News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 8, 2001
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Gov. Locke's statement on Senate coalition's transportation proposal

"A successful plan to solve our transportation problems must be supported by a broad bipartisan coalition and this is a very good start.

"But I've also insisted that any new funding must be tied to new projects so taxpayers know exactly what they are buying. We must first identify projects that will significantly reduce congestion and then decide how to raise the funds to construct them.

"This proposal from a coalition of senators assumes the state and federal governments will provide 60 percent of the money to the Puget Sound region. Until we determine the size and scope of the statewide transportation package, it will be difficult to determine how much will be available to match locally-raised funds.

"It is safe to say there is no 'silver bullet' solution for our transportation problems. We are going to require significant new investments from federal, state and local sources because our needs are so great.

"It also is crucial that the regional boundaries of the senators' proposed 'construction zones' encompass major traffic flows because traffic does not confine itself to jurisdictional boundaries.

"My six-year, $5.9 billion transportation proposal would add $3.7 billion in additional regional funding. This constructive, bipartisan proposal by King County-area senators is an important start."

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