Senator Schoesler adds his voice for roads

Ninth District Sen. Mark Schoesler of Ritzville, senate majority leader, added his voice to calls for improved highways leading to Pullman. Recently, Washington State University and parents of WSU students have been calling for enhancements to Highway 195 and State Route 26 following the deaths of two students in car accidents during the Thanksgiving holiday.

The state does have plans to fix portions of 195 and 26 by adding some passing lanes, but those changes are not scheduled until 2017 for 195 and 2025 for 26. Those plans were passed in the transportation package which was approved during the 2015 legislative session and call for passing lanes on 195 between Pullman and Spangle and on 26 between Dusty and Colfax.

Schoesler, in adding his voice to those calling for changes, wrote on his website Dec. 28 that he wants to see the changes now. And his voice also came with a plan for how to obtain the necessary funding.

Citing $113 million dollars that Governor Jay Inslee has requested as additional funding for fish passage barrier removal in his supplemental budget plan, Schoesler wants to see that money instead directed toward the highways.

“We already allocated 300 million dollars in the current budget for fish culverts. Any additional funds need to be prioritized towards saving kids’ lives on a dangerous stretch of eastern Washington freeway,” Schoesler wrote. “We are investing millions in the highways leading to the University of Washington. Governor Inslee should value Cougars as much as Huskies – and the safety of students more than fish.”

Al Gilson, WSDOT spokesperson, recently told the Gazette that the DOT office had hoped to secure more funding for passing lanes between Colfax and Pullman in the transportation package, but a lack of money kept that from happening.

“That is something that we had hoped to include, but they did not,” he said. “The constraints of that budget kind of kept that from happening.”

WSU Interim President Dan Bernardo also called for changes in his Dec. 10 president’s perspectives column.

“We are very concerned about the safety of all of our students, including those traveling by car to and from Pullman,” he wrote. “Both Highway 26 and Highway 195 were constructed decades ago, when the overall population in the area as well as the student population at WSU was a fraction of what it is now. While there have been upgrades, additional work is needed.”

An online petition and a Facebook page have also been started by concerned parents.

Gilson told the Gazette earlier this month that improved roads would help to ease some of the problems seen on 195 and 26, but the biggest change that needs to be made is in regard to those behind the wheel.

“The biggest safety improvement is the one that we can’t make,” he said. “It requires everyone’s attention 100 percent of the time. That is something that every driver needs to take seriously.”

Schoesler said the transportation package passed was a success in that it was “a bipartisan effort led by the Senate and is far more comprehensive than the governor’s initial plan.”

“We wanted a plan that would serve the east side of the state as well as the west side,” Schoesler wrote. “The governor’s transportation package prioritized the west side. We worked for a plan that made all of Washington a priority.”

Schoesler said the recent deaths of the WSU students call for an even bigger priority on these roads, especially in light of the fish passage money on the table.

“If that money goes toward anything in Washington state, it should go toward making it safer for our kids to drive our highways,” he stated.