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State Transportation Commission
to Discuss Tolls, Airports,
and GMA
Posted
3.16.07
Transportation Commission
Office - PO Box 47308 -
Olympia, WA 98504-7308
(360) 705-7070
Date: March
16, 2007
| Contact: |
Reema
Griffith, Transportation
Commission Executive
Director, 360-705-7070 |
OLYMPIA – Discussion
related to tolls for the
new Tacoma Narrows Bridge
will continue when the
Washington State Transportation
Commission convenes for
its monthly meeting next
week in Olympia. Other
items on the agenda include
an airport capacity study
and possible new concurrency
requirements under the
Growth Management Act.
The Commission’s
regular monthly meeting
starts at 9 a.m. on Tuesday,
March 20, and reconvenes
at 9 a.m., Wednesday, March
21. The meeting will be
held at the Transportation
Building, Commission Board
Room, 310 Maple Park Avenue
SE, Olympia, and is open
to the public.
On Tuesday, Washington
State Department of Transportation
(WSDOT) staff will present
to the Commission information
on the comparative costs
of toll operations in Washington
State, compared to other
state tolling authorities.
Staff will also talk about
photo enforcement for tolling
and how it will work on
the new Tacoma Narrows
Bridge. The Commission
is expected to make a final
decision on toll rates
in late April, upon the
adjournment of the 2007
legislative session. The
Transportation Commission
has statutory authority
for setting ferry fares
and highway tolls.
Staff from WSDOT
Aviation will
describe work on a three-phase
study of the state’s
airport capacity and long-term
needs. Commissioners will
discuss the results of
the Long-Term
Air Transportation Study,
Phase 1, a statewide inventory
of existing airports and
capacity. The study found
passenger and cargo capacity
is underused at a majority
of the state’s commercial
airports, while general
aviation aircraft parking
and hangar storage for
all airports has reached
85 percent of existing
capacity statewide. WSDOT
Aviation is currently conducting
Phase 2 of the study, which
forecasts future airport
capacity and market demand
into 2030. Findings from
Phases 1 and 2 will be
used in Phase 3, when the
Governor’s Airport
Planning Council is formed
to build recommendations
for targeting state aviation
investments. A member of
the Transportation Commission
will chair the council
and WSDOT will accept applications
for the council positions
beginning in mid to late
April.
During Wednesday’s
meeting, Commissioners
will consider WSDOT’s
analysis of expanding the
concurrency requirement
under Washington’s
Growth Management Act (GMA)
to include state highways
and ferry routes. WSDOT
brought together a workgroup
including key legislators
and representatives from
the Washington Association
of Counties and Association
of Washington Cities, to
provide input to WSDOT.
The final
analysis includes
a series of policy options
that review the relationship
of the GMA concurrency
requirement to land use
planning, governance, and
funding themes. The policy
options summarized in the
analysis provide a range
of choices for the legislature
and state agencies to review
when considering concurrency
and the relationship to
state highways and ferry
routes.
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