We’re still waiting on some elements of the new transportation funding package to clear the Legislature (the transportation revenue bill has passed; the spending bill with the project list and the bonding bill have not).

In the meantime, Gov. Inslee yesterday signed some important bipartisan reform bills that should help reduce costs and speed up completion of transportation projects.

Reform bills signed by the governor today include:

• Changing bidding & contracting for new ferry construction. Requires that ferries be purchased under a design-build process (where a single entity designs and builds a project) and fixed-price contracts. Also, the “Made-in-Washington” requirement is relaxed – if the cost of a construction proposal comes in at more than five percent above WSDOT’s estimate, WSDOT can open the process again and include shipbuilders from outside Washington. (Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5992)
• Limiting & expediting the permitting process. No third-party appeals of building permits issued as part of a transportation corridor project. Local permits must be issued to WSDOT within 90 days. Transportation projects categorically exempt from the National Environmental Protection Act are also exempt from the State Environmental Protection Act. (Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5994)
• Adding congestion relief & freight mobility to state transportation policy goals. (Second Engrossed Senate Bill 5995)
• Streamlining the permitting process. WSDOT required to work with other agencies and tribes to avoid project delays, and develop a multiagency permit program. WSDOT also required to report engineering errors on certain highway projects. (Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5996)
• Lowering costs on large projects. WSDOT “strongly encouraged” to use design-build construction for projects over $10 million. New contracting-review panel created. (Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5997)

 (For more details on the above bills, view our March 26 Policy Brief – pages 3-4, under “Policy Reforms”)

• Expediting repair or replacement of vulnerable bridges. Exempts repair or replacement of “structurally deficient” bridges from the State Environmental Policy Act, within certain parameters. In such cases WSDOT is allowed to use its emergency contracting procedures, as it did for replacement of the collapsed I-5 Skagit River bridge. (House Bill 1219)
• Implementing cost-saving approach to project design. Requires WSDOT to incorporate “practical design,” an approach to transportation project development that looks for savings and efficiencies as the project is being designed. (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2012)