As I sat in traffic trying to drive up the I-5 north, I bemoaned the lack of funding for our state’s infrastructure. About 67 percent of all of Washington’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition according to infrastructurereportcard.org, and needs an estimated $6.3 billion to remedy all infrastructural weaknesses.
I know that the state and federal government are constantly tightening their budgets. I know that wastewater treatment, public transportation, and bridge upkeep cannot always be kept in peak condition. I know that House Republicans want to allocate money that could be spent on infrastructural repairs elsewhere.
But roads, something every citizen uses in their everyday lives, need to be at least in a serviceable state so that they do not hinder us. We should not have to be wasting our time sitting in traffic because the roads simply cannot handle the volume of traffic our growing population produces. Our representatives need to obtain the funding our state needs, not to accomplish some inspirational plans, but to simply improve day-to-day affairs.
Katherine Wan, Bellevue