Accountability is a big part of our government. Whether it is politicians keeping campaign promises or local agencies working together, accountability and cooperation is needed in all aspects of democracy.
The city of Kirkland and its residents have stepped up and been accountable to the State in recent years. State and King County officials asked many cities to annex unincorporated areas in order to relieve their financial burden. Kirkland engaged in one of the largest annexations in recent state history, nearly doubling the size of the city’s population from approximately 48,000 to 83,000 residents in 2011.
The city has also taken on the burden of increased street traffic when 520 tolls were installed. It has disrupted many residents’ lives, at the benefit of all other communities that don’t have the burden of an increased gas tax. A gas tax could have paid for the 520 bridge. Tolls have put the financial burden on those who use the road but the congestion impact has been felt by those who live around the bridge and the surrounding municipalities. As much as people in other areas want to deny it, King County is the economic engine of the state and they benefit when our local infrastructure works well.
The 520 tolls will also cost Kirkland residents with the added wear and tear on city streets like Northeast Juanita Drive and 100th Avenue Northeast. The city has had to install the Intelligent Traffic Monitoring System to help optimize traffic signals in an effort to keep that 520 overflow moving. And now, the State will install tolls on 405 instead of alternatives that could have, again, spread the burden.
Kirkland has also stepped up by passing bonds and levies for projects within the city and not asking the state for money.
Now it is time for the State to start keeping its promises to Kirkland.
In 2007, the state began work on a project to improve access to I-405 in the Totem Lake area. We have seen the great work that was done on the first half of the project, the Northeast 116th Street and 405 southbound access ramps. But the project was also to include northbound access at Northeast 132nd Street. The State went so far as to purchase the land for the ramps. However, the project was never completed thanks to politics.
The Washington State House and Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Judy Clibborn (D-Mercer Island) took a big step toward keeping the State’s promise to Kirkland by including the ramps in the transportation bill at the last minute. The Senate did not. Reconciling the bills to get something passed will not be easy, if history is any indication. As we all know, the State has to have a transportation bill this session and it needs to keep its promise to Kirkland.
The ramps will cost $75 million. However, for the State, the ramps will pay for themselves by helping to spur economic development in the Totem Lake neighborhood. We all know about the pending redevelopment of Totem Lake Malls. Other major pieces of property will follow with the help of improved infrastructure. The city is already putting a lot of its own money into Totem Lake infrastructure.
The city estimates that a fully developed Totem Lake Urban Center would generate, at a minimum, of an additional $140 million per year in state revenue. For a state struggling to find revenue to pay for education, this seems like a no-brainer investment.
I hope that Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, Sen. Andy Hill and Sen. Cyrus Habib will work hard to convince their colleagues in the Senate to follow the lead of the House and keep their promises to Kirkland. We have stepped up for the State time and time again, now it is their turn.
Matt Phelps is the regional editor for the Kirkland and Bothell/Kenmore Reporter newspapers.
