2011/03/30_2010bridgereport.htm WSDOT’s Bridge Maintenance and Preservation Program ranked 5th highest out of all the states in a recent report. Good news, since with all the water in Washington we have a lot of bridges. The report: http://t4america.org/ Ben
From WSDOT: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2011/03/30_I405inBelleuveToCloseThisWeekend.htm Crews will be removing the NE 12th St bridge as part of the I-405/SR 520 Braided Ramps project. Sounds like a good weekend to avoid the Eastside. Ben
From The News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/29/1603694/transit-cuts-to-stay.html Emergency transit cuts instituted after the fueling station explosion earlier this month will now be permanent. Due to the failure of a small tax increase service was planned to be cut anyway. Since it appears that it will take several months to replace the fueling station the decision was made [...]
From KOMO-TV: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/118822809.html Protect Seattle Now is submitting a petition to force another public vote on the Alaskan Way Viaduct tunnel. While I agree that everything should be questioned, we already have almost 10 years of delays. A solution has been proposed, that is a good compromise. Work has already begun and we are starting [...]
From The News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/28/1602426/patch-planned-for-ferry-funds.html An infusion of gas tax and other funds will be used to make up budget shortfalls in the state ferry system, until new sources of funding and cost savings can be found. I know it is quite popular right now to bash the ferry system, especially due to many errors [...]
From KOMO-TV: http://www.komonews.com/news/118710844.html The 1935 ferryboat Kalakala, now berthed in Tacoma, is slowly sinking. This is unfortunate as the boat was rescued from Alaska where it was being used as a cannery, and plans were made to restore it. It now looks like the boat may need to be scrapped however. More: http://www.kalakala.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Kalakala http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/25/1599967/ferryboat-mv-kalakala-might-be.html [...]
From The News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/26/1600402/house-approves-89b-transportation.html A 8.9 billion transportation budget was approved by the State House. The budget, while appearing large, is bare-bones just supporting maintenance and operations. An ongoing issue is the falling gas tax revenues. As people continue to drive less and purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles, this will continue to be a problem. [...]
From MSNBC: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2011/03/25/6342780-good-graph-friday-taxes-at-the-pump Interesting infographic showing gas taxes by state. Ben
From The News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/24/1597508/federal-way-key-step-today-for.html Girders for one of the flyover bridges in the SR 18 / I-5 interchange project will be placed today. It will be great once this project is complete, as this interchange is heavily overloaded every single day. Ben
From The News Tribune: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/politics/2011/03/24/tacoma-landmarks-commission-votes-to-paint-murray-morgan-bridge-black-none-do-mick-jagger-impression/ The Tacoma Landmarks Commission has voted to paint the refurbished Murray Morgan Bridge black. The claim is that this was most likely the original color. I say keep it the bluish-silver color it currently is, and the color most people know it as. However, I do agree with this: “One [...]