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Washington State Transportation Commission elects new leadership; meeting focuses on tolls, funding and regional resilience
Summary
The commission voted to install new chair and vice chair effective July 1 and spent the day on statewide funding, tolling policy, resilience projects and local infrastructure needs, including repeated concerns about the Lewis & Clark (I‑5) bridge and regional evacuation routes.
The Washington State Transportation Commission elected new leadership and heard a daylong series of presentations on funding, tolling and regional resilience at its June meeting in Kalama.
Chair Debbie Young moved that Commissioner Jim Restucci be elected chair and Commissioner Baldwin be elected vice chair effective July 1; the motion was seconded and commissioners recorded six ayes and one absent, approving the leadership change.
Staff reviewed the Commission’s role as the state tolling authority and outlined statewide transportation revenues and the long‑range Vision 2050 plan, which prioritizes preserving critical transportation assets, creating safe and connected communities and building resilient systems. WSDOT finance staff said the state’s preliminary biennium transportation revenues derive mainly from fuel and registration sources and called attention to growing pressure on the gas tax base as vehicles become more fuel efficient.
WSDOT and commission staff discussed alternatives under study, including road‑usage charging pilots with opt‑in telemetry or simple annual odometer reporting, and described transition risks to debt‑linked projects. Tolling staff also reviewed existing tolled facilities and recent openings including the SR 509 stage now in operation and the SR 167 expressway segment expected to open later in 2026.
Local officials and the Cowlitz County engineer told the commission that I‑5 corridor disruptions and landslides are recurring life‑safety and economic problems in the region, and that patchwork funding and long regulatory timelines make large projects — for example replacement or major preservation of the Lewis & Clark I‑5 bridge — politically and technically complex. Several city and county public works directors urged faster work on alternative parallel routes, Exit 21/22 improvements and evacuation planning to reduce gridlock and protect emergency access.
The meeting closed with staff outlining public outreach and next steps for the commission’s upcoming consideration of a low‑income toll discount for new expressway facilities and a schedule of virtual public comment opportunities.
The commission reconvened to take public testimony and will consider action on the toll discount at its July meeting.
