For years now, people who oppose building or expanding roads have insisted that all we need to do is make better use of existing roads. Sure enough, along comes Initiative 985 to do just that. And who’s leading the opposition? The anti-roads coalition.

The November ballot will describe I-985 this way: “This measure would open high-occupancy vehicle lanes to all traffic during specified hours, require traffic light synchronization, increase roadside assistance funding, and dedicate certain taxes, fines, tolls and revenues to traffic-flow purposes.”

The Department of Transportation could do some of these things, but it won’t. The legislature could require they be done, but it won’t. So now it’s up to the voters. This is not a close call.

Last year, State Auditor, Brian Sonntag, a Democrat, had Washington’s mammoth Department of Transportation audited by some out of state traffic experts (to avoid conflicts of interest). To their puzzlement they found that reducing traffic congestion was not a key priority for the department. Not a first, second or even third priority for an agency that receives about 33 cents for every gallon of gasoline you buy. The legislature, less a watchdog than a guide dog, quietly choked a pair of bills that would have required DOT to make congestion relief a priority. I-985 basically goes over the legislature’s head and tells DOT to quit dragging its feet.

The foot dragging is not always caused by bureaucratic inertia. Sometimes it’s deliberate. Take HOV (car pool) lanes, for example. Several years ago in southwest Washington, a traffic lane was converted to HOV use for commuters heading into Oregon. People noticed that instead of reducing traffic congestion, it worsened it. A study soon showed what everybody already knew. DOT decided it needed more study. Same results. Hmmmmm. Better study it some more. It soon became apparent to local legislators that DOT didn’t care whether the HOV lane was clogging the roads or not – they simply wanted to force more people into carpooling and punish those who did not. Under political pressure from increasingly angry lawmakers, DOT relented after years of delay and the HOV lane was lifted. Traffic congestion soon began to ease.

Now we’re hearing the same riff from the anti-roads people in King County. They insist that lifting HOV restrictions during off-peak hours will make congestion worse. Since these folks by and large want more congestion for cars and drivers, my guess is that they’re afraid I-985 will work, not that it won’t.

Ditto for city governments and these “red light cameras” they’ve been setting up at intersections throughout eastside King County and Seattle. They insist that the snap-shot ticket takers are all about safety, not about creating another revenue stream for the government. But as soon as they heard that 985 would require ticket revenue from red-light cameras to go into a state fund to reduce traffic congestion, the cities cried foul. Tacoma’s City Manager says if 985 passes, the city will yank the cameras out. Gee, I thought it was all about safety, not money.

I-985 would also require traffic light synchronization at high-volume traffic intersections. It is 2008. Why on earth wasn’t this done decades ago?

If there was ever a department of government that needed to receive a message from the voters, it’s the Department of Transportation. This Eyman initiative is reasonable, sensible and long overdue. Yes on I-985. Yes 10 times over.