In Washington state cities have a very limited way to collect taxes that can be solely dedicated for road construction as that is considered a general fund expense and competes against police, fire, parks & recreation, and whatever arts/ social ograms they can dream up for finding. So they have use their local funds to match federal dollar grants. This is why they have to include all the other forms of transportation in simple road project.
Then factor in all the federal requirements for environmental/cultural/archeological, and Davis-Bacon wage requirements and that is why it takes at least $1,000,0000 + per mile to build what started out as simple road.
Oregon has Washington beat (well, actually, it’s a WA/OR joint effort)....yaknow that Tacoma Narrows bridge? It was built for under $900 million sometime back...now they want to build a bridge over the Columbia for $3+ BILLION
Oregon has Washington beat (well, actually, it’s a WA/OR joint effort)....yaknow that Tacoma Narrows bridge? It was built for under $900 million sometime back...now they want to build a bridge over the Columbia for $3+ BILLION (much smaller bridge)
In next door Idaho some cities have discover that taking federal money costs more than just building the roads with just city money. So they are now opting out.