The Legislature approved a supplemental transportation budget with critical investments in new and ongoing projects.

It provides an increase of $826 million over the enacted 2017-‘19 transportation budget.

With the goal of maintaining current roads, $10 million was included for highway preservation work. Additionally, funding was provided for right-of-way cleanup equipment to ensure the safety of drivers on I-5.

For the 45th Legislative District, the budget includes $800,000 in new funding for a roundabout at the intersection of Redmond Ridge NE and NE Alder Crest Drive. It also includes continued funding to construct half-diamond interchange ramps at 132nd Street near Totem Lake, as well as for other projects to provide congestion relief.

“I was proud to work on this responsible budget, which makes investments that will have an impact in mitigating congestions well into the future,” Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, member of the Senate Transportation Committee, said in a press release. “Investments now mean that we will be better prepared to handle increased traffic in the future so we can keep drivers moving and keep our roads are safe.”

Statewide, the budget makes modest but critical investments in Washington’s ferry system and the Washington State Patrol including $4.4 million in state trooper basic training.

The bill, which received broad bipartisan support, now awaits the governor’s signature.

For more details and additional projects included in the 2018 supplemental transportation budget, click here. The full list of projects funded in the 45th Legislative District is attached.