Newly-appointed Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson announced last week that Ron Paananen – now a private consultant – will lead a comprehensive assessment of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement, the State Route 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program, and the Interstate 5 Columbia River Crossing projects. I am concerned about the her choice of a former WSDOT administrator and project director to review these three mega-projects.

I have no doubt that Mr. Paananen is technically qualified , however Paananen was a former WSDOT administrator on two of these projects and his current private employer receives millions in consulting fees from WSDOT, including current payouts of $2.4 million on the Columbia River Crossing – one of the projects to be reviewed. This is obviously an enormous conflict of interest.

State taxpayers are potentially out millions of dollars due to serious mistakes made with the 520 bridge project and I don’t think hiring a consultant who has been part of these troubled projects to provide an “independent” assessment is the right solution. I believe DOT needs to bring in a truly independent analyst to not only impartially identify where improvements can be made but also instill a modicum of trust among taxpayers that the state transportation department isn’t wasting their money. I’ll keep you posted on this story.

Click here to read the full Olympia Report for March 29, 2013.