Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, announced today that he’s delivered a letter to Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson, requesting her agency’s cooperation in coordinating a series of public meetings around the state. King, who serves as co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he and his colleagues in the Senate’s Majority Coalition Caucus would like to gather as much input as possible from Washington residents and WSDOT officials in various regions around the state in order to craft a viable transportation package that could be supported by lawmakers as well as taxpayers.

“In order to pass a transportation package of any substance there will likely be a need for additional revenue to pay for projects,” King said, “but before we go to the people asking for more money, the state needs to prove that it’s already stretching every dollar it has. We’ve compiled a list of ten reforms that could be implemented to save millions of dollars with minimal impact to other areas of the budget, and it’s our intention to discuss those ideas with DOT and the public at these meetings.”

King’s letter to Peterson requests that regional administrators present a prioritized list of projects based upon safety, congestion relief and economic development, and asks that their list contain a detailed scope and a cost estimate for each project that would be valid through the 2014 legislative session. In addition, the letter asks for reform suggestions from each regional office and seeks to encourage public comment on the MCC list of specific reform proposals.

The dates and locations of the public meetings are:

• Sept. 17 – Bellevue (Northwest Region) 6-9 p.m.
  • Stevenson Elementary School, 14220 NE 8th St., Bellevue, WA 98007
• Sept. 18 – Everett (Northwest Region) 6-9 p.m.
  • Snohomish County, Robert Drewel Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., 1st floor, Everett, WA 98201
• Sept. 23 – Wenatchee (North Central Region) 6-9 p.m.
  • Chelan County PUD Auditorium, 327 N Wenatchee Ave., Wenatchee, WA 98801
• Sept. 24 – Yakima (South Central Region) 6-9 p.m.
  • Yakima Area Arboretum, Garden View Rm., 1401 Arboretum Dr., Yakima, WA 98901
• Sept. 26 – Tri-Cities 6-9 p.m.
  • Columbia Basin College, Gjerde Center, 2600 N. 20th Ave., Pasco, WA 99301
• Oct. 2 – Spokane (Eastern Region) 6-9 p.m.
  • Central Valley High School theater, 821 South Sullivan Road, Spokane Valley
• Oct. 7 – Vancouver (Southwest Region) 6-9 p.m.
  • Department of Transportation Southwest Region Office, 11018 Northeast 51st Circle, Vancouver 98682
• Oct. 9 – Tacoma (Olympic Region) 6-9 p.m.
  • Evergreen Tacoma Campus, Lyceum Hall, 1210 6th Ave., Tacoma, WA 98405
• Oct. 14 – Seattle 6-9 p.m.
  • First Presbyterian Church, 1013 8th Ave., Seattle
• Oct. 15 – Bellingham 6-9 p.m.
  • Port of Bellingham Cruise Terminal, 355 Harris Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225

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