Summary

A new assessment of King County's transportation infrastructure in the unincorporated areas shows that between 30 to 40 percent of the roads are at risk of failure over the next decade, and that over the next three decades more than 28 bridges will need to be closed if they aren't replaced.

Story

A new assessment of King County's transportation infrastructure in the unincorporated areas shows that between 30 to 40 percent of the roads are at risk of failure over the next decade, and that over the next three decades more than 28 bridges will need to be closed if they aren't replaced.

"Some other counties have begun returning paved roads to gravel. We don't want to let that happen here, but this report shows the consequence of not making adequate investments over time in our aging roads and bridges," said King County Executive Dow Constantine. "It's our job now to maintain and repair the infrastructure we have inherited.

In his "Strategic Plan for Road Services" transmitted today to the Metropolitan King County Council, along with a mid-biennium Roads supplemental budget, the Executive urged Councilmembers to help ensure that road services and safety are maintained despite rapidly deteriorating infrastructure and shrinking revenues.

The strategic plan is one of the most exhaustive reviews of the state of county roads and bridges ever undertaken. It took a year to produce with input from the Council and stakeholders, and assesses the condition of 1,750 miles of roadway and 184 bridges in unincorporated King County.

Among the findings and proposals in the package sent to the Council today:

• An estimated 110 miles of arterial roads are nearing the end of their useful life and are in need of complete reconstruction.
• Thirty-five bridges need to be replaced by 2040, but 28 of them have no funding for replacement.
• Other than the widening of Novelty Hill Road in East King County, there is no more funding available for capacity projects aimed at reducing traffic congestion.
• Continued road and bridge deterioration will cause partial or complete closures, lengthy detours and load limits on trucks.
• Half or more of the county's drainage infrastructure that protects roads and prevents local flooding cannot be adequately maintained with current and future resources.
• Less than 60 percent of overall system maintenance and preservation needs can be met in the coming years.
• As soon as this winter, snow and ice removal will scaled back and provided on a priority basis in order to focus resources on keeping key arterials and other major travel routes open to traffic.
• A single major flood or windstorm could have a crippling effect on the ability of road crews to quickly repair significant damage in the seasons ahead.
• Roadside litter pick-up will have to be eliminated beginning in 2011.

The strategic plan projects it will cost between $120 - 130 million a year just to stabilize current road and bridge conditions and slow the rate of deterioration. However, due to annexations and the loss of other key revenues, the County expects to collect $102 million annually, leading to an annual shortfall of $18 - $28 million.

The declining state of the County's roads and bridges comes at a time of rapidly declining transportation revenues and the loss of 40 positions in the proposed Road Services budget for the biennium.

Construction and maintenance of roads and bridges ranked as the highest priority for the improvement of local services in unincorporated King County, in a community survey conducted last year.

The roads and bridges in unincorporated King County directly serve more than 300,000 local residents, making them the equivalent of the second-largest city in King County. More than half the motorists using select King County arterials are from local cities or neighboring counties.

More:

• Strategic Plan for Road Services
• Vulnerable roads (5MB PDF)
• Potential bridge closures (XLSX)