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1. How much is all the transportation infrastructure in Seattle worth?
2. How do you rate Washington’s road conditions? (poor, mediocre, good, excellent)
3. Is the Alaskan Way viaduct bored tunnel project necessary? Is it too expensive?
4. Is the SR 520 Bridge project necessary?
Is it too expensive?

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The basic physical systems of a community's population, including roads, utilities, water, sewage, etc. These systems are considered essential for enabling productivity in the economy.

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5 a Includes all consumer and government purchases of goods (e.g., vehicles and fuel) and services (e.g., auto insurance) and exports related to transportation. b Includes all other categories (e.g., entertainment, personal care products and services, and payments to pension plans).
2008 data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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• 2010 Federal Transportation Bill (THUD)
– HR3288 (Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010)
– Reauthorizes federal highway, public transportation, highway safety, and motor carrier safety programs for six years
– $447 billion over 6 years
– FY2010: $117.1 billion
– 56% increase over SAFETEA LU
• SAFETEA LU (old version)
– Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act:
A Legacy For Users
– $286.4 billion in funding
– 42% increase over last bill (TEA-21)
– December 2010: extended through March 4 th , 2011

Public Expenditures on
Construction of Highways and Streets
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Notes:
•Annual spending (Nov 2010 seasonally adjusted): $86.9 billion total
•Almost all public spending
•Highways and streets = largest component of public transportation spending
•Pavement is by far the largest part of that spending (about 70%)
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Data from BTS: FIGURE 1-3-19
State and Local Expenditures on Highways and Streets Construction: January 1998 –June 2009

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Public Expenditures on
Non-Roadway Transportation Construction
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Notes:
•Only state and local numbers reported
•March 2010 seasonally adjusted annual spending: $32.2 billion total
(about 37% of roads)
•$15.8 billion on air transportation
•$14.5 billion on land transportation (e.g., rail, bus, etc.)
•$2.0 billion on water transportation
Data from BTS: FIGURE 1-3-11 Public Expenditures on Nonroadway Transportation Construction: 1998-2009

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Private Expenditures on
Transportation Infrastructure Construction
Notes:
•March 2010 seasonally adjusted annual rate: $8.26 billion total
•$0.35 billion on air transportation
•$7.77 billion on land transportation
•$0.14 billion on water transportation
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Data from BTS: FIGURE 1-3-12A Private Expenditures on Transportation-Related Construction: January 1998 –March 2010

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• $787 billion economic stimulus bill
– $30 billion for transportation
• Washington Funding
– $535 million for WA highway projects
– $179 million in transit system capital projects

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
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Data and graph from WSDOT

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Seattle Transportation Infrastructure Inventory
(not all are shown here but the total is right )
Category
Pavement
Structures
Traffic and parking
Pedestrian/bike system
Street landscaping
Grand Total
Some of the Inventory
3,943 lane-miles
125 bridges
205 walls
Retaining walls (incl. seawall)
1,001 traffic signals
46 cameras
150,000 signs
1,845 parking pay stations
1,000 traffic circles
2,256 miles of sidewalks
120 miles of bike routes
6 miles of stairs
39.4 miles of trails
35,000 trees
Value
$3.25 billion
$3.1 billion
$125 million
$2.77 billion
$49 million
$12.1 billion
2008 data from http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/inventory.htm

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From the ASCE Report Card for America’s Infrastructure
•Total estimated 5-yr funding need: $930 billion
•Total estimated 5-year spending: $381 billion
•Projected 5-year shortfall: $549 billion
Rockefeller Road Bridge in Cleveland, OH from ASCE website
13 from ASCE website
Information from: ASCE Report card for Roads ( http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/fact-sheet/roads )

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I-5 Bridge Decks in Seattle
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Alaskan Way Viaduct
(current)
Eroded viaduct deck
All photos from WSDOT website www.wsdot.wa.gov
Damaged beam after 2001 Nisqually earthquake

Alaskan Way Viaduct
(2006)

Alaskan Way Viaduct
(current)
Column support
Installing column supports after the Nisqually earthquake
All photos from WSDOT website www.wsdot.wa.gov

SR 520 Bridge
All photos from WSDOT website www.wsdot.wa.gov
Cracks on the inside of floating pontoons
Simulated Failure by Windstorm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qchD9ltCPG8
Damage to hollow column in 1999 due to barge collision

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35
30
25
RuralRoads in Poor or Mediocre Condition by Functional Class: 1995 –2006
Interstates
Other principal arterials
Minor arterials
Collectors
20
15
10
5
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Year
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45
40
Urban Roads in Poor or Mediocre Condition by Functional Class: 1995 –2006
Interstates
Other freeways
Other principal arterials
Minor arterials
Collectors
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Year
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700
Structurally Deficient and Functionally Obsolete Bridges
All Roadways,1990 –2007
600
500
400
300
200
100
Total all bridges
Structurally deficient bridges, total
Functionally obsolete bridges, total
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Year
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July 1967 – Minneapolis Tribune
6:05 p.m. 1 August 2007

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Mega-Project
Projects with an estimated total cost greater than $1.0 billion, or projects approaching $1.0 billion with a high level of interest by the public.

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• Pre-1950s era
– Minimal higher-level aid
– Very little disruption of existing areas
• Great mega-project era (1950 – late 1960s)
– Large amounts of federal aid
– Retrofit cities for new preferences
• Transition era (mid 1960s – early 1970s)
– Community & environment become important
– Citizen protests
• Do no harm era (mid 1970s – present)
– Investment is substantial at all levels
– Must avoid or mitigate any significant disruption

Proposed: ~1530
Completed: 1914
Total time: ~384 years
Cost: $375 million
2008 cost: $8 billion
Issues: Funding
Politics
Technology
Malaria
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Information from www.pancanal.com
From pancanal.com (official site)
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Proposed: 1869
Completed: 1937
Total time: 68 years
Cost: $35 million
2008 cost: $511 million
Issues: Funding
Politics
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From Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Information from the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco

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Proposed: 1854
Opened: 1917
Completed: 1934
Total time: 80 years
Cost: $3 million
2008 cost: $50 million
Issues: Funding
Politics
Under construction (1916)
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Proposed: 1921
Completed: 1940
Total Time: 19 years
Cost: $8.8 million
2008 cost: $132 million
Issues: Funding
UW Libraries
1940

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Proposed: 1948
Completed: 1963
Total Time: 15 years
Cost: $34 million
2008 cost: $234 million
Issues: Location
Funding
Politics
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Proposed: 1930
Completed: 1959
Total Time: 29 years
Cost: $ 11 million
(phase 1)
2008 cost: $80 million
Issues: Funding
Politics
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San Francisco, 1959
City officials veto most further planned expressway construction in the city
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Picture from Halttheramp.com

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Philadelphia, 1965
State alters Delaware Expressway design along the waterfront from elevated to depressed and covered.

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• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (1970)
– Environment to be considered for all major federally aided projects
– Public hearings
– Authorizes citizen suits to ensure all issues are addressed fully and candidly
– Agency still free to decide after EIS
• Clean Water Act amendments (1972)
– Difficult to fill wetlands (Section 404)
– Runoff cannot pollute water resources (Section 402)
• Clean Air Act amendments (1990)

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1974 plan
•$1.2 billion
•Covered structure
•On fill in the Hudson River
•General political support

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Relatively Minor Issue Sinks Project
Do young stripped bass winter under rotting, unused piers that are scheduled to be removed by the project?
•EIS: Few fish live under piers
•NY and federal studies: Fish live under piers
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs further study
Failed to prove “no significant impact”
Clean Water Act says no fill permit can be issued
1985 U.S. House vote to ban further federal funding
(NJ backs ban because Westway would move the bass over to the NJ side and potentially block NJ development)

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• Century Freeway (I-105) – Los Angeles
– 1977 cost estimate: $500 million
– 1979 cost estimate: $1.6 billion
• 4,200 units of affordable housing
• Job training program
• Minority contracting
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Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project (“Big Dig”)
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• Boston Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T)
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10
8
6
4
14
12
2
0
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Year
2005
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• Local sources
– Private investment (not likely)
– Excise taxes (hotel rooms, restaurants, rental cars, taxis)
– Sales tax
– Airport passenger facility charges (PFC)
– Airport landing fees
– Sales/lease of land at below-market prices
– Loans, access to credit at below-market rates
• State sources
– Non-tax revenue: lotteries, tolls
– Regional sales tax
– Gas tax
• Federal sources
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Cintra, a subsidiary of the Spanish conglomerate, Ferrovial, develops and operates transportation infrastructure ( http://www.cintra.es
):
• Chicago Skyway : 7.8 miles of toll road in Chicago, part of I-90
• Texas SH 130 Segments 5 & 6 : Toll road
• Indiana Toll Road : 157-miles long, leased for 75 years for $3.8 billion
MQA
Macquarie Atlas Roads
Macquarie Infrastructure Group, part of Macquarie Bank (an Australian bank), develops and operates transportation infrastructure http://www.macquarie.com/mgl/com/mqa ):
• Chicago Skyway : 7.8 miles of toll road in Chicago, part of I-90
• Indiana Toll Road : 157-miles long, leased for 75 years for $3.8 billion
• Dulles Greenway : 13.7 miles, Dulles to Leesburg, VA, $533 million
• South Bay Expressway : 9.3 miles of toll road in SD, built for $635 million
• Sea-to-Sky : 62 miles, Vancouver to Whistler, $600 million

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• $1.83 billion for 99 year lease by Skyway Concession Company
• Toll revenues = $38-45 million annually
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Tolls
Axles Day
2 $3.00
Night
$3.00
3 $7.60
$5.40
4
5
$10.10
$7.20
$12.60
$9.00
6 $15.20
$10.80
7+ $17.70
$12.60
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Map from Skyway Concession Company

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Pictures from SBX (www.southbayexpressway.com)

Opened November 2007
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Picture from SBX
(www.southbayexpressway.com)
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Picture from Macquarie

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• Not routine after 1970
• Support coalitions
– Usually led by business enterprise
• Project ideas
– Usually originate in the public sector
• Only successful if they “do no harm”
• Mitigation is essential
• Support and purpose is local
• Avoid increases in broad-based local taxes
• Costs rose dramatically from 1970 – 2000
• Private investment (2004 – present)
From Altshuler and Luberoff (2003) Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment

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Cost per Centerline Mile
3,500
3,000
$3 billion
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
$1.9 billion
500
$272 million
0
$176 million
Century Freeway I-90 (Mercer Island) Central Artery/Tunnel Alaskan Way Viaduct
Project

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Big Dig (Boston)
$14.6 billion
Underground existing viaducts
2 underwater tunnel routes
New/upgraded highway interchanges http://www.masspike.com/bigdig
Central Texas Turnpike System
$3.8 billion
3 new highways around Austin area
New/upgraded highway interchanges http://www.texastollways.com/tta

Miami Intermodal Center
$1.7 billion
Multimodal transportation facility http://www.micdot.com
Tampa Bay Interstate System
$1.5 billion
Freeway improvements http://www.tbinterstates.com

New Mississippi River Bridge (St. Louis)
$640 million
New bridge from St. Louis to Illinois
New/upgraded highway interchanges http://www.newriverbridge.org
Ohio River Bridges (KY, OH)
$4.1 billion
2 new bridges across Ohio RIver
New/upgraded highway interchanges http://www.kyinbridges.com

Katy Freeway (Houston)
$2.7 billion
Reconstruct 23 miles of I-10
2 upgraded interchanges
27 upgraded crossings http://www.katyfreeway.org
I-4 (Orlando)
$1.7 billion
Reconstruct 18 miles of I-4 http://www.trans4mation.org

Birmingham, AL Northern Beltline
$3.32 billion
52-mile freeway to bypass Birmingham
Completion: 2025
Detroit River International Crossing
$1.8 billion
New border crossing, bridge, plaza www.partnershipborderstudy.com

Twin Span Bridge, Lake Pontchartrain, LA
$800 million
Replace bridge damaged by Katrina http://www.twinspanbridge.com
BART Seismic Retrofit (San Francisco)
$1.3 billion
Retrofit BART http://www.bart.gov/about/projects/eqs/index.aspx

I-215 San Bernardino Corridor Imp.
$0.8 billion
12 new lane-miles http://www.sanbag.ca.gov/projects/mi_fwy_215-sb.html
I-15 Managed Lanes (San Diego)
$1.2 billion
20 miles of HOT-type lanes
New/upgraded highway interchanges http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?projectid=34&fuseaction=projects.detail

I-69 (Michigan to Texas)
$10 billion?
17 miles of highway improvement
Freeway corridor from MI to TX
May happen
New Haven Harbor Crossing (I-95)
$2 billion (doubled since 2002)
7.2 miles of roadway improvements
Transit improvements http://www.i95newhaven.com

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Woodrow Wilson Bridge (Potomac)
$2.5 billion
New bridge across Potomac
New/upgraded highway interchanges http://www.wilsonbridge.com

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Benicia-Martinez Bridge
$1 billion
New bridge in Vallejo area http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/tollbridge/Ben-Mar/Ben-Mar.html
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San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
$6.3 billion
New bridge from Oakland to Y.B. Island http://www.newbaybridge.org
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Boulder City/Hoover Dam Bypass
$0.9 billion
10 miles of 4-lane freeway http://www.bouldercitybypass.com

Not just the U.S.
Large project in China
Photos from Professor Dave Timm, Auburn University

Picture from B. Kattanppuram Blog
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (Pearl Bridge)
$3.6 billion
10 years to construct
¥ 2,600 ($22) each way for cars
25,000 vehicles/day
Great Belt (Storeb ǽlt - Denmark)
$3.5 billion (1988 value)
28 Euros ($34) each way for cars
132 Euros ($159) each way for lorries
Picture from Mount Holyoke College

Millau Viaduct
$523 million to construct
39 month construction
Tolls
•$6.50 toll one way in winter
•$8.62 toll one way in summer
Picture from arzan blog

Photo from Biz/ed
Chek Lap Kok Airport (Hong Kong)
$20 billion
Completed 1998
Channel Tunnel
$21 billion
Completed 1994
Picture from Balfour Beatty Rail

Strait of Messina (Italy mainland to Sicily)
Projected $5 billion (60% by Italian government, 40% by private investors)
Will be longest single span bridge in the world when (if) completed http://www.strettodimessina.it

Photo from ETH Life International
Photo from Google Earth
Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland to Italy)
$6 billion
20 year construction (2017 completion)
35.4 mile tunnel under Swiss Alps
Drilling completed October 2010
Thai Canal (Thailand)
$20 billion projected
May or may not happen

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• SR 167, Tacoma, WA
• SR 520 Bridge, Seattle, WA
• I-405 Corridor, Bellevue, WA
• SR 509, Seattle WA
• Alaskan Way Tunnel, Seattle WA
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SR 167 Extension (Tacoma)
Tacoma to Edgewood
$2.3 billion
Extend SR 167 to I-5 and SR 509
Pictures from WSDOT website
SR 520 Bridge Replacement
$4 to 5 billion
Replace SR 520 bridge
Improve SR 520 corridor

I-405 Corridor Improvements
$3.2 billion
New lanes
Reconfigured interchanges
Bus direct access
Pictures from WSDOT website
SR 509 Freight/Congestion Relief
$1 billion
Extend SR 509 to I-5 south of Seatac
6 miles of new I-5 lanes

Alaskan Way Viaduct & Seawall
$2.4 billion in funding available now
Replace viaduct with bored tunnel
Reinforce/replace seawall

I-5 - Pavement Reconstruction and Bottleneck Improvement Projects
Undetermined Cost
Repair/replace I-5 pavement from Tukwila to Northgate (14 miles)
Anticipated construction: 2017+
Must coordinate with:
•Alaskan Way viaduct replacement project
•SR 520 bridge replacement project
•Link Light Rail
•I-405 corridor improvements
•SR 509 extension

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• Altshuler, A. and Luberoff, D. (2003). Mega-Projects: The Changing
Politics of Urban Public Investment . Brookings Institute Press,
Washington, D.C.
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (2008). page. Maintained by the Office of Program Administration. www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/mega .
Mega Projects web