2000/08/30 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

August SO,2000 report done by the Washington State Department of Tramportadon(WSDOT)in coordination with associations representing cities,couches,and transit;and WHEREAS,the inequity is in direct conflict with the State's Growth Management Act,which Is premised on having the most urban ar accommodate high growth and density-and have mhantrtrcture in placer to serve that growth;and WHEREAS,this inequity exacerbates the problems with traffic congestion in Everett and Snohomish County,and indeed in all parts of the Central Puget Sound,where the congestion and gridlock is worsening significantly;and WHEREAS,in Everett,this is exemplified by daily backups at peak time and sometimes throughout the day on Interstate 5,across Highway 2,and elsewhere; and WHEREAS,the situation will only worsen without a major and em r itable transportation initiative,as underscored by a Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP)that spells out more than$300 million worth of highway and arterial reds alone over the next ser years;and WHEREAS,passage of Initiative 695 is November 1999 resulted in a loss of some$750 million in transportation investment Nat had been previously approved through voter passage of Referendum 49;and WHEREAS,the 2000 Legislature deserves credit for diligently working to restore some of the lost transportation funds,but was still unable to restore all of the congestion-relief,highway,freight,transit,rail,and fury investments; and WHEREAS,the region was dealt a further blow recently when members of the Puget Sound Regional Council,who had commissioned a study by the firm of Bea Porter and Associates,learned that,with divproponionare congestion relief, transit,and ferry impacts felt by the Central Puget Sound from 1.095,the taxpayers of our region are projected,within the text 20 years,to be getting back only 51 cents on the dollar-unless state transportation furling policy changes are enacted;and 381