Bellevue, Bothell big winners in state transportation funds from federal stimulus package

March 30, 2009 11:59 am
Gov. Christine Gregoire and Sen. Patty Murray meet with construction workers in Bellevue after announcing plans for the federal stimulus funding that will go toward projects in Washington.
Gov. Christine Gregoire and Sen. Patty Murray meet with construction workers in Bellevue after announcing plans for the federal stimulus funding that will go toward projects in Washington.

Seventy million dollars in federal stimulus money is headed to the Eastside for transportation projects, Gov. Christine Gregoire announced today in Bellevue.

The governor joined Mayor Grant Degginger, Rep. Deb Eddy of the 48th Legislative District, and a host of other politicians to talk about how the state plans to use its portion of the massive spending package.

Among the top beneficiaries will be Bellevue and Bothell.

The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $30 million for new multi-level ramps at the I-405/Highway 520 interchange in Bellevue and $40 million for an additional lane on 405 between Northeast 195th Street and Highway 527 in Bothell.

Those two projects represent over 14 percent of the $491 million dedicated to Washington’s transportation needs in the federal stimulus bill.

The ramps in Bellevue, called “braided ramps” are expected to eliminate traffic weaves for drivers on northbound 405 and eastbound 520 between Northeast Eighth Street and 124th Avenue Northeast.

Degginger said the project will provide congestion relief and pave the way for economic development on the Eastside.

“It’s a crucial intersection – the confluence of 405 and 520,” he said. “To separate the traffic that’s going through will have a really significant improvement in congestion relief.

“Here on the Eastside, the biggest constraint to our economic development has been transportation capacity.”

Washington’s portion of the federal stimulus package includes funding for 147 localized projects valued at $150 million and 34 state highway projects valued at $341 million.

Gregoire said the stimulus money would create construction jobs, which would in turn generate consumer activity.

“These are great family-wage jobs,” she said. “When they (the workers) get that income, they go out and spend it in their local communities.”

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Bothell said the federal stimulus bill would create an estimated 560 jobs through the I-405 project in Bellevue and another 440 with the interstate widening in Bothell.

Murray was a member of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that helped designate where the transportation funding would go.

Bothell will benefit from an additional $1.1 million that goes toward the North Creek Trail project, which joins the Burke-Gilman Trail in that city.

The multi-use trail will eventually connect the Burke-Gilman in King County with the Interurban Trail at Snohomish County’s McCollum Park.