Fixing Current Roads Is More Important

Proposal and Savings
Deny federal funding for the Cross-Base Highway project. The estimated cost is $75 million, and if the project is considered as part of the interstate highway system, federal dollars could pay up to 80 percent of its cost.

Background
Since 1984, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Washington Department of Transportation (WashDOT), and Pierce County have been trying to fill a "missing link" in the County transportation system with a highway to provide Lakewood with easier access to Interstate 5. The preferred site for this "missing link" runs east-west between McChord Air Force Base and the Fort Lewis Army Base in Tacoma Washington, south of Seattle. Like many military bases, these contain important wildlife habitat and preserve the last oak savannah in western Washington. The highway would bisect this area, reducing the habitat of the state threatened western gray squirrel and other sensitive species.

Status
In June 1998, WashDOT issued the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for public comment. Despite negative review by the public and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), WashDOT and Pierce County are pushing the project.

Problems with the project

Taxpayer Concerns
This project serves only local needs, and should not be funded with federal tax dollars. Furthermore, the state has higher priority transportation needs, such as maintaining existing roads and bridges, for which the state is considering increasing the gas tax to provide additional funds.

Local Community Concerns
One end of the Cross-Base Highway would surround and isolate American Lake Gardens, a low-income community in Pierce County, so it raises questions of fairness and social justice.

Local citizens have developed a more cost-effective alternative that protects the wildlife habitat, and moves traffic nearly as well. However, WashDOT still wants to build the Cross-Base Highway to fill in the "missing link."

New projects, such as the Cross-Base Highway, drain funds away from repairing numerous potholes, fixing crumbling bridges, and making culverts and stream crossings safe for salmon.

Environmental Concerns
According to the EPA, the project would increase the fragmentation of rare and regionally significant oak woodland and prairie habitats, which are home to threatened, sensitive, and candidate plant and animal species.

The project will encourage sprawl in central Pierce County as bedroom communities and services develop.

Contacts
Kirk Kirkland, Tacoma Audubon, (253) 761-1693, kirkkirkland@compuserve.com; Sally Larson, Tacoma Audubon, (253) 588-9839; Eric Espenhorst, Friends of the Earth, (206) 297-9460.