Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
Home > Issues > Transportation > Legislation
Issues
Transportation
Inslee Introduces "Roadway Safety and Congestion Act"
9 January 2003
Today U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-01) introduced the Roadway Safety and Congestion Mitigation Improvements Act. This legislation will invest $3 billion annually in upgrading our nation's roadway safety infrastructure. "Traffic safety and congestion trouble everyone using our roads, and these problems will only escalate without an investment in our infrastructure," said Inslee. "More than half of daily traffic congestion is tied to roadway incidents, but many of these incidents could easily be reduced or eliminated by improving our infrastructure."
Roger Wentz, Executive Director of the American Traffic Safety Services Association commented, "This is an aggressive new approach that addresses the role of the roadway itself in safeguarding all drivers. By targeting funding towards easily identifiable areas where roadway crashes occur, we can use relatively low-cost countermeasures to achieve high safety benefits."
Why is the Roadway Safety and Congestion Mitigation Improvements Act Needed?
- To Enhance Roadway Safety
- Over forty thousand people are killed and an additional three million are injured in motor vehicle crashes each year.
- Nearly one in five drivers in 2020 will be age 65 or older. Older drivers need three times as much light to see road markings and signs as 20 year-old drivers.
- Enhances work zone mobility by improving training of workers, funding the use of work zone safety devices and making better use of police during high-risk work zone activities.
- To Reduce Congestion
- $100 million annually will go towards grade separation and other safety related construction activities at rail crossings (which may help efforts such as Puget Sound area's Fast Corridor Project).
- Re-aligns pavement markings to enhance acceleration/deceleration lane capacity.
- Upgrades traffic control devices for restricted or prohibited movements on freeways, expressways, and ramps.
- To Reduce Taxpayer Burden
- Offers a direct cost-benefit return of $4 for every dollar invested.
- Saves nearly $12.5 billion a year in avoided medical and other direct crash-related expenditures over the life of each year's investment.
- Societal costs resulting from motor vehicle crashes in the year 2000 totaled $230.6 billion, or $820 for every person living in the U.S.
What Types of Roadway Safety Improvements Would Receive Funds?
- Enhancing signage, pavement markings and re-timing of signals to increase intersection safety.
- Improving infrastructure to allow for safer bicycle riding and crosswalks, known as "Safe-Routes-to-School."
- Increasing size of work zone pavement markings to a width not less than six inches.
- Purchasing and installing roadway advisory signs supporting seat belt use and discouraging impaired driving.
- Providing funds to install pavement markings and signs at highway-rail crossings.
- Allowing $100 million annually to go towards grade separation and other safety related construction activities at rail crossings.