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Luke Burbank: Why tolling I-90 is unfair

BY Josh Kerns  on January 30, 2013 @ 12:16 pm

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KIRO Radio's Luke Burbank argues tolling I-90 unfairly limits access to thousands of struggling drivers who can't afford it. (Dave Ross/KIRO Radio image)
While many Mercer Islanders are up in arms over talk of tolling I-90 between Seattle and the Eastside, KIRO Radio's Luke Burbank argues the toll would be unfair to thousands of others on both sides of the water.

The state is considering the tolls to help cover a $1.4 billion shortfall on the new SR 520 bridge. But Burbank calls it an "access issue," arguing many simply couldn't afford what could mean possibly $10 a day.

"I mean that's a couple hundred bucks a month. I mean there are a lot of people that the line - and I have been this person at times in my life - the line between making it, paying your bills, is $200 or $100 every month."

Burbank says it's only fair to continue allowing at least one toll-free road across Lake Washington, rather than requiring drivers to head through Renton or Kenmore to avoid the tolls.

He insists he's not opposed to increasing other fees like car tabs or taxes that take people's finances into consideration, like the housekeepers who have to travel from South Seattle to a luxury hotel in Bellevue.

"If you drive a nice car, a $40,000, $50,000, $70,000 car, I think you can afford to pay a little more on your tabs than somebody who's driving an old beater," Burbank says. "You can't just increase the gas tax because a lot of people have to drive far to work and can't afford it."

But what about commuters in other parts of our state like those forced to pay tolls crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge or riding ferries across the Puget Sound?

Burbank, whose parents live in Silverdale, argues that's different because they knew "what they were getting into" when they moved there.

"I think just basically putting a huge sign up on Lake Washington that says 'You shall not pass unless you have $10 you can spare right now,' I worry what that means for access."

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (30)


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  • clevesside wrote...
    Why do all these interstate "projects".....
    January 30, 2013 7:29 pm
    ...have to happen at a time when neither feds nor states have any transportation $$$$. Where are their brains, playing on the freeway?!
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  • AKAF wrote...
    Oh, Luke needs another tissue....
    January 30, 2013 10:08 pm
    While I'm against tolling of roads I have to laugh that those that have voted in this class of Democrats are crying now. For most of us in the Puget Sound area, most of us that voted Republican with some Democrats riding on our backs...we have the ability to bypass that toll. Now, the heavily Democrat island of Mercer and parts of King County are crying foul. I can only say...you voted these people in and they represent YOU! Now it's time to pay. Next time think before you vote.
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  • jcamp93676 wrote...
    Like the rest of us...
    January 31, 2013 3:43 am
    For those on Mercer Island who need to commute, there is plenty of public transit available to ease the cost of proposed tolls. Dave's ilk is always pushing it on the rest of us, why don't you try it for a change?
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  • HLC wrote...
    The fastest and easiest way.
    January 31, 2013 10:15 am
    Make public transportation pay for itself or turn it over to private companys and they will make it profitable. Then there will be lots of dollars for roads and bridges.
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  • midwestransplant wrote...
    You're invited
    February 4, 2013 10:00 pm
    Everyone on Mercer Island is invited to visit Gig Harbor. Gig Harbor, where we too are "trapped" but a toll. Oh sure we could drive the 2 hours around the back way through Belfair and Shelton up to Olympia but that's more gas than the bridge toll. We can take a ferry but that's more than a toll as well. Don't forget that one direction of the Narrows Bridges is already paid for that's why we pay both tolls in one direction over the new bridge. We were all like you Mercer Island. We too complained about the tolls and vowed not to cross the bridge. Guess what? We use it anyway. Why? Because now we ZERO traffic issues. We asked for better roads and a better faster way across the Narrows. You get what you pay for and we are more than willing to pay. If you don't want mass transit but you want more roads, this is what you get. Suck it up
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  • DJ Allyn wrote...
    Seriously?
    February 17, 2013 4:46 pm
    This isn't only about the people on Mercer Island, it is about ALL of us who have to travel across the lake just to go to work or get home. Luke is right, there are a lot of people who work in Bellevue doing a minimum-wage or low-paying job but live in Seattle because they cannot afford to live in Bellevue. They are barely making ends meet as it is, and now the state wants to tax them another ten percent of their wages just to get to work. This also isn't just about tolling I-90, it is just the camel's nose under the tent, because the State has never found a revenue stream that it doesn't like. People were willing to go for a toll on a road to pay for its new construction (Tacoma Narrows, SR-99, SR-520) but NOT on a thoroughfare that is already paid for and essential to getting around. No, if this goes through, the state will turn its greedy eyes towards tolling I-405 and I-5 as well. Suddenly, everything you buy, will have to go up in price because it will now cost more to get goods to you. Those people who can get to where they are going by staying off the freeways and driving side streets will start clogging those roads up. This is a very bad idea. If the state needs to pay for a "shortfall" on SR-520, then maybe they should seek the money from the people that state route actually serves, and NOT the people it doesn't serve. Raise some property taxes of people living in Redmond and Overlake. Maybe raise the fuel tax a bit in those areas. I don't know how the state decided to go through on a project that they knew had a $1.4 Billion shortfall in the first place.
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  • Thermo wrote...
    Thanks DJ
    February 17, 2013 7:48 pm
    you got most of the points that I wanted to post. This is a money grab by a state that has a spending problem. There's already a bill in session to raise gas taxes, and they want to toll everything they can. This is not about Mercer Island, this is about out of control spending by the state. With health care changes, tolls, property tax increases, sin taxes, etc.... more money is coming out of my wallet that would go into the local economy.
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