SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 5034
AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, MARCH 6, 1991
Brief Description: Directing construction of the Naches Pass Tunnel.
SPONSORS:Senators Rasmussen and Barr.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Majority Report: Do pass.
Signed by Senators Patterson, Chairman; Nelson, Vice Chairman; von Reichbauer, Vice Chairman; Barr, Conner, Madsen, McMullen, Oke, Skratek, Snyder, Thorsness, and Vognild.
Staff: Gene Baxstrom (786‑7303)
Hearing Dates:March 6, 1991
BACKGROUND:
Persons traveling by motor vehicle between the south Puget Sound region and the Yakima valley have three relatively direct travel options through the Cascade range. Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass and State Route 12 over White Pass are open all year except for extreme weather conditions. The most direct route, State Route 410 over Chinook Pass, is closed in the winter.
Previous studies have evaluated the feasibility of constructing a more direct east-west route, a new corridor through the Cascades via Naches Pass. The most recent study of this proposal in 1974 estimated a $50 million cost for a 34 mile cut-off along State Route 410, incorporating a two-mile tunnel near Naches Pass.
SUMMARY:
The Transportation Commission is directed to complete its plan for the Naches Pass tunnel with dispatch.
The Department of Transportation is directed to commence immediate construction of a Naches Pass tunnel and cut-off on State Route 410 through the Cascade mountains. The department is directed to take other actions necessary to accomplish this task including property acquisition.
Appropriation: none
Revenue: none
Fiscal Note: available
Effective Date: The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.
TESTIMONY FOR:
This bill would provide a new all weather route through the Cascade range and would relieve traffic on other state routes.
TESTIMONY AGAINST: None
TESTIFIED: Senator Rasmussen; George Walk, Pierce County; Skip Burch, DOT