The Fight For #NoNewRoads Is Alive and Well in Washington State

Veteran advocates for a sane and financially sustainable transportation policy in Washington State see a chance to turn crisis into opportunity. And they're hoping to get state leaders to see it too.

Feet First, an organization that has advocated for walkable, complete communities and public transit for over 25 years, has a new blueprint for what a policy of #NoNewRoads would look like in Washington—one that would break the hold of car dependence on the state's infamously stubborn DOT. Among those working with them on this effort is former Seattle mayor (and Strong Towns member) Michael McGinn, who has his own history of bravely challenging the conventional wisdom that more and bigger is better when it comes to infrastructure, most notably in his opposition to the troubled, multibillion-dollar Alaskan Way tunnel project.

(Check out Strong Towns podcasts featuring McGinn here and here, as well as his recent article, “In Defense of Dumb Cities.”)

Feet First's proposal, recently published in Seattle blog The Urbanist, is all kinds of smart, and borrows a lot from Transportation For America's nationwide call to repair America's transportation priorities before we throw more money at a broken system, one that would rather spend billions each year on new highway lanes we don’t need and can’t afford than maintain and make more productive use of what we've already built.

When you're in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. This is why we've been calling for #NoNewRoads policies for years, and its why we're so excited to see the momentum and ever-growing list of allies saying similar things.

Turning a Shortfall Into a Chance to Rethink Priorities

The passage of Initiative 976 (I-976) by Washington voters in 2019 slashed the state's motor vehicle excise tax (or "car tab" fee) to a flat $30, delivering a windfall to Washington car owners—and especially the owners of high-end, expensive cars. These fees had been a significant source of revenue for transportation projects in the state, including public transit and walkability / bikeability efforts.

It would be understandable if those who support those transportation options in Washington merely decried I-976 and called for funding levels to be restored. But Feet First doesn't want to stop there:

There is an immediate need to replace the lost funding, but we also must examine the policies that have led to systematically underfunding local streets and transit–making so many of our communities virtually unwalkable. The I-976 crisis is an opportunity for Governor Jay Inslee and the state legislature to address fundamental policy issues.

Put simply, Washington State policymakers have not let go of a 1950s planning paradigm that prioritizes moving the largest number of vehicles possible at high speeds. The result is an over-reliance on new highway construction while neglecting basic maintenance, as well as denying local jurisdictions the financing they need for safe local streets and robust transit.

Feet First's platform goes on to outline specific steps the state government should take. These include a moratorium on new road and highway lanes and a maintenance-first policy. But the organization is also calling for the state to give local governments much more flexibility to raise the transportation money they need, and to spend it in the ways that make sense for them.

This is a really smart and important piece of the puzzle. It will make local transportation advocates less dependent on the state and on who's in charge. (After all, governor Jay Inslee may be famous for his climate-change commitment and persuadable to curb the growth of car travel on those grounds, but a different governor or legislature in the future might be a harder sell.)

A resilient transportation system will come from letting the cities that want to innovate and lead on this issue have the tools to do so. And, just as importantly, it will require dismantling the massive top-down subsidies for new highways that keep swamping the best-laid plans of local leaders just trying to make their towns a little stronger.

Will Washington be the state that has the courage to show the rest of the country how it’s done?

(Cover photo: Dave Hoefler via Flickr. Creative Commons license.)

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