Tim Eyman's Next Ballot Measure? Tackling Traffic Jams

GOVERNMENT 

By Austin Jenkins

Olympia, WA  January 2, 2008 3:46 p.m.

Washington initiative sponsor Tim Eyman is back. This time he wants to tackle traffic jams.

Eyman's proposing a measure for the November ballot that would earmark money for reducing congestion on Washington roads. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

Eyman's proposed ballot measure would open carpool lanes to everyone except during the morning and afternoon commutes. And it would require cities and counties to synchronize traffic lights on busy arterials.

Eyman says the initiative is needed because the state is ignoring a recent performance audit that says reducing congestion should be a higher priority.

That performance audit was ordered up because of another Eyman initiative which passed two years ago.

Tim Eyman: “I just think that initiative that we did in 2005 has so much potential, so much potential, but we're not realizing it because Olympia isn't following through and adopting the recommendations that Sonntag is bringing forward.”

Sonntag's is the state's elected auditor.

Eyman wants to pay for congestion relief by using tax dollars generated from car sales. In order to get the measure on the ballot he needs to collect nearly 225,000 voter signatures by early July.

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