As famed Scottish poet Robert Burns noted some 240 years ago, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
In other words, even the most intricate preparations can be foiled by poor execution or unforeseen circumstances. But that should not prevent government leaders from attempting to plan for the future, using the best available information to make informed decisions about the public’s future needs.
Such is the case with Vision 2050, from the Washington State Transportation Commission. The draft proposal tries to predict transportation demands for the next 25 years. A statewide survey and regional meetings have been conducted, and public comments are being accepted through today (we apologize for the short notice) as officials balance economic, environmental and social concerns.
Commission Chair Debbie Young told The (Everett) Herald, “The fact that we bring so many voices to the table to talk and share what their issues are and identify goals for moving forward, that’s as important as the document.”
The commission — a group of seven residents who are appointed for up to two six-year terms — has been preparing for the plan’s first update since the COVID pandemic. Since the last update, the Legislature has passed a Climate Commitment Act and a Healthy Environment for All Act, which impact potential transportation solutions.
Yet the basic question remains unchanged: How can Washington facilitate the movement of people and freight, allowing our economy and people to thrive? As the preface to the report states: “Transportation is not just infrastructure. It is a public service that directly shapes our quality of life.”
The report is short on details but long on goals. It is not the commission’s place to recommend, say, a third bridge across the Columbia River or a light rail line from Yacolt to Yakima.
Because of that, it bypasses the major transportation issue facing our area: construction of a new Interstate 5 Bridge. The only mention of Southwest Washington is a suggestion to “expand capabilities of Traffic Management Centers across the state that increase coordinated transportation operations, response coordination, traffic incident management, and future opportunities for systems maintenance.” One of the state’s six current centers is in Vancouver.
But the draft report identifies three strategic priorities:
— Maintaining current infrastructure, preserving roads and bridges before adding new capacity. In 2023, the then-secretary of transportation warned that the state’s transportation system was “on a glidepath to failure” because of ignored maintenance. To help rectify that, the report recommends the streamlining of the permitting and funding processes.
— Emphasizing traffic safety and using data to improve traffic management.
— Developing a regional plan with Oregon and California, in part to facilitate a conversion to low-emission and zero-emission transportation. That includes construction of a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.
The attainability of those goals will be affected by several factors, including an expected decline in gas-tax revenue. With increased use of fuel-efficient and electric vehicles, annual funding from the tax is expected to go from approximately $1.5 billion today to $900 million by 2050. There also are concerns about a changing climate and how “flooding, wildfires, and rising sea levels threaten critical infrastructure.”
But despite the unpredictability of the future, state leaders are wise to plan for it — even if those plans are likely to go awry.
