The Roundtable picked $7 billion of investments to study, based on the belief that there is a bi-partisan consensus for passing them in the state Legislature.
Finishing the west side of Highway 520 in Seattle is among them; along with adding two express lanes to Interstate 405 between Bellevue and Renton; widening Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie pass: and adding lanes to Interstate 5 at Joint-Base Lewis-McChord.
The study says an investment of $7 billion would generate $42 billion in savings and economic activity.
One thing the roundtable study didn't analyze, is the return on investment in public transit. And transit advocates say it's even bigger than the return for road projects.
“A study of federal spending found that investments in public transit created almost twice as many jobs as an investment in road construction,” said Aaron Ostrom of the progressive group called Fuse.
And Ostrom points out, that transportation packages without a significant transit component tend to fail at the polls.
The Roundtable says it left transit out of the study because there's no consensus on it in Olympia.
“Our full expectation is any successful package will include transit, local road and ferry components,” said Mullin.
KIRO
