The bipartisan transportation package that passed the Senate and House includes two large projects to address traffic and safety concerns on I-90 and Highway 18 over Tiger Mountain and I-90 from Eastgate to Issaquah, Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, announced yesterday.
“Anyone who has driven on Highway 18 over Tiger Mountain during rush hour or spent hours getting home waiting on I-90 knows that we have a congestion problem in our community,” Mullet said. “We can’t afford to sit back and watch as our roads get more congested and we lose more time we could be spending with our families.”
Commuters funneling on to I-90 from Maple Valley, Snoqualmie, Issaquah and North Bend will soon gain the option of using shoulder lanes to get from Issaquah to Eastgate during rush hour. Shoulder lanes are a cost-effective and timely way to temporarily add more capacity to highways that clog only during certain times.
The package will also fund expansion of the Issaquah-Fall City Road to help accommodate the years of residential growth on the Sammamish Plateau. The Legislature has also given voters in Issaquah — the only city in our 5th Legislative District in Sound Transit’s taxing authority — the opportunity to weigh in on the future of light rail for the city.
“Investing in our infrastructure is really investing in our most cherished commodity, time — time we could spend doing things that are important to us instead of sitting in our cars in traffic.”
The package also funds completion of the 520 floating bridge, I-405 expansion, Snoqualmie Pass widening completion, new lanes on I-5 through Joint Base Lewis-McChord and many other projects across the state.
