May 18, 2015

WSDOT's Peterson: ‘We have to do a lot more on a lot less'

Washington Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson says the state House and Senate have reached an agreement on the size of a transportation package, but their capital project lists are “quite different” and they haven't started to discuss them.

The House and Senate are looking at transportation budgets in the $15 billion range that would be mainly funded by an incremental 11.7-cent increase in the gas tax for 16 years. Just over $8 billion of that total would be spent on highway projects across the state.

Peterson spoke at a luncheon last week in Seattle put on by the local chapter of the American Public Works Association.

While lawmakers try to align those project lists, Peterson said WSDOT is working to make itself more efficient.

Peterson said WSDOT is moving away from past design standards in favor of “right-sizing” projects and maintenance work. She said if engineers follow traditional standards, a project can get so expensive that it blows the budget for the next 10 years.

“Whether that's for a size of a pipe or a size of a road, we tend to go to the maximum because we think we may never get any more money in this area ever again,” she said. “And while we're out there why don't we extend that guardrail? Why don't we replace that guardrail even though it has some life left, (because) we may never get out there again?”

Peterson said she and other engineers were taught to add 20 percent as a safety measure when designing projects such as roads. Now, she said they can design a road without the extra 20 percent because they know a certain design is safe at a given speed.

Peterson said there wasn't a lot of data collected until the last decade or two on highway safety, prompting the creation of the Highway Safety Manual about four years ago.

The manual uses about 15 years of data and is published by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials. It has concepts and guidelines for predicting the safety performance of various highway structures. WSDOT is applying it on its projects.

Peterson said engineers can be liable if they blindly follow standards and don't look at the context of the situation or understand what is going on. She said engineers can deviate from standards without liability if they document and explain their decisions. That requires more documentation up front, but saves money in the long run, she said.

Part of WSDOT's move to increase efficiency is a focus on what outcome is desired. A new development may not need a new interchange if an existing interchange is just a mile away and can be directly accessed by an existing road, Peterson said.

“What fundamentally is the most cost-effective way to get a safety project out quickly rather than waiting for a giant capital project?” she asked. “Is there something we can do tomorrow that's going to make the traveling public more safe with paints, or better signage, or taking down a bush because they just can't see around the corner?”

Last summer, Peterson challenged all six WSDOT regional administrators to go over the state's unfunded project list and look at what they could do with maintenance budgets to improve safety now rather than waiting for capital funding.

The result? The Southwest Region was able to take six projects off the list by doing less than $100,000 in maintenance work.

Peterson said WSDOT is also working to reduce permitting costs and time. The agency won an award in 2013 for faster environmental reviews of routine highway projects, such as culverts, pavement overlays and safety improvements.

WSDOT faces a dwindling source of funding in the gas tax. Only 8 cents of the current 37.5-cent gas tax goes for maintenance and preservation of WSDOT roads and bridges, the ferry system and Amtrak operations.

Peterson said less gas is being purchased due to more efficient vehicles, alternative fuels and a drop in miles per person revenue, so total funds from the tax are getting smaller.

“We have to do a lot more on a lot less,” she said.

WSDOT is facing a growing number of maintenance and preservation projects, including an upcoming $38 million paint job for the Interstate 5 Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle to protect it from corrosion. That's a big chunk of the 8-cent budget because 1 cent equals about $33 million a year.

There is long list of other metal truss bridges that need paint, such as the SR 99 Aurora Bridge in Seattle, which is expected to cost about $23 million to repaint.

Peterson said it costs $10 million to $15 million to repaint a typical overhead truss bridge on I-5. Costs are high because lead paint requires special work to remove.

Peterson said they have to get more life out of existing structures through maintenance because they are not getting money to replace them.

Another hurdle WSDOT faces is complying with a federal court injunction to replace more than 800 culverts by 2030 at a cost between $2.5 billion and $5 billion. Many of the culverts will be in the form of expensive bridges.

Legislators carved out $80 million in the biennium for culverts, but $350 million is needed just to meet the minimum estimate. Peterson said they are still trying to figure out how to pay for them.

Legislators are also at loggerheads over the sales tax on transportation projects that now feeds the general fund. The Senate wants to direct that into transportation projects.

“What ever money comes our way will be well spent,” Peterson said.