Washington House Democrats

Local legislators meet with WSDOT over Narrows Bridge issues

August 9, 2007  

In the wake of recent news that tolls are being used to fund services not directly related to the bridge, the three legislators met this week with officials from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to discuss ongoing bridge operations.

“There have been a variety of questions about what our toll dollars are paying for,” Sen. Derek Kilmer (D-Gig Harbor) said. “We wanted to sit down with WSDOT to ensure that our tolls aren’t being used to pay for non-bridge related operations. When there’s an open question, decisions must be made in the best interest of bridge commuters.”

“We were told our tolls would pay for a new Narrows Bridge,” Rep. Pat Lantz (D-Raft Island) added, “but bridge-related operations cover more than just construction and maintenance of a bridge. It covers toll enforcement and incidence response as well, and we need to keep an eye on all of that.”

Of particularly concern to Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor) is ensuring that the operations of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge is done in a lean, cost-effective manner.

“I want to make sure they’re not overstaffing and spending far more money than necessary on what should be a relatively straightforward operation,” Seaquist said. “I don’t think the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Tolls Manager should be making any more than a teacher in one of our schools.”

Issues covered during their meeting with WSDOT officials included the use of toll funds to pay for the Washington State Patrol to enforce tolls, pay for the stationing of on-call tow trucks for rapid incidence response, and the need to evaluate the current organizational structure for managing the bridge.

All three legislators agreed there is a need for more citizen input on bridge operations and will ask the Citizen’s Advisory Committee to review the level of incident response that is appropriate.

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For more information:      

Jennifer Spieler (360) 786-7201

For interviews:                 

Sen. Derek Kilmer (253) 858-6716

Rep. Pat Lantz (360) 786-7964

Rep. Larry Seaquist (253) 858-1013