Stakeholders meeting addresses ways to help improve SR 522

Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas hosted a meeting of the minds last week, with 23 elected officials and other stakeholders gathering at Monroe City Hall to discuss S.R. 522.

The agenda included discussion about the state route's impacts on the Sky Valley, what's been done so far to improve the roadway, identification of various funding sources and a strategy session on how to obtain necessary funding.

The latest projections from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) estimate the cost of extending four-lane capacity on S.R. 522 from Paradise Lake Road to the Snohomish River at a total of $76.1 million; $8.9 million from preliminary engineering and $67.2 for construction.

The number is higher than what has been presented by the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition, which had estimated the widening project to cost roughly $58 million.

The Jan. 7 meeting was attended by representation from Congresswoman Suzan DelBene's office, the office of Gov. Jay Inslee, fire districts 3 and 7, the Monroe School District, the Snohomish County Economic Alliance and the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition. Also in attendance were elected officials and city staff from Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar and Duvall, along with representatives from both the 39th and 1st Legislative Districts.

Participation by legislators from the 1st District is important because the work in the 39th District has been completed, Thomas said. The stretch of roadway that still needs to be widened is in the 1st Legislative District, and the entire vicinity falls inside Snohomish County Council District 5.

Currently, there is no District 5 county councilperson, as former Council Chairman Dave Somers has been sworn in as the county executive. It is anticipated that the council will appoint someone to the position in the near future.-á

The roundtable meeting was part of a massive effort spearheaded by Thomas to get S.R. 522 funded. Over the past few months, Thomas has been loudly advocating the importance of 522 improvements, including talking with city lobbying firm Green Light Strategies, 39th District legislators Dan Kristiansen, Elizabeth Scott and Sen. Kirk Pearson, and working with Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick to co-author a letter to Somers, now in the county executive seat.

Last October he approached the Monroe School District and Monroe City Council, both passing resolutions calling on the state to fund the project. He obtained letters of support from the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, Monroe Fire Chief Jamie Silva and Monroe Police Chief Tim Quenzer, all addressing the legislature and requesting action.

He is now focused on getting additional letters of support from local businesses, local fire commissioners and the city of Duvall. It's important to include Duvall, because the Snoqualmie Valley is also affected by 522, Thomas said.

His efforts are starting to gain renewed traction, as other agencies have signed on.

"Community Transit notified me today that they had written a letter in support,GÇ¥ Thomas said last week.

Bringing the needs of 522 to the attention of as many agencies as possible became more important than ever after only a small amount of funding was appropriated to 522 in the state supplemental transportation package the Legislature passed last session. The 15-year transportation improvement plan allocated around $10 million for preliminary engineering on the Paradise Lake Road interchange project, but no funding was designated for the widening project.

"If all we're going do is rely on that package, we're talking 15 years before we get funding,GÇ¥ Thomas said. "It is not looking out for people who live in these two valleys.GÇ¥

According to WSDOT, four out of six S.R. 522 corridor projects have been completed since 2003. The final two projects are the Paradise Lake Road interchange, which would eliminate the stoplight at Paradise Lake Road, and the Paradise Lake Road to Snohomish River widening. Finding the funding to build these two projects is of paramount importance, Thomas said.

The Paradise Lake Road interchange project is more complicated than the widening project due to the intricacies of the area, the mayor said. Its cost is being estimated at $104.2 million; $10.3 million for preliminary engineering, $14.2 million for right-of-way acquisition and $79.7 million for construction. The $10 million allocated by the Legislature in the transportation package is not available until 2020.

The meeting took place at Monroe City Hall in council chambers.

"The focus of our conversation was on funding the widening from two lanes to four lanes. The attendees identified two ideas for funding and strategies to secure the funding,GÇ¥ Thomas said in a news release after the meeting. "We will work on these over the next couple of weeks in preparation for a meeting with state legislators in Olympia at the end of January.GÇ¥

To stay up to date with the initiative to fund 522 and to see more details about the meeting, visit www.facebook.com/MayorThomas360/?fref=ts.