‘Does anyone feel free driving on I-5 these days?’

King County Executive Dow Constantine used his annual State of the County speech Monday to stump for the region’s latest transportation proposal &#8212 Sound Transit 3. While arguing for the future, Constantine pointed to the past as an example of what not to do &#8212 both in terms of car culture and voter mistakes.

Related: This is where Sound Transit wants to build future light rail

“I remember growing up in an America where your 16th birthday was the most magical day of your young life &#8212 the day you got your drivers license,” he told an audience at Redmond City Hall. “(It was the) day you were finally free. Does anybody feel free driving on I-5 these days?”

“A generation ago during the Boeing bust, voters rejected the rapid-transit portion of Forward Thrust. We’ve been paying the price for that ever since,” Constantine added. “Today, the state of the county is strong. Strong enough to give our children a choice. The choice to get out of their cars and get on to a transportation system that serves the needs of the next century.”

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Constantine’s speech also covered the state’s need to fully fund education, and also called for legislators to repeal the state’s 1 percent levy cap, but he primarily argued for the proposed Sound Transit 3 plan that voters will be asked to consider in November. The executive said that the area’s status quo of transportation won’t work anymore and will further fail future generations. He said the solution to many of the region’s problems is light rail.

“If you think traffic is bad now, think about this: Over the next 25 years, one million more people will join us in this region,” he said.

“We need more transit,” Constantine said. “I know there are a lot of people who can’t quite picture making their daily commute by bus or train, and for many of us the car will remain the best or even the only option we have.”

And he conceded that the price tag for the job is steep.

“Obviously, it will not come free &#8212 $50 billion for 25 years; $27 billion in new taxes. That’s $17 per month for the typical adult,” Constantine said. “And for that, a 108-mile system of rail comparable to Washington DC, or San Francisco or Chicago.”

Despite the cost, and the fact the system “won’t solve” all the region’s transportation issues, Constantine said the job needs to get done.

“Even if you never intend to set foot on light rail it is still in your interest because every person who chooses to ride the train is one less person snarling up traffic for you,” Constantine said. “With one million more people coming to our region, light rail will not solve all our transportation problems. But if you, we, our children want the choice to get out of gridlock, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right. This November, we must pass Sound transit 3.”

Constantine also argued:

• Light rail can carry 16,000 people per hour in each direction
• That carrying capacity is equal to 14 new lanes on I-5 through downtown Seattle.
• Even if money were available to fund road upgrades, there is no physical space to build more roads out of the current transportation crisis.
• Even if more freeway lanes could be built, arterials and side roads could not handle the added capacity.