Washington Business Summer 2018 | Washington Business | Page 49

business backgrounder | economy
Notably, Connecting Washington also includes $1.4 billion
for highway maintenance, operations and preservation. That’s
significant, but it won’t cover everything.
“We’re currently funding about half of the overall preservation
needs,” Dayton said.
He compared the situation to taking care of the roof on your
house: It’s much better to proactively maintain and replace parts as
they age, rather than suddenly reacting to a leaky roof after 20 years
of neglect. For example, some concrete road panels on I-5 are well
past their designed lifespan, he said. When they break, lanes must
be shut down and maintenance crews scramble to repair them.
Road maintenance is crucial in a state where 40 percent of the jobs
are tied to international trade and there’s a lot of freight to move.
“That’s good for the economy, but it’s hard on the transportation
system in that we have to have a resilient system,” Dayton said. “That
system has to be well-integrated and well-maintained.”
Ennis agrees. He said the $1.4 billion for maintenance “is a good
start, but we need to double it. Our system is too often at maximum
capacity and it’s critical that our roads and ports are able to efficiently
move workers, consumers and freight.”
“Our economy depends on a strong
transportation system and the Connecting
Washington package is already delivering a
positive return on investment.”

— Mike Ennis, government affairs director, AWB

The economics of Washington’s freight industry are significant
and getting bigger, Millar told lawmakers in his testimony. Freight-
dependent industries earned $565 billion in gross business income
in 2016, according to his presentation. And planners estimate a 29
percent growth in freight demand 20 years from now.
The Connecting Washington investments likely won’t solve our
transportation problems all at once. But they will definitely help.
As a result, businesses will be able to move goods and services
across the state more efficiently, kids can get to soccer games and
parents can get home in time for dinner — assuming everything
goes well on the roads.
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