Snohomish County NewsWelcoming winter
Doug Ramsay photo
Lora Burke, 10, of Snohomish re-lights one of 500 paper bag lanterns along the Riverfront Trail during Snohomish’s celebration of winter solstice Dec. 21. Unlike last year’s snowy solstice, this year’s event was slightly warmer and wet as rain and wind required the re-lighting of many of the lanterns that stretched from Cady Park to Avenue D.
Thank you, volunteers
Sky Valley Food Bank volunteers Kristi Higgins, Sonia Ohlde and Kathy Challancin. The volunteers at the Sky Valley Food Bank in Monroe worked hundreds of hours preparing and distributing food, holiday food and toys. The three volunteers pictured helped distribute toys through the food bank’s Precious Toys program. More than 570 families came for help and more than 2,800 individuals received food over the holiday season. More than 700 children received nice, new toys and stockings stuffed to the brim with goodies. Many anonymous women knitted sweaters, hats and scarves for children. And several clubs and businesses donated money and services. The food bank thanks all the people who helped their fellow community members in their time of need. Donations are always welcome and can be received through the mail at PO Box 724, Monroe, WA 98272 or through the Web site at www.svfoodbank.org. For more information, call 360-794-7959.
Highway coalitions band together to lobby state leaders
SNOHOMISH - Leaders involved in transportation issues countywide plan to build a unified voice to tug on the ears of state legislators next year, but they believe their realistic opportunity for highway funding will come in 2011.
“2010 is going to be a year of communication,” said Snohomish Mayor Randy Hamlin, co-chair of the new Highway 9 Coalition. “2011 will be a more aggressive year than 2010,” Hamlin added.
The U.S. 2 Safety Coalition and the recently-formed Highway 9 Coalition are working with the Snohomish County Committee for Improved Transportation to build up the county’s legislative muscle for transportation dollars.
The Highway 9 Coalition focuses on mobility; the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition focuses on safety. Both want their respective highways to be widened to four lanes.
Long-range work is progressing to add lanes to Highway 9, while U.S. 2 remains mostly a windy two-lane road from Monroe to Stevens Pass. A regional transportation plan for 2040 makes U.S. 2 four lanes from Monroe to Gold Bar.
The Highway 9 Coalition includes representatives from Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Arlington and Marysville. The U.S. 2 Safety Coalition has representatives from almost all the cities along U.S. 2 from Monroe to Stevens Pass.
The state Department of Transportation is planning more than $600 million in improvements to the Highway 9 corridor.
“We have about $300 million done and have $300 million to do,” said Russ East, DOT assistant regional administrator for the Northwest region.
But this is small compared to other transportation projects in the state. Coalition leaders agree that Snohomish County’s highways are largely ignored by legislators. Fred Walser, U.S. 2 Safety Coalition president, said that is because project funding largely goes to billion-dollar Seattle projects like replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Highway 520 bridge.
The Puget Sound Regional Council’s transportation committee is a key decision maker on what gets funded across three counties: Snohomish, Pierce and King. The 43-member roster has five representatives from Snohomish County. Monroe Mayor Donnetta Walser was a member of that key committee. She will not retain her position after losing her re-election bid in November. During the campaign, incoming mayor-elect Robert Zimmerman criticized Walser’s involvement in regional transportation issues like U.S. 2 as a sidetrack from city business.
Financing for projects is also swayed by legislators in Olympia.
Instead of the highway coalitions fighting against each other for dollars and attention, they now plan to work together to get legislators’ attention.
“It will present a strong, unified voice for the area than be three disparate groups and that’s what I’ve been after for years,” Fred Walser said.
The county’s transportation issues already have some legislators’ attention.
Sen. Steve Hobbs is an ardent supporter of Highway 9. He was key to gaining initial funding to begin widening the Highway 9 bridge across the Snohomish River.
The state transportation fund still has money after Gov. Chris Gregoire’s $2.6 billion-slashing supplemental budget was released earlier this month, but it will be a tough fight to keep projects funded, Hobbs said.
“The key is down the line that me and other representatives fight for those projects,” Hobbs said.
Snohomish city leaders plan to meet with Rep. Mike Hope in January, City Manager Larry Bauman said. Hope represents the 44th Legislative District, which includes Snohomish.
Fred Walser applauds Rep. Kirk Pearson for supporting U.S. 2 but scolds other politicians for not funneling taxpayer dollars to the highway that some call “the highway of death.”
“I’m really tired of partisan politics coming ahead of people’s lives,” Fred Walser said, who lost a colleague in a car crash on U.S. 2 in the 1990s.
By MICHAEL WHITNEY
Published Dec. 30, 2009
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