By: Editorial
Everett Herald
March 29, 2007
Original Editorial.
An effort is afoot in Olympia to bury - for this session, at least - the creation of a unified, coordinated planning agency for regional roads and transit in the Puget Sound area. It appears to be based on the faulty assumption that creating a new governance structure now, even if it's a big improvement, will doom a roads-and-transit ballot measure in November by admitting to voters that the current system is broken.
Stop worrying. They already know.
Voters haven't been asleep for the past couple of decades. They've noticed that despite some progress, particularly in mass transit, the planning and execution of large-scale transportation solutions has fallen far short of the need. They also know that when things go wrong, leaders point the finger of blame at anyone but themselves.
If November's joint vote in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties is to succeed, voters will have to be convinced that they'll get their money's worth. Merging the planning and funding of regional transit and highways - functions currently under the separate wings of Sound Transit, the Puget Sound Regional Council, the Regional Transportation Invesment District and the state Department of Transportion (whew!) - under a single, accountable commission would be a step toward winning voter trust.
One version of such a commission is contained in ESSB 5803, which passed the Senate earlier this month. The House Transportation Committee is considering its own bill, and an amendment to shelve the creation of a new regional body could be introduced as early as today.
This discussion mustn't be shut down. The House should pass its own regional governance bill so the issue can be addressed in a House-Senate conference committee. There, Sens. Mary Margaret Haugen and Ed Murray, the chair and vice-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee who pushed last session for the creation of a regional authority, can present refinements to the Senate bill to House leaders and see whether consensus can be formed.
We hope it can. The embarrassing fiasco over the Alaskan Way viaduct, the nearly laughable failure of the Seattle monorail authority, and the potential fight over replacing the Highway 520 bridge are stark reminders that this region doesn't have its transportation planning act together. Everyone knows it.
Lawmakers should help fix it so the region can move forward with real solutions.
