I'm working on some background material and my own thoughts of what's happening and what to do about it. Ken Wilcox has already raised the alarm in print with this article that appeared in the Bellingham Weekly. It's reposted here with Ken's permission. Thanks, Ken. You can also spy on the bureacrats at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/freight/CommerceCorridorFeasStudy.htm. Regarding Ken's title "the Toolies", are also known as "The Sticks" or "Bumf*ck Egypt" in case your confused like I was. Is this a generational thing? I'm 29 so I guess it could be. Anyway, here's the article
The Commerce Corridor: A Turnpike for the Toolies
By Ken Wilcox
June 15, 2004
In case anyone missed it, we are about to witness the first serious public
machinations toward development of a new eastside freeway---or should we
say "payway"---through Whatcom and Skagit Counties and beyond.
Deceptively dubbed by its deep-pocket promoters and allied wannabes as the
"Commerce Corridor," the concept is vaguely described as a "north-south,
limited-access corridor east of I-405 and west of the Cascades." It would
extend from British Columbia almost to Oregon.
The plum of the deal is to "offer additional capacity for truck and
passenger traffic as well as accommodate rail and utilities." In other
words, a freeway---minus the "free"---plus some wires, pipes, and a
souped-up railroad.
It's a grand vision, as fresh and exciting as the 1952 New Jersey Turnpike,
otherwise known as "America's Main Road." However, our own special Turnpike
of the Toolies would outdo New Joizy's 148-mile payway by a substantial margin.
Extending from Sumas (probably) to south of Chehalis (probably), the plan
calls for creation of a 200-mile commerce conduit of roaring semis, giddy
tourists, slurping pipelines, and rocket trains---just the thing to wake
up, shake up, and suburbanize some of those way-too-sleepy and
far-too-livable rural hamlets out there.
With a little luck, Van Zandt and Acme could soon have their very own
off-ramps, nicely landscaped, of course. And in twenty years more, the
signs could read "Wickersham: Next 7 Exits."
Dig into the details a layer or two and you find that what the Washington
State Legislature, the Department of Transportation, and their private
promoters have in mind (and neither Dave Barry nor I would make this up),
is a four to ten-lane, privately developed, toll expressway, plus rail and
utility lines devouring a 350 to 450-foot-wide right-of-way through the
heart of rural western Washington. (Find it on the Web at
www.wsdot.wa.gov/freight/CommerceCorridorFeasStudy.htm.)
Who do we thank for all this? In the legislature, we're told that 42nd
District State Representative Doug Ericksen (R-Lynden) single-handedly
directed a bill through the State House that created the study. Ericksen, a
strong ally of construction and trucking interests, is also the ranking
minority member of the House Transportation Committee. A key question that
emerges (other than "Why?") is who lobbied for the study?
Another strong proponent of the commerce corridor has been Karen Schmidt, a
former 23rd District Republican Representative from Bainbridge Island, who,
like Ericksen, is known to be fairly cozy with the Washington Trucking
Association. Schmidt is now Executive Director of the Freight Mobility
Strategic Investment Board (FMSIB). And freight is an important driver
behind the corridor concept.
Established by the legislature in 1998, the FMSIB's charge is to "promote
strategic investments in a statewide freight mobility transportation
system" through projects that "soften the impact of freight movement on
local communities." The Board forwards its recommendations to the
legislature for funding. Bellingham Mayor, Mark Asmundson, sits on the
board as a cities rep.
Also in 1998, when a new Transportation Study Panel was created to conduct
a "comprehensive analysis of statewide transportation needs," Schmidt was
appointed to the panel. Governor Locke promised it would work "from square
one with maximum flexibility." While in the legislature, Schmidt also
chaired the House Transportation Committee.
Obviously, others are involved as well. State Senator Jim Horn (R-Mercer
Island) as Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee is also among the
more conspicuous advocates. Bob Josephson, formerly with the Washington
Department of Transportation, has pushed for a major upgrade to SR 9 for years.
Based on prior history, it might be tempting to dismiss the notion of a new
expressway out of hand as plainly absurd and hopelessly doomed; however,
there are some very determined interests out there, not all of them
knuckleheaded, who are more than willing to spend the bucks and do what it
takes to move the project forward.
Paving paradise remains very big business in Washington---and the booty at
stake is enormous.
An Old Idea Gets Even Older
In a very tight year, oddly enough, the 2003 Legislature found sufficient
pennies stuck to the rusty bottom of its secret coffee can of tax dollars
to study the prospects of developing the freight-friendly Commerce
Corridor, a concept for a 200-mile foothills expressway that has stubbornly
withstood---if not totally collapsed under---decades of deep-seated
opposition in the central Puget Sound region.
In previous iterations over the years, the notion has variously been
referred to as "I-605," "Route 605," "outer beltway," and "boondoggle."
After an initial study in 1968, a thousand angry residents attended a
hearing in Bellevue to oppose it. The project was quickly shelved, at least
for a time. Since then, similar proposals have come and gone, and come
again, waxing and waning like a hound's view of the moon.
In 1998, with Seattle's gridlock ever in the news, the legislature funded a
half-million dollar study to stir up the ashes of 605 and get the fire
going again. The study was released in 2000, and while it was supposed to
demonstrate that a new eastside highway would substantially reduce traffic
congestion on I-5 and I-405, the actual relief likely to be realized was
found to be negligible, and temporary at best. It would also cost $1.4 billion.
Following release of the study, in late 2000, the growth and environment
watchdog group, 1000 Friends of Washington, said that I-605 "would
completely devastate the Cascade foothills and would undo all of the
region's efforts to control California-style sprawl," adding, "it should be
stopped now."
Both the City of Seattle and King County---the two entities most directly
impacted by the second-worse traffic snarl in the U.S.---as well as the
Puget Sound Regional Council (the region's principal transportation
planning agency), have all taken stands against the beltway. The project's
likely contribution to sprawl well beyond the limits of established growth
boundaries has remained among the sorest of sore points.
In 2002, after much haggling over a slew of transportation troubles across
the state, the legislature went for the whole shish kebab and placed
Referendum 51 on the ballot, a $7.8 billion road construction behemoth
which included funding for more studies of the outer-limits highway and
even some construction along parts of the route.
Although Fifty-One was actively supported by all six of our own 40th and
42nd district legislators, it was handily shot down by 62 percent of the
voters that November (65 percent in Whatcom County). Thirty-eight of
thirty-nine counties gave it a thumbs down. Only San Juan County supported
the measure, though just barely (go figure). Initially projected to pass in
King County, voters there also said no, 53 to 47 percent.
In reporting the defeat, the Seattle P-I included polling data that found
that two-thirds of voters statewide wanted "a higher priority on transit
and transportation choices." More than three out of four voters preferred
"a higher priority on safety and maintenance over new road projects."
In another poll reported by the Transportation Choices Coalition, only
one-third of voters statewide felt that adding lanes to existing roads
would solve the problem.
Nevertheless, within weeks, the beltway-that-wouldn't-die was back again.
When 42nd District Senator, Georgia Gardner, was booted by disgruntled
Democrats in 2002, as some have argued, for behaving too much like a
Republican, the Republicans regained control of the Senate (Gardner was the
only incumbent to lose that year). That led to the appointment of big-biz
pugilist, Jim Horn, a Republican mover-shaker and former mayor of Mercer
Island, as Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. And Horn just
happened to be one of I-605's greatest fans.
With Horn at the helm of his newly renamed Highways and Transportation
Committee, the Legislature of 2003 offered new hope for shaking awake those
sleepy little towns in the boonies. This time, not to be outmanuevered by
the voters, the legislature adopted a $4.2 billion funding package that did
not require voter approval, and raised the gas tax a nickel in order to
fund a lengthy laundry list of road construction projects, much of it in
King County---plus more studies for more roads.
Risen from the dead once more, the Commerce Corridor appears to be the
smiley-faced reincarnation of practically the same scheme that our
neighbors to the south have been grappling with for years, albeit this time
extended all the way to Canada, and most of the way to Oregon.
Unfortunately for the promoters, Canada has no intention of building a
turnpike from the Trans-Canada Highway to Sumas---nor to Lynden, nor
anywhere else in Whatcom County. Even with the Winter Olympics coming to
Whistler, B.C., in 2010, it is unlikely an overstrapped provincial
government will be going out of its way to pony up to the Yanks' demands.
(Expect to be shocked by predictions of record heavy traffic through
Bellingham for a few weeks in early 2010.)
But why Chehalis? For one, Jim Horn has an ally in the Senate, Highways and
Transportation Committee Vice-Chair, Dan Swecker, who enthusiastically
shares the vision, and in whose district lies Chehalis and all of Lewis
County. We're talking serious economic development here---potentially
billions of dollars worth in each of the seven counties the tollway would
pass through.
The total price tag could exceed $100 billion.
And while the route might have continued beyond Lewis County, bridging the
Columbia River to Portland, those fiesty Oregonians have already threatened
to stop the project in midstream---literally---if we ever try to build it.
Cascadian Dreams
The Commerce Corridor, as a privately developed toll expressway and utility
system through and adjacent to the foothills of western Washington, would
be thoroughly dependent on freight in order to cover the enormous costs of
building and maintaining it. It simply doesn't pencil out otherwise. Thus
the hype in favor of the project has been centered on "freight mobility" as
a preferred moniker.
The Cascadia Project, a division of Seattle's Discovery Institute, has been
a prime mover, politically and rhetorically, of the previously rejected and
now somewhat newfangled corridor concept. Rather than keeping it focused on
Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties, as before, the latest grandiose
vision extends it north to Canada and south to Lewis County.
Cascadia's own report last year on Washington's transportation woes,
entitled "How Do We Get There From Here?: A Transportation Future for the
Puget Sound Region," advocated for new north-south truck highways on both
sides of the Cascades Range. Cascadia's true believer, Bruce Agnew, has
been working the stakeholders in Whatcom and Skagit Counties on this
project for years.
By emphasizing the benefits to commerce and freight, and slight (but
temporary) reductions in traffic volumes on I-5 and I-405, Agnew and other
promoters surely hope to counter some of the worry over extensive and
irreparable harm to be done to communities and ecosystems across the
affected 200-mile swath of Washington State.
Yet it's revealing that we have not heard much about the unavoidable
impacts, nor the mega-project's inevitable role in promoting sprawl on a
potentially disastrous scale.
To assuage the critics, Senate Transportation Chair, Jim Horn, has
suggested that interchanges could be spaced at ten-mile intervals, or more,
as a check against sprawl. The critics don't buy it and worry that
scattered nodes of suburbia would develop, and would, realistically, be
unstoppable, and that the battle to stop future interchanges would be endless.
To date, the Commerce Corridor proposal has barely touched the citizen
radar screens in Whatcom County, which is not to say there hasn't been an
undercurrent of activity among those in the know. In fact, Whatcom Council
of Governments is expected to subcontract, if it hasn't already, the
pipeline portions of the study to Cascadia.
As an arm of the Discovery Institute, Cascadia serves at least one of the
umbrella organization's stated areas of interest: "regionalism." The
Institute's other prime focus areas are "science and culture, technology
and national security."
If regionalism seems a worthy interest, it is not the Institute's prime
concern. President and founder, Bruce Chapman, a former ambassador and top
official in the Reagan White House, recently told the Washington Times that
"intelligent design" (which "evolutionists" consider to be the Religious
Right's latest euphemism for creationism) is "our number one project."
(Why am I suddenly hearing the theme music for Jaws?)
Surely, Agnew's and Chapman's efforts are well intended, if at odds with
those who believe rural communities should remain rural; that rivers and
farms are in enough trouble already; that the Puget Lowland forest
ecoregion---already known to be in critical need of significant
restoration---should not be further degraded or fragmented by any so-called
commerce corridor---public or private.
Ongoing efforts throughout western Washington to reconnect the green spaces
on the map, to restore salmon and wildlife habitat, to reduce pollution, to
protect farmlands, to contain sprawl, to expand parks and trails, to
preserve the region's history and its heritage, and to hopefully hand
something off to the next generation that's worth their inheriting, ought
to be supported by all elected officials, say the critics, not compromised
by them at the whim of wide-eyed developers.
That's the work that many thousands of people in Whatcom and Skagit
Counties and elsewhere along the corridor are engaged in and will likely
remain dedicated to well into the future, even if their compassion was
apparently missed by those advocating for a new eastside turnpike.
Based on public opinion polls that consistently do NOT favor paving more
paradise, as well as recent sentiments expressed by groups like 1000
Friends of Washington, Pro-Whatcom, Sustainable Connections, and others,
the Legislature would likely find much more support for spending limited
tax dollars on fixing potholes, or upgrading bridges, AND enhancing
facilities for walking, biking, bussing, foot-ferrying, and riding the
rails, and better yet, educating communities more about trip reduction, as
well as local sustainability and self-sufficiency.
But for many lawmakers, all this talk about real sustainability and
providing alternatives is just too much to wrap one's brain around.
And so, it seems, is the demand of 1000 Friends of Washington,
Transportation Choices Coalition, and others that we begin looking far more
seriously at simply reducing the number of cars on the road, rather than
always defaulting to more and more roads jammed with more and more cars.
When the Department of Transportation polled residents in the I-405
corridor---and they ought to know---85 percent felt that bus service should
be expanded and that steps should be taken to reduce the number of trips
people make by car. In the polling world, 85 percent is generally
considered overwhelming support---somewhere up there in the stratosphere.
To Horn and others, however, it's almost entirely about
infrastructure---there's never enough. Yet it's fairly clear that a
significant majority of the public simply doesn't accept the myth that we
can pave our way out of gridlock.
So for now, we'll have another study, even if a tad more ambitious this
time around.
When completed, it may offer skeptics a better sense, once and for all, as
to whether the Commerce Corridor is really as goofy as it sounds, or if it
truly means the end of life as we know it. Given an objective analysis,
both conclusions would appear likely.
In the meantime, citizens of the Whatcom-Skagit hinterlands can be counted
on to keep an open mind and a straight face as they strive to learn more
about the gripping realities of moving freight in the Age of Walmart.
We should know more about the specifics of the Commerce Corridor in the
coming months as the state holds the first public forum on the project on
July 16th (probably in Bellevue).
Stay tuned. As unlikely as it seems, this one could get serious.
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