What's next for Highway 167, a conversation with Rep. Hans Zeiger

Although the 2013 legislative session was dominated by the drama of passing the budget, another issue that loomed large in the minds of legislators was transportation infrastructure.

One of the more widely discussed projects was the completion of Highway 167, an area of special concern for South Sound residents. One of the latest, in a long list of champions for the project, is Representative Hans Zeiger, Republican from Puyallup.

“Discussion for the completion of Highway 167, from Puyallup to the Port of Tacoma, has been going on for decades,” Zeiger said. “In fact, I have talked with people all across the state who want to see this happen. This is the number one economic development project in Washington State.”

The push has even crossed party lines. Zeiger noted that Congressman Denny Heck, a democrat from the newly formed 10th District, which encompasses Puyallup, has been instrumental in generating support at the federal level and commended him for his efforts.

Completing this project would have numerous economic benefits for the whole state, said Zeiger, from farmers in Eastern Washington to the warehouses in the Kent valley, transportation of goods would be a lot quicker.

“The Port of Tacoma estimates that the expansion alone will create several thousand permanent jobs, not counting temporary construction work, would be created alone as a result of this completion,” Zeiger said.

According to WSDOT estimates, the number is as high as 79,000.

It isn’t simply job creation. The Port of Tacoma estimates this would mean $10.1 billion in job growth, $940 million saved in travel time over the course of thirty years, according to their web site.

“There will be consequences if we don’t do this. Already, the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada, are investing in improving their infrastructure, including the construction of new rail lines down to the mid-west of the United States.”

The Ports of Tacoma and Seattle are also set to benefit from the expansion of the Panama Canal, which is scheduled for completion sometime next year. Zeiger noted that unlike the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, whose respective populations are so large they absorb most of the trade that comes through their ports, both Tacoma and Seattle transport goods nationwide.

“Most of the goods coming into Seattle and Tacoma are not trade specific to Washington State alone, but travel throughout the United States. We have to stay competitive. We have Canada, China and ports across the country that are already competing with us.”

In order to do this, according to Zeiger, is not only improve and update current infrastructure, but take another serious look at how things are being done and finding ways to improve there as well.

Zeiger plans to push hard for this during the next legislative session.

“We’ve got to streamline the permitting process, we’ve got to move forward on public-private partnerships, and we’ve got to find alternative ways to fund our transportation infrastructure.”

The question of funding naturally lead to Zeiger’s “yes” vote on House Transportation Chair Rep. Judy Cibborn’s transportation package, one that would have completed Highway 167 and other road projects with a $0.10 increase to the state’s gas tax.

 “I voted for it for the sole reason that it completed Highway 167,” he said. “I’m a one-issue kind of guy.”

Although the package passed the House, it died in the Senate.

One area of concern is the bridge that spans the Puyallup River on Meridian Avenue. Build in the 1920s, the bridge is considered “structurally deficient.”

“The Skagit River bridge [which collapsed in late May], for example, was considered ‘structurally sufficient.’ This means that although the structure was not up to today’s building standards, it was not considered unsafe,” Zeiger said.

“As of right now, the bridge on Meridian will take another two and a half years to replace. It’s funded, but it still costs too much and takes too long.”

Zeiger said that we desperately need to fast-track the replacement of all structurally deficient bridges in the state, for both public safety and economic solvency.

“You take out any major route, a Skagit River bridge or Snoqualmie Pass, for example, and you’ll have a serious impact on the state’s overall economy.”

Zeiger concluded by giving his hopes at the direction of the 2014 legislative session.

“I think we can make a commitment to the maintenance and preservation of our existing infrastructure, we need to get a heck of a lot more out of our existing revenues. At the same time, we need to have a conversation about mega-projects, like finishing 167, and we need to make huge reforms to the way we do transportation projects,” he said.

“I’m glad we got started on some reforms this past session, but in the future, we need a lot more reforms in order to bring down the overall cost of transportation projects.”