Increase in commuters puts planners to work

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published April 03, 2007

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By 2030, nearly 100,000 people are expected to commute into or out of Thurston County for their jobs every work day.

By the numbers

Outbound commuter projections from Thurston County to Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pierce, King, Kitsap, Snohomish counties and other destinations:

•2005: 28,000

•2030: 63,900

Inbound commuter projections to Thurston County from the same counties and other destinations:

•2005: 18,150

•2030: 33,700

Source: Thurston Regional Planning Council

That’s about twice the number on the road today, according to the Thurston Regional Planning Council.

As a result, van pools, buses, commuter rail and possibly air travel are among the forms of transportation that are expected to grow to offset the increasing traffic on South Sound highways.

Some commuting solutions will come sooner than others, and state highway improvements will continue for years to come.

The state Department of Transportation is faced with a long list of highway construction projects the next several years.

According to DOT spokesman Lloyd Brown:

• A 5-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax approved in 2003 is expected to fund 158 projects statewide in the next 10 years at a cost of $3.9 billion.

• A 9.5-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax approved in 2005, combined with the 5-cent tax and some pre-existing funds, will fund 274 projects over the next 16 years at a cost of $16 billion.

The department also is planning ahead to 2030, looking at options for alleviating congestion.

The wish list locally includes rebuilding freeway interchanges in busy locations such as Martin Way and building a new interchange at Carpenter Road, said Forest Sutmiller, a systems analysis team leader for DOT Olympic Region Planning.

But those are the types of major projects that, while helping most to relieve congestion, are costliest.

“They are some of the last things that will be funded,” he said.

More likely, the department would implement low-cost measures first, such as signs alerting drivers to accidents and an online program that would allow drivers to see where accidents are and estimate commuting times. He said he “wouldn’t undersell” the effectiveness of those solutions.

“You could look on your screen before you leave work to see whether or not the commute’s going to take you 30 minutes or two hours,” he said.

Other short-term fixes include closed-circuit TV cameras and highway advisory radios to help people with their daily commute.

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