The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) could be forced to make different decisions on how it spends its lackluster budget to maintain the state’s aging roads and bridges. WSDOT has estimated there will be an $11 billion budget shortfall over the next decade. The eye-watering figure is due to nearly 60 percent of the state’s lane miles being due or past due for maintenance.
High-ranking WSDOT officers have warned the Washington State Legislature for years about the funding deficits with the pleas never really being answered, according to KIRO. In the state’s 16-year, $3 billion “Move Ahead Washington” plan, only $750 million was set aside for maintenance. The sum is nowhere close to the $11 billion per year needed for the next 10 years.
WSDOT Deputy Secretary Amy Scarton said in an agency presentation, “The legislature will signal that they’re getting the message, and they even moved preservation to be one of their top priorities, and yet when it came time to put the money where the policy is, we at WSDOT were less than enthused that we didn’t see those numbers go up.”
The capital projects on WSDOT’s backlog were outlined by the Center State and wouldn’t deemed vital for any state’s infrastructure. There are 16 bridges that need to be replaced entirely and 36 other crossings in need of major rehab projects. That’s on top of the 11,000 lane miles that require maintenance. WSDOT states that it currently covers 920 miles annually.
The state has considered introducing a mileage tax but there isn’t a difficult or complex solution for WSDOT, the agency just needs more money. A larger budget would enable the agency to have the personnel and the wage hours to do the work that needs to be done. And, if maintenance isn’t done, there will be more crashes on the road.