Governor Inslee Makes Stop In Yakima Monday

Washington state Governor, Jay Inslee (D), and other local officials, gathered Monday at the Yakima Area Arboretum to celebrate the progress of the recent Connecting Washington transportation package and unveil new signs that will go up near the highway construction sites when the projects begin.

"We have accomplished the largest transportation infrastructure project in the history of the state," said Gov. Inslee (D), as he addressed the room.

The 16-year transportation investment package, working in conjunction with the Washington State Department of Transportation, will provide statewide traffic maintenance and congestion relief.  Some of the package's major projects will happen in the Yakima Valley; projects like: Interstate 82 Yakima/Union Gap economic development, Interstate 90 Snoqualmie Pass widening, Yakima Transit bus services, and the Yakima Greenway bike trail projects.  These projects along with many more across the state are expected to be create over 200,000 jobs during the construction period.

"We've had some projects in the past that have been funded by transportation packages but this one really does a lot of good for Yakima Valley, both for tourism and for private contractors that are in the area, this will create a lot of jobs for them," said Brian White, with Wa. Department of Transportation.

Washington Department of Transportation says funding for bipartisan transportation package will come from a statewide 11.9-cent gas tax increase that is currently in the process of being phased in, a 7 cent increase took affect August 2015 and the second increase of 4.9 cents will take affect in July 2016.

"This is a robust multimodal system that's going to help people across the Yakima Valley and help grow jobs, I'm excited, this is a good day for Yakima," said Gov. Inslee (D), after the event.

The next steps include, breaking ground on the projects and placing the newly unveiled signs out on the roadway, which officials with the Governor's office say will happen within the next couple months.