If the Roads and Transit measure is rejected on Nov. 6, taxpayers may wake up on Nov. 7 with the feeling they will have a little more money in their pockets.

But they will still be stuck in our traffic nightmare.

King County Proposition 1 takes a major step forward in solving that transportation nightmare. It is the first balanced traffic plan considered for the region.

If it does not pass what is Plan B and when will it be implemented?

Will roads advocates kill a future all-transit measure or transit proponents block an all-roads plan?

We blew it 40 years ago when the 1968 Forward Thrust transit measure was voted down. A transit system would have been 80 percent funded by the federal government. It would have been finished by 1985 and all paid off by next year. Let's not repeat that mistake.

It is easy to decry the expense of making long neglected repairs, whether to our homes or to the region's infrastructure.

But the work needs to be done.

For Highline, the Roads and Transit plan will add two more light rail stations in SeaTac and Des Moines, fund the Burien express bus garage, improve access to the airport and I-5 to the south through the long delayed SR 509 extension, and bring a permanent commuter rail station to Tukwila.

Like the Times/News, Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, a Highline native, has been around this community for a long time.

He notes, "It is too expensive not to invest in the transportation system. It is a quality of life issue. People should be with their families, not stuck in traffic."

We urge you to vote yes on Proposition 1-the Roads and Transit measure.