HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 2023

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                       Transportation

Title:  An act relating to jurisdiction over certain roads and highways.

Brief Description:  Transferring jurisdiction for certain roads and highways.

Sponsors:  Representative R. Meyers.

Brief History:

  Reported by House Committee on:

Transportation, March 2, 1993, DPS.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  Signed by 22 members:  Representatives R. Fisher, Chair; Jones, Vice Chair; Schmidt, Ranking Minority Member; Mielke, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Brumsickle; Cothern; Eide; Finkbeiner; Forner; Hansen; Horn; J. Kohl; R. Meyers; Miller; H. Myers; Orr; Patterson; Quall; Sheldon; Shin; Wood; and Zellinsky.

Staff:  Jeff Doyle (786-7322).

Background:  In 1991, the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) was directed to review petitions from state and local governmental entities on the appropriateness of designating certain highways as "state routes."  The TIB is directed to apply the statutory criteria for state highways found in RCW 47.17.  The TIB is to make its recommendations to the Legislature by November 15 of each year.

This past year TIB reviewed three requests for route jurisdiction transfers.  After applying the criteria, TIB recommended that State Route (SR) 397 in the Pasco area be extended approximately one mile; that SR 506 near the Cowlitz/Lewis County border remain a state route; and that SR 10 in Kittitas County be removed from the state highway system and be returned to the county as a county road.  As part of its recommendation to remove SR 10 from the state highway system, the TIB further recommended that the Transfer Relief Fund, which was set up to provide funds for local governments acquiring new roadways, be extended to include funding for Kittitas County for the transfer of SR 10. 

In 1991, the Legislature also made a series of state route transfers between state and local governments.  SR 160 in Kitsap County was scheduled to be transferred pursuant to the 1991 legislation, but a mud slide washed out a portion of the roadway in the spring of 1992, just before the transfer was to take effect.  The transfer was delayed until the road could be repaired by the Department of Transportation (DOT).

It was recently discovered that during the transfers in 1991, the Legislature inadvertently removed SR 304 from the highway system instead of SR 306, which was scheduled for transfer.  Both the DOT and Kitsap County recognized this as merely an oversight, and the roads are currently being treated as if they were under the jurisdiction of the proper entities.

Summary of Substitute Bill:  State Route (SR) 397 is extended by one mile.

SR 10 remains on the state highway system and remains a scenic and recreational highway.  No monies are available to Kittitas County for maintenance, since the road remains a state route.  New language is added to the state highway criteria, allowing a road that has been designated a scenic and recreational highway to remain on the state highway system in those instances where it also happens to run parallel to another state highway. 

Sedgwick Road, which connects SR 16 and the Washington State ferry dock at Point Southworth, is designated SR 160, as originally provided in the 1991 legislation.  A portion of the former SR 160 is redesignated as SR 166.

SR 304 is reinstated on the state route system, and SR 306 is removed, correcting a technical error made in the 1991 legislation.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:  The Transportation Improvement Board recommendation that State Route (SR) 10 be removed from the state highway system is rejected.  SR 10 remains a state highway.

New language is added to the state route criteria, allowing a road that has been designated a scenic and recreational highway to remain on the state highway system in those instances where the road also happens to run parallel to another state highway.

Clarification that SR 166 should run to Port Orchard's eastern city limits is provided.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  Concern was raised that Kittitas County does not have sufficient funds to cover maintenance costs on SR 10 if the road is returned to the county.

Testimony Against:  The Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) has been directed by the Legislature to review certain state roads to determine if they are properly designated as state highways.  While the other changes this bill makes are consistent with TIB's recommendations, the provision that allows SR 10 to remain a state highway is contrary to the recommendations.  Furthermore, TIB specifically recommended that Kittitas County receive four years' worth of funding from the Transfer Relief Account to cover maintenance costs on the roadway.  The proposed substitute has the effect of circumventing the entire TIB review process.

Witnesses:  Charlie Howard, Department of Transportation (pro); and Jerry Fay, Transportation Improvement Board (pro with concerns).