'Green streak' Rossi reveals $15B transportation plan

BELLEVUE - Surrounded by a slate of influential local Republicans like Rep. Doug Erickson, Rep. Glenn Anderson, Sen. Cheryl Pflug and King County Councilman Reagan Dunn, gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi unveiled his new transportation plan this morning at the Bellevue Red Lion.

The detailed plan, called "progressive" by the campaign, contains $15 billion worth of projects meant to improve congestion, fully fund ferries and smaller road projects, and even repair more than a thousand state-controlled culverts to improve salmon habitat in order to better serve today's commuters as well as the millions projected to move into the state in the next 20 years.

"Today is an exciting day," Rossi said, especially for the people who are sitting in traffic.

Rossi hit Gov. Chris Gregoire repeatedly for proposing to cut drivers in half by 2050 and what he called a lack of funding solutions to back her initiative. He suggested that the former was an affront on Washingtonians' freedom, and implored people to ponder the idea that the one half she was talking about could be them. On the funding, Rossi was direct in his criticism.

"Without a funding plan, you have no plan," Rossi said in reference to his opponent. "If you have no source of revenue, you have no plan."

Rossi presents his transportation plan in Bellevue

More specifically, Rossi suggested that the current base of revenue for transportation projects, the gasoline tax, will become obsolete as more and more people drive hybrid and electric cars, for which Rossi's plan provides state tax exemptions.

"We've hitched our wagon to a declining revenue sources," said Rossi, who proudly referenced his own hybrid car, the Ford Excursion hybrid that gets 27.2 miles per gallon according to the former State Senator.

Rossi's plan focuses on reducing congestion at nine critical points in the state. Seven of those come directly from the Regional Transportation Investment District proposals and include such projects like rebuilding and enlarging the S.R. 520 bridge, widening I-405 south of Bellevue and building a cross-base highway in Fort Lewis. The Republican also added two from outside the Puget Sound region, namely the I-5 Columbia River bridge and the North Spokane corridor.

Along with the plan, Rossi included and regularly referred to a balance sheet that suggests how the improvements will be made. The costliest projects in the plan are replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel ($2.8B), rebuilding 520 ($3.3B) and building a limited use highway in North Spokane ($2.2B). Meanwhile most of the funding will come from directing 40% of vehicle sales taxes toward transportation projects ($7.7B) and exempting sales tax on transportation construction projects to decrease their price tag ($2.4B).

In addition to the idea of creating a plan that maximize the freedom to drive (or take a bus, or ride a bike), Rossi hopes this idea will validate some of the characteristics that he says illustrate him as a result of his business background and his youth vacationing around the campgrounds of Washington.

"I've been described as a fiscally conservative republican with a bit of a green streak," Rossi said. "I'm proud of that"

But the bottom line according to Rossi is that Washington has no choice but to improve congestion in the state. He sees reasonable auto commutes as crucial to the business climate of Washington, and the ability of its citizens to do everyday things like take the kids to soccer practice.

"If we don't," he said, "we'll be stepping on our own economic air hose in the future."