The Regional Transportation Investment District's road and transit financing funding package got closer to the November ballot last week when the Metropolitan King County Council unanimously approved the plan for submittal to voters in the three-county district.

Action by either the Snohomish or the Pierce county councils (or both) is still required for the Regional Transportation package to appear with the Sound Transit Phase 2 plan on the November ballot.

The $9.7 billion regional road-building plan will be combined on the ballot with a $23.6 billion proposal to expand the Sound Transit light rail system.

The Regional Transportation package, has been dubbed "Moving Forward Together: A Blueprint for Progress." It would implement and invest in improving the regional transportation system by replacing vulnerable bridges, improving safety, and increasing capacity on state and local roads to further link major school, job, and shopping centers. The ballot measure would pay for the projects with a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax and a local motor vehicle excise tax of up to eight-tenths of 1 percent.

"As the only member of the Regional Transportation Executive Board whose district includes part of the city of Seattle, I wanted to ensure that this package offered real benefits to citizens who currently travel the Alaskan Way Viaduct and West Seattle Bridge," said West Seattle Councilmember Dow Constantine. "I worked to include funding to reconstruct the South Park Bridge, improve the Spokane Street corridor by widening the roadway and adding new ramps for transit, freight and cars, and to create a new elevated east-west corridor at Lander Street-all of which will help keep Southwest King County moving."

"The time for process, studies and planning has passed," said Councilmember Julia Patterson, vice chair of the King County Council and vice chair of the Regional Transportation Executive Board. "After five years of extensive planning and public involvement, voters will finally have the opportunity to consider a comprehensive plan that will reduce congestion and provide more transit service across the Puget Sound region. Whether you are travelling in a car, bus, train or truck, the 'Roads and Transit' plan will make it easier to get around King, Pierce and Snohomish counties." __

The Washington Legislature charged regional transportation district with developing a transportation package to be submitted to voters this fall for improving significant highways and bridges in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. Regional transportation's "Blueprint for Progress" builds on current state investments in roads, bridges and freight routes. If also adopted by either the Pierce or Snohomish county councils, it would join Sound Transit's Phase 2 transit package on the November general election ballot as the combined "Roads and Transit" plan.

"This plan is bold, because our transportation problems are significant," said Patterson, who holds a number of leadership positions on transportation policy boards across the region. "Voters have told us time and again that they are tired of the piecemeal approach to our transportation problem. We have listened and developed a proposal that goes beyond band-aids and quick fixes and will deliver real congestion relief."