ICYMI: Some good news for Northwest Washington

There has been a lot of alarming news this month. Today, I would like to share a few pieces of good news for Northwest Washington.

First, an $18 million grant to improve rail safety and reduce congestion on Everett’s Smith Island:

I worked alongside Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin and the Everett business community to apply for a grant established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities eliminate dangerous highway-rail grade crossings.

This month, Everett was awarded an $18,090,000 grant to construct an overpass and a new integrated roundabout near the Smith Island railroad terminal. 

Once completed, these improvements will make it easier and safer for first responders to address emergencies, commuters to get to and from jobs and school, and trucks and trains to transport goods to market and keep the economy moving in Northwest Washington.

Next, a RAISE Grant for Skagit Transit. Since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed in 2022, I have been able to help secure $103.9 Million in RAISE Grants for our district — this month, we brought home another $19.5 million for Skagit Transit’s maintenance, operations, and administration facility.

Thanks to the hard work of stakeholders including Skagit Transit CEO Crystle Stidham, local leaders, and members of the Skagit Transit Board of Directors, we were able to earn the funding Skagit Transit needs to continue building a better maintenance, operations, and administration facility in Burlington, and deliver on its goal of meeting the region’s existing and future transportation needs.

Finally, I helped secure another $2 million RAISE Grant for the Pepin Flood, Agriculture, Safety, Salmon, and Transportation (FASST) project.

This funding will help the City of Lynden complete its relocation project of Pepin Creek, which runs in deep roadside ditches that overflow and flood the area during winter storms. This new design will allow the city to create a plan for the transportation corridor and water, sewer, stormwater infrastructure for future development. 

While the Chaos Caucus continues their distractions and political theater, I am eager to continue getting real work accomplished for the people of Northwest Washington. I know that together we can continue making meaningful progress in our communities — and these three accomplishments are only the beginning.