47.56.870 - State route No. 520 corridor -- Tolls authorized -- Eligible toll facility -- Toll revenue -- Toll rate schedule -- Bridge replacement program, work groups.

State route No. 520 corridor — Tolls authorized — Eligible toll facility — Toll revenue — Toll rate schedule — Bridge replacement program, work groups.

(1) The initial imposition of tolls on the state route number 520 corridor is authorized, the state route number 520 corridor is designated an eligible toll facility, and toll revenue generated in the corridor must only be expended as allowed under RCW 47.56.820.

     (2) The state route number 520 corridor consists of that portion of state route number 520 between the junctions of Interstate 5 and state route number 202. The toll imposed by this section shall be charged only for travel on the floating bridge portion of the state route number 520 corridor.

     (3)(a) In setting the toll rates for the corridor pursuant to RCW 47.56.850, the tolling authority shall set a variable schedule of toll rates to maintain travel time, speed, and reliability on the corridor and generate the necessary revenue as required under (b) of this subsection.

     (b) The tolling authority shall initially set the variable schedule of toll rates, which the tolling authority may adjust at least annually to reflect inflation as measured by the consumer price index or as necessary to meet the redemption of bonds and interest payments on the bonds, to generate revenue sufficient to provide for:

     (i) The issuance of general obligation bonds, authorized in RCW 47.10.879, first payable from toll revenue and then excise taxes on motor vehicle and special fuels pledged for the payment of those bonds in the amount necessary to fund the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program, subject to subsection (4) of this section; and

     (ii) Costs associated with the project designated in subsection (4) of this section that are eligible under RCW 47.56.820.

     (4)(a) The proceeds of the bonds designated in subsection (3)(b)(i) of this section must be used only to fund the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program; however, two hundred million dollars of bond proceeds, in excess of the proceeds necessary to complete the floating bridge segment and necessary landings, must be used only to fund the state route number 520, Interstate 5 to Medina bridge replacement and HOV project segment of the program, as identified in applicable environmental impact statements, and may be used to fund effective connections for high occupancy vehicles and transit for state route number 520, but only to the extent those connections benefit or improve the operation of state route number 520.

     (b) The program must include the following elements within the cost constraints identified in section 1, chapter 472, Laws of 2009, consistent with the legislature's intent that cost savings applicable to the program stay within the program and that the bridge open to vehicular traffic in 2014:

     (i) A project design, consistent with *RCW 47.01.408, that includes high occupancy vehicle lanes with a minimum carpool occupancy requirement of three-plus persons on state route number 520;

     (ii) High occupancy vehicle lane performance standards for the state route number 520 corridor established by the department. The department shall report to the transportation committees of the legislature when average transit speeds in the two lanes that are for high occupancy vehicle travel fall below forty-five miles per hour at least ten percent of the time during peak hours;

     (iii) A work group convened by the mayor and city council of the city of Seattle to include sound transit, King county metro, the Seattle department of transportation, the department, the University of Washington, and other persons or organizations as designated by the mayor or city council to study and make recommendations of alternative connections for transit, including bus routes and high capacity transit, to the university link light rail line. The work group must consider such techniques as grade separation, additional stations, and pedestrian lids to effect these connections. The recommendations must be alternatives to the transit connections identified in the supplemental draft environmental impact statement for the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program released in January 2010, and must meet the requirements under *RCW 47.01.408, including accommodating effective connections for transit. The recommendations must be within the scope of the supplemental draft environmental impact statement. For the purposes of this section, "effective connections for transit" means a connection that connects transit stops, including high capacity transit stops, that serve the state route number 520/Montlake interchange vicinity to the university link light rail line, with a connection distance of less than one thousand two hundred feet between the stops and the light rail station. The city of Seattle shall submit the recommendations by October 1, 2010, to the governor and the transportation committees of the legislature. However, if the city of Seattle does not convene the work group required under this subsection before July 1, 2010, or does not submit recommendations to the governor and the transportation committees of the legislature by October 1, 2010, the department must convene the work group required under this subsection and meet all the requirements of this subsection that are described as requirements of the city of Seattle by November 30, 2010;

     (iv) A work group convened by the department to include sound transit and King county metro to study and make recommendations regarding options for planning and financing high capacity transit through the state route number 520 corridor. The department shall submit the recommendations by January 1, 2011, to the governor and the transportation committees of the legislature;

     (v) A plan to address mitigation as a result of the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program at the Washington park arboretum. As part of its process, the department shall consult with the governing board of the Washington park arboretum, the Seattle city council and mayor, and the University of Washington to identify all mitigation required by state and federal law resulting from the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program's impact on the arboretum, and to develop a project mitigation plan to address these impacts. The department shall submit the mitigation plan by December 31, 2010, to the governor and the transportation committees of the legislature. Wetland mitigation required by state and federal law as a result of the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program's impacts on the arboretum must, to the greatest extent practicable, include on-site wetland mitigation at the Washington park arboretum, and must enhance the Washington park arboretum. This subsection (4)(b)(v) does not preclude any other mitigation planned for the Washington park arboretum as a result of the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program;

     (vi) A work group convened by the department to include the mayor of the city of Seattle, the Seattle city council, the Seattle department of transportation, and other persons or organizations as designated by the Seattle city council and mayor to study and make recommendations regarding design refinements to the preferred alternative selected by the department in the supplemental draft environmental impact statement process for the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program. To accommodate a timely progression of the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program, the design refinements recommended by the work group must be consistent with the current environmental documents prepared by the department for the supplemental draft environmental impact statement. The department shall submit the recommendations to the legislature and governor by December 31, 2010, and the recommendations must inform the final environmental impact statement prepared by the department; and

     (vii) An account, created in section 5 of this act, into which civil penalties generated from the nonpayment of tolls on the state route number 520 corridor are deposited to be used to fund any project within the program, including mitigation. However, this subsection (4)(b)(vii) is contingent on the enactment by June 30, 2010, of either chapter 249, Laws of 2010 or **chapter . . . (Substitute House Bill No. 2897), Laws of 2010, but if the enacted bill does not designate the department as the toll penalty adjudicating agency, this subsection (4)(b)(vii) is null and void.

     (5) The department may carry out the improvements designated in subsection (4) of this section and administer the tolling program on the state route number 520 corridor.

[2010 c 248 § 2; 2009 c 472 § 2.]

Notes: Reviser's note: *(1) 2010 c 248 § 3, which amended RCW 47.01.408, was vetoed by the governor.

     **(2) Substitute House Bill No. 2897 did not pass.

Intent -- 2009 c 472: "It is the intent of the legislature that the state authorize early tolling on the state route number 520 corridor in order to secure the authority to spend federal grant moneys provided to Washington state as part of the urban partnership grant program.

     It is further the intent of the legislature to impose tolls on the state route number 520 floating bridge subject to section 2 of this act, to help finance construction of the replacement state route number 520 floating bridge and necessary landings.

     It is further the intent of the legislature to expedite the replacement of the floating bridge and necessary landings in a manner that does not preclude local design options on either side of the state route number 520 corridor. For all projects in the state route number 520 corridor program, the legislature intends that the total cost will be no more than four billion six hundred fifty million dollars.

     It is further the intent of the legislature that if the tolls on the state route number 520 corridor significantly alter the performance of nearby facilities, the legislature will reconsider the tolling policy for the corridor.

     It is further the intent of the legislature that the department of transportation applies for federal stimulus funds for projects in the corridor." [2009 c 472 § 1.]

Effective date -- 2009 c 472: "This act takes effect August 1, 2009." [2009 c 472 § 7.]